Islander

The Heresies are nominally a full-range speaker and shouldn't need to be protected from low frequencies (the whole speaker, that is. The crossover protects the tweeters). The sub itself should have a high-frequency cut-off, so you'd think a pre-out connection would work fine if you don't have an LFE or sub out connection. Since the speaker does not have an abrupt low-frequency cut-off and the sub does not have an abrupt high-frequency cut-off, there will be a range where the sub blends with and augments the speakers' output. Getting that just right takes time, but it'll sound good when you get it right.

A stereo shop salesman told me once that to hear a difference in speaker cables, in terms of resistance at least, you had to go up or down at least 2 gauge sizes (18 to 14, 12 to 16, for example) and I've found that to be mostly true. In my system, going from 18 gauge lamp cord to 14 gauge generic speaker wire made a noticeable improvement in the sound of transients like drumbeats and handclaps, in that they were "crisper" and more realistic. Moving up to 12 gauge of slightly better fine-strand cable made a further improvement of the same type, but it was less noticeable. However, when I switched to 8 gauge very fine strand twisted pair cable (735 strands per conductor), there was a further improvement in the sounds of transients, plus the bass seemed more full, allowing me to slightly reduce the bass boost I was using at that time. These results lead me to conclude that musical peaks and bass notes use much more power than many people realize and that while small-gauge cable may be fine for compressed elevator-type music, it can sap the dynamics from music that has, well, a lot of dynamics, by reducing the available headroom. There's also the feeling that in spite of having a limited budget, like almost everyone, at least there's something I didn't have to compromise on. That feeling may influence my impressions of my favourite speaker cable, but I don't think it's to any significant amount.

Good point, Peter. I think 1983 was the last year for the AA crossovers. I'd never heard of an A1 crossover, so I thought he might be reading it wrong (L looks like 1, if the label is scratched up, perhaps? But then, maybe AA looks like A1 in the same circumstance). UPDATE: here are 4 1983 La Scalas with AL crossovers: http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/thread/960758.aspx Maybe Klipsch changed the La Scala crossovers from AA to AL midway through the production year. The AA schematic included with my cap kit from Bob Crites notes that the AA was used until 2/83.

The barrier strip that the spade connectors attach to has narrow slots and most modern spade connectors are too wide. However, I was able to get some proper-sized ones at a car audio shop near my place. They're called mini-spades and they were even gold-plated! However, they were for 8 gauge wire, which might be too big for your application. Smaller wire size models may be available, or you could do some serious crimping and soldering. I use 8 gauge speaker cable, so I was very happy to find them. To make up 12 gauge lead-in cables from the strips to the crossovers( on my '74 La Scalas, the crossovers are further inside the speaker with foot-long lead-in cables), I "customized" some regular sized spades by filing both sides and bending them inwards, then using a vice to re-flatten the flat parts after the filing and bending bent them. That works, too, but it's nicer to have the right-sized stuff.

oldbuckster, your 911 is really cool, but I'm sure that if you drove a 2008 911, with either full manual or "auto-clutch" (or whatever it's called), you'd be very impressed. Cars in general get better every year and I don't think the engineers at Porsche spend much time snoozing or dreaming up Bold New Grilles for next year's model.

The NWT polar bear plates are cool, but have you seen the Yukon plates, with the gold miner at the bottom holding his pan with the gold nugget in it?

Titanium rods and valves aren't necessarily a good thing for street use. They're very light and do save power, but titanium has low fatigue strength and will have a much shorter service life than similar steel parts. It's been used in high-performance motorcycles intended to be used primarily for racing, where it's acceptable to have to replace the rods and valves after every racing season. For a daily driver car that might run up a lot of miles, that would get really expensive. "Automatic transmission for old people"? The latest automatics shift far faster than any human could, plus they allow the driver to keep both hands on the wheel at all times, a good thing with the speed and power now available. In modern supercars, a manual transmission's primary benefit is its pose value. "See, I'm hard-core, I drive a stick." Modern technology has left that idea behind.

Okay, so the K400 is the best bet for the LS. Well, it's Saturday night, so I'm going to relax in front of my non-aligned 3-way La Scalas and listen to some music. Check you guys later!

2-way? Hmm. Should I get a 402 horn? It might be pretty closely aligned to the LS bottom end, as you say, with minimal compensation needed. It might even increase the sensitivity slightly.

Rock on!!!

"Fool's bi-amping"? Smile when ya say that, stranger! Seriously, if the benefits would be minimal in my case, I'll just enjoy my system and spend my money on more music. Thanks for the advice. All Blues is the evening program on KPLU and I'm liking what they're playing tonight. BTW, the crossover in a Scala (AA in mine) from MF to HF is at 4500Hz, but an inch or two either way doesn't matter.

So I could make my La Scalas sound even better by using a digital crossover to time-align the drivers for not much money? I've upgraded the system enough for this year, but that may be something to consider for next year. With Scalas in a home situation, is the difference that noticeable? Since a delay below 400 Hz and having the harmonics over 4500 Hz leading a bit, relative to the midrange where most of the music is, might not be that obvious, is it worth the extra expense and complication? I mean, if you're not totally obsessed, that is. Does each driver need its own amplifier channel and can unused channels from an AV receiver be used, if it's a 7.1 receiver with only 3 channels being used, for example? I'm driving my mains with an outboard power amp and only using the receiver to drive the center and two rear speakers. I get the impression that the mid and high amps wouldn't need anywhere near the power the woofer would need. The surround modes would be out, but 7 channel stereo, with each channel's level being adjustable, might do the trick. Hmm, now that I think about it, each channel's delay is adjustable in the receiver through the distance settings. No frequency control, though, so feeding a full-range signal to the tweeters would be a bad idea.

Would those active crossovers be less expensive if they became better-known and sold lots more of them? They sound like a great idea. Incidentally, Klipsch publishes ideal delay numbers for their theater line of speakers, in case buyers will be using active crossovers with delay features.

Couldn't wrapping metal foil around output jacks cause some bad short circuits?

Looks like those La Scalas found a good home. Good luck with your project!

Life should be a learning experience. It's sounds like you're learning a lot. That has to be a good thing. As for handicapped parking spaces, the worst is in the winter, when able-bodied types don't want to walk in the snow, so they park in the nearest spot, leaving the guy in the wheelchair to push through the snow and slush from the far end of the parking lot. Aggravating and unpleasant doesn't begin to describe that experience.

Those are probably AL crossovers.

Did the system sound like the very best stereo you ever heard, or did it sound like live music?

Glenn, you've got a very healthy attitude. You're in charge of yourself and you will succeed. Congratulations on your results so far. As for my exercises, on four of the seven days, the "workout" is mostly stretches, but it all helps. The more flexible you are, the more you feel like being active. You might want to try Glucosamine & Chondroitin for your knees. In my case, it eliminated the chronic neck pain I'd had for years.

Warning, lecture follows: No disrespect is intended to you gentlemen, but sometimes it seems like popular culture looks at food in some upside-down backward way. "I eat this much, so I need to do this much exercise." What? How about, "I do this much work, so I need this much food." I used to work at a really strenuous job where I had to eat five times a day to keep from losing weight. At a normal job, three meals a day would suffice, but on days off, two meals a day were enough. Now I'm retired, so it's two meals every day, slightly bigger ones on harder workout days, smaller ones on light days. I exercise seven days a week, before breakfast, and don't allow myself to turn on the stereo until I've finished my exercises. Wanting to hear my La Scalas every morning is one of my motivators. Little rules like that work for me. Other ones may work for you. I've been the same weight since I was sixteen, 160lbs, and I'm 5-9. Age has nothing to do with weight. I'm 56. If you work less, you should eat less. That doesn't seem remarkable to me, but maybe I'm just too logical. Eleven years ago, I sustained a spinal cord injury in a highway crash. When I was getting sized for my wheelchair, it was suggested I get a wider one, "for when your *** gets big". Instead, I got the correctly-sized chair and it still fits just fine. I simply eat less, now that I'm hardly walking anymore. It's clear that it's really difficult to lose a lot of weight if you're really big, but it can be done. It's best to alter your diet when you notice two or three extra pounds, just by having smaller portions until it's back to ideal. That's pretty easy to do, just like it's easy to steer your car into its lane while you're still on the pavement. Get onto the soft shoulder (10-20 lbs overweight) and it's more work. Drive into the ditch and you've really got a challenge in front of you. Try to stay on track from the beginning, it's way easier. Everyone is the size they choose to be. No-one else deserves the blame or the credit. Every day we do what it takes to be the size we are.

Interesting and thoughtful review. Wish he'd reviewed a pair of La Scalas as well.

Mice? Easy to believe. When my buddy parked his CBR900 Honda over the winter, a mouse made a nest in the air filter compartment and chewed everything in the area. He laughed until he found out that a new filter cost $70Cdn! My bike has a Corbin seat with upgraded cover. While it was stored in my garage, the mice had a chew at it and now I need to get the seat recovered.

If your speakers are less than 15 years old, the caps may be working just fine. If you do decide to replace them, it's not too difficult. You just unsolder the old ones and install and then solder-connect the new ones. Do one speaker at a time and you can refer to the second one if you need to. Speaker positioning and adding a sub may be all you need to do.

Interesting read. Where would I find a test to see what type of listener I am?