Islander

If you already have a good sub helping out the bottom end, there might be little to gain by stiffening your Scalas' bass bins.

Thanks for that, DD! I wonder if this indicates that all those people were influences on the Beatles?

Actually, I find that the La Scala's bass response is relatively smooth, at least when compared with my previous bass reflex speakers. The sub fills out the bottom octave or two nicely, so the very low bass is missing nothing. I like what I hear coming out of the system and the more I read, the more I think the designs are in effect optimum or close to it in several ways. Nirvana may be a theoretical concept, but actual contentment can be found without endless headscratching or hair-pulling...

If one were to make up an extension (of plywood or whatever) to restore the "missing" horn length and mouth area, on a La Scala, for instance, how big would it be and how much would it improve the bass response?

Have you thought of moving your TV and system to the wall with the former window? You'd be able to move the speakers further apart and have room for the sub. Klipsch generally recommends putting the speakers on the long wall of a room. If the sofa is not centered in front of the TV, it may not be that important, as you likely sit at one end anyway. On the recommendation of another forum member (thanks, Peter!), I rotated my whole living room 90 degrees and the speakers went from being 5 feet apart to being 12 feet apart. It made a major improvement in the sound and made the room seem more spacious as well.

US prices on things just choke me with envy (me and many other Canadians). The RX-V750 listed for $900 here and I was lucky to get mine on sale for $699 ($865 including taxes and extended warranty) in early 2005. La Scala IIs here in BC run around $7000 with a discount, plus federal and provincial taxes, of course. The net result, in terms of pricing, at least, is that what Americans consider low-end is seen as mid-range here, mid-range equals near high-end, and so on. However, I do like the sound of it and that's what counts. Adding the big (well, it's less than half the height of the receiver, but it has big power) Yamaha power amp made a very noticeable improvement, though. It seemed as if extra lights were turned on at the back of the stage so you could "see" further back to who was playing there. The added clarity of the higher-end unit (relative to the receiver) made it very obvious if a drummer had two bass drums, for instance (Aha, he's got one there and another one there right beside it.). Now I can pick out individual backup singers in a way I never could before. As well as the clarity/transparency improvements, the extra power makes transients like rimshots sound more realistic. Pianos sound like a big wooden instrument on many recordings now, instead of a set of strings floating in space. Because of the extra power, matching the levels between the main speakers and the center & surround speakers called for a big re-adjustment, so the La Scalas are set at -10dB, while the center Heresy II is set at +8 and the surround Heresy IIs are at +4 and +5.5 (one's a bit closer to the listening position than the other) to get everything even. Before I got the Heresy IIs, the lower sensitivity of the Paradigms I was using made level matching impossible, since it went past the adjustment range of the receiver. It's good to be happy with the sound of your receiver, but it's also good to know you can add performance without giving up all the surround features you like. Some guys have added 5- or 7-channel power amps, so the level matching becomes sort of a non-issue.

I've been happily listening to Yamaha receivers for many years and presently have an RX-V750 in my main system. When I wanted more power and transparency, I added a Yamaha MX-D1 power amp to drive the main speakers, while the V750 powers the center and surrounds. The sound is really good. There are five people on this forum alone using Yamaha receivers as pre-amps, with separate power amps. The Yamahas sound good as is and have the flexibility to be part of an upgraded system as well. As for all the features, they're there if you need them, but all the adjustments for room size and reverberation, along with the simulated concert halls, may be needed by only a few buyers. "Straight" for most 2-channel music and surround movie listening, along with "7-Channel Stereo" for radio or background listening, may be what you'll use 90% of the time. "Pure Direct" seems like a good idea, but it cuts out the sub, so unless your main speakers can easily reproduce really low bass, you may find you don't use it very often. These are just my opinions. Depending on how deeply you want to explore the various menus and options, you could really personalize your receiver. Congrats on your new toy! (not that it's at all toy-like!)

Maybe so, but who else is there to talk to?

jacksonbart: able to maintain focus in spite of perceptual difficulties and distractions. A man who keeps his eyes on the prize.

UPDATE, December 11, 6:45 pm: I took a look this afternoon and decided against struggling with tight RCA connectors in a confined space while having to keep one hand on the receiver so it didn't get pushed off the shelf while making a connection. Instead, I got my friend to come over and stationed her on a hassock with an ear to one of the tweeters while I reached in behind the stand and repositioned various cables, to try to find the positions and routings that would give the least background noise. The test was sort of inconclusive, since moving a given cable away from every other cable would sometimes cause an increase in hiss from the tweeter, contrary to what one would expect. After about half an hour of this, including disconnecting and re-connecting some banana plugs so certain cables would stop resting on other ones, and so on, I thought I would quit while I was ahead. The hiss is inaudible a foot away from each speaker, which is fine for now and much better than it was last week.

It's easy to be stylish when you have buckets of money. Mr. Li is an example of how the changing Chinese economy has enabled a number of people to become really, really, rich, while the number of really poor is slowly shrinking as well. All that money from Wal-Mart and all the other marketers of Chinese goods that's flowing in is starting to show some effects. Seriously, though, this guy is no miser. His seven-storey house (warehouse/factory?) must have cost a pretty penny, plus he's clearly made at least one and possibly several audio dealers rich. He seems to really enjoy his hobby and likes sharing it with his community as well as curious folk from the media. Money is only useful or beneficial when you spend it, and Mr. Li seems happy to spend his. In his entrepreneurial culture, his success will inspire others to try harder, and isn't being a "go-getter" something Americans look up to, just as much as Chinese do? His "audio palace" may be a work in progress in certain rooms, but isn't any system that way most of the time?

Great shots! Thanks for sharing them with us. BTW, is it anywhere near legal to fly that low or fast in a built-up area? It is really cool.

That means you and your speakers form an equilateral triangle, with the speakers 60 degrees apart, which is a good starting point for stereo imaging. Are they roughly equal distances from the side walls? As for toeing in, having the speakers face you directly, so you're on-axis, gives good sound in most rooms. I use a laser level to aim the speakers, which saves a lot of measuring and running back and forth. After some experimenting, I placed my La Scalas fairly close to the front wall. They're angled toward the listening position, so the inner corners are nearest to the front wall, about 5" away, while the outer corners are about 15" away. Placing them closer to the wall than that gave uneven bass response, while moving them further out into the room gave no improvement, but did take up lots more space. You won't get really deep bass with La Scalas, so most owners add a sub. A La Scala and sub combination can sound really good.

No worries, I'm curious, too.

That U-Haul one really hit the mark! When I moved west, I booked a U-Haul truck and trailer a month ahead. When moving day came, I was told the truck was on the other side of town and the trailer (to transport my van) was more than 4 hours away to the east, in Cornwall, Ontario. When I asked how that worked, the reply was, "We told you they'd be available. We never said where they'd be." No apology, that's how they do business. After a number of calls, they found another trailer only an hour out of our way, so I followed the truck to there and loaded the van on the trailer, then headed west. Hours earlier, when we were loading the truck, a heavy rainstorm began and we soon realized the roof had a hole in it. I had to buy some tarps to keep my furniture dry while it was inside the truck. As well, both front tires were so out of balance that they had to be replaced before we even left the city, before we drove northeast to pick up the trailer. Other than drinking lots of oil, the truck then took us safely from Toronto to the west coast, but I'd never recommend U-Haul to anyone.

I don't have time today, but I'll give it a try tomorrow. It means crawling under the sub to get behind the audio stand.

Dr Who wrote: But if the buzz was there with no cable attached, then I would suspect a cold solder joint inside the device itself - probably near the connectors or actually part of their joint because it might have been pushed in such a manner so as to recreate the connection (until of course it gets jostled loose again). Granted this is purely speculatory, but I've seen it before and would probably consider it more plausible - especially if none of the previous cables were damaged in any way. But hey, my experience is limited and I'm always open to learning new things... When the amp had no input cables connected to it, there was silence at the speakers. As soon as an input cable was attached, there was a buzz, even with nothing on the other end of the cable. That led me to believe that the cable was acting as an antenna. At present, I'm just getting a very faint hiss that can only be heard within six inches of the tweeter and only when the room is very quiet. Last night, I was listening to 'All We Have Is Now' by The Flaming Lips, on a CD that I listen to at least once a week and am very familiar with. That song has some very low-level vocals at certain points and I could never make out the lowest passages, even when listening very carefully. Last night I could hear the words clearly enough to understand them for the first time. Lowered noise floor? Less distortion? I don't know which it is, but now I can hear things I couldn't hear before and it's definitely not imagination, placebo effect, predisposition, self-justification of money spent, or anything like that. The shorter length of better-quality cable made a noticeable improvement.

Believe me, I routed the cables every which way to try to solve the buzzing issue. I had the amp out on the floor with the interconnects away from everything else, with and without ferrite clamps, but even with the amp connected to nothing but the speakers (interconnect attached to the amp input but not connected at the other end), the buzz was still there. Now, whether the interconnect touches another cable or not seems to make very little difference. I think the short well-shielded cable is the answer to this problem, in this case at least. I may try an even better-shielded cable (likely from the same company) in the future and see if it's even better. For now, I'm enjoying what I'm hearing.

It sounds to me like you've got larger ground loop issues. Changing the cable should have absolutely no difference unless it's introducing some attenuation (which is nohwere near ideal behavior for a cable). The sound was a high-pitched buzz, mostly coming from the tweeter, so it didn't seem at all like a 60Hz hum. I suspected the switching power supply of the amp, but it was completely inaudible when the amp was connected to a pair of Totem Wind speakers and almost inaudible when it was connected to a Paradigm CC-370 center speaker. Those speakers have sensitivities in the high 80s and low 90s, respectively.When I tried a 6-meter (20-foot) length of the Wireworld cable some months ago, the buzz was still there, but using a 1-meter (3-foot) length of the exact same cable drastically reduced it. Accordingly, I reasoned that the cable was acting as an antenna and the shorter length made it a less effective antenna. The improved shielding of the Wireworld cable would also let it pick up less interference than the lower-quality Electrohome cable. It all makes sense to me.

I used to call it Beat the Beaver...

Here are my very recent experiences with interconnects. They're not speaker cables, but they are audio system cables, so I think it's relevant. The day before yesterday, I replaced a 2-meter length of Electrohome Pro Series cable connecting my pre-amp/receiver to the power amp with a 1-meter length of WireWorld Luna 5 cable. The low-level buzz from the speakers was reduced by at least 2/3, so it's now almost inaudible and is no longer annoying. Months ago, I tried a variety of cables, including a cheap 1-meter Audio Research cable with no improvement, so the length was not the deciding factor. The speakers were definitely a factor, since there was no buzz when the amp was connected to less sensitive speakers than the La Scalas. Their revealing nature means everything connected to them must sound clean and quiet. After that, I swapped out an Electrohome cable running from the turntable to the pre-amp/receiver for a Wireworld one of the same length. On a particular song by Al Stewart (Roads to Moscow) three bass notes are repeated at certain points in the song. After the cable swap, it became obvious that they're three different notes, descending in pitch. That was barely noticeable before. Some people think all cables are the same, but good ones, even the simple ones, not the exotic ones that speakerfritz refers to, can make real improvements in the sound of a system. I'm no golden ear, but I can hear the differences.

The La Scala mid-range can sound harsh or "shouty" to some listeners' ears. I had the treble on mine set to -4db for the first week, but after a little tweaking, I've got it set at 'flat' and am pleased with the sound. There are a couple of ways to go with this issue. One is to use a different tap on one of the crossover transformers (it has 3 you can use), which will lower the level of the squawker output (The squawker is the midrange driver. The term has fallen out of use most places, but Klipsch still uses it.) Another way, which works, but may generate ridicule (I know, I've received lots) is to put grille cloth in front of the squawker horn. Two or three layers will take out the harshness nicely, without making it sound muffled or lacking in detail. It changes the look a little, too. A more expensive variation on the first idea is to install crossovers that allow adjustment of the mid-range and high drivers' output. As for dampening the horn, Dynamat, either original or Xtreme has been used, as well as rope caulk. That only applies to the earlier metal K400 horn. The later resin model has braces and doesn't have the ringing issue.

That picture reminded me of a battery comparison test in Consumer Reports some years ago. Compared with the other brands' D cells, the Radio Shack D cell seemed to have low output, so the techs opened it up, only to find a C cell in a D-sized housing...

Want some ice cream on that pi?

67.275 for me, but I was born in the 50s, so I thought that wasn't too bad. Thanks, Amy!