KT88

Welcome KWB to the forum. You make the right start, two posts and two likes🤠👍

As a teenager in the 70s who was already very interested in hi-fi and music, I had three listening experiences that have shaped me for the rest of my life. Klipschorn, BBC BC1 and Tannoy Alnicos. Crazy enough, I had a system in the 80s where I combined a Klipschorn bass that I built myself (only chipboard, I didn't have any more money) with 2 Tannoy HPD 295 10" drivers in a normal bass reflex cabinet that I built myself. The amp was self-built, it was analogue active. The Tannoys kept their xover (similar design to Klipsch with autoformers for the mid/high horn) and I cut off at about 200 Hz. This was probably one of the best I've ever had. This old love has survived to this day, because all three speakers illuminate the music from a different side. My main speakers today are a BBC LS3/6 from Stirling Broadcast from 2016, a Tannoy Canterbury 15“ from 1994, my beloved La Scala from 1977, my Klipsch UJ from 2008 and a Stirling Broadcast LS3/5a in the small room. Yes, and there's also an old ESL57 that I bought second-hand almost 30 years ago. The ESLs are impressively transparent, but not for me in the long term. If I could only take one pair with me to the desert island, it would be very difficult. Probably the old 1977 La Scala and I'd smuggle the little LS3/5a in with me.

This is what the BBC realized 50 years ago with their speakers.

Overtones of a fundamental tone work wonders to the ear and to the brain. My LS3/5a go down to 75Hz and I don't miss anything when I listen to jazz or classical music. The son of Peter Walker (Quad ESL) Ross Walker said in an interview thirty years ago, "if you miss bass, step with your foot in a big cardboard box to the rhythm of the music".

Maybe the thread opener will get in touch again. If he is interested, he will. Yes, it happens in forums that someone wants to know why something sounds thin and is bombarded with Fourier analyses.

At which frequency did you do the ESR test? I am just curious but also the experts need the frequency to judge your measurements, I think. Did you also measure the capacitance which is the basic information? Just as a check, you have to disconnect both wires of the capacitor before measure it.

No thread drift please but I'm not sure if I agree with you on this point. The way you talk about the JJ preamp tubes is a little too harsh for me. I like them and they need some break-in time themselves. They are not "cheap" but the only 12A/ECC tubes that are still made on original Telefunken machines from 1972. Of course I respect if your taste is different. But, and now I come back to the thread...Klipsch La Scalas core properties do not depend on certain tube brands.

Very funny that it's only been online for a few hours, as if it was made for this thread here... You can't describe what a LaScala is about more credibly than in this scene at 1:45. PWK and Miles Davis. BTW Herb and Steve have such a good connection with each other...one thought leads to the next and the story is in the air. They actually review their lives when they meet up again, but then there's also an interest in the new, in innovation, in the here and now. So the headline of the video meets exactly this. Two blokes you'd love to have in your home for an evening of listening.

That sounds very logical and understandable. It proves what philosophy PWK had in terms of loudspeakers. They were certainly not mini monitors that you put on the mixing desk. Ok, they also have their justification, but it was not PWK's intention. PWK wanted to reproduce the authentic sound of an acoustic event in your own home with as little loss as possible. The same loudspeaker could also be used outside the home. Of course, you have to adapt the sources, you have to use compressors at a live event, just as you have to do with a vinyl record or CD. So this is also the same in both cases. There's no difference between home recording and public address in terms of not using the same best speaker.

"Need" sounds as if it wouldn't be complete without a subwoofer, as if a sub would have to be added after two days at the latest. In my experience, this is not the case. Unless it's lowest pipes organ music or earthquakes in movies, I personally don't see a compelling need for a sub. You can certainly add a sub, sooner or later. But when I listen to jazz, rock, classical or pop music, I don't miss anything, at least in the rarest of cases. Buying a La Scala is a complete and well-rounded choice in itself. Familiarisation and musical preferences play a role. By the way, apart from the lowest organ pipe registers, organ music sounds absolutely goosebump-inducing on the La Scala.

As I said, both if the speaker is brand new.

.

I agree with Flevoman on all but one point. He's right, the LaScala need time to get used to the performance. Both go hand in hand. The ear has the valuable gift that the bass treble balance becomes more and more even after a few days. You will learn to appreciate the La Scala bass psychoacoustically. In the end it is much more information than with a direct radiator. The La Scala are as big as an elephant (half an elephant) but when it comes to placement they are mimosas. Just a cm here or 2 cm there makes a difference....once you have familiarised yourself with the La Scalas, let's say three weeks. Only then will fine tuning really make sense and it will be productive and worthwhile. The point where I don't quite agree with Flevoman is that you have a nice amp. If you want to change, I would do it after six months at the earliest. Otherwise you'll have a mishmash of new variables that will be irritating.

but therefore even more the possibility of clipping and damage drivers this way.

Are you sure it is not the amp? Just try to check by swapping the left and right channel.