Islander

So it sounds like a digital crossover with adjustable delay would improve the sound of a La Scala. Would it be necessary to get something like the one recommended for the Jubilee (around $1000?) or is there a less expensive alternative? And for the purists/snobs, are most digital crossovers stereo units, or do some come as monoblocks, one for each speaker?

Look into the mirror, mirror, mirror... http://emuse.ebaumsworld.com/flash/play/709/

Bob, thanks for clearing up the issue of the glitch, to my satisfaction at least. On the time alignment issue, I seem to recall seeing a reference to an inexpensive ($250 range?) active crossover with adjustable delay on the forum in the last month or so. Does anyone remember it, and would it improve the sound (and not be a piece of junk at that price)?

Replacing worn-out weatherstrips around sliding windows made my home less drafty, more cosy, and improved the sound of my system by lowering the noise floor. Traffic and street noise was less than half what it was with the drafty windows. Putting weatherstrip all the way around the entrance door allows me to play music louder and still have it inaudible in the hallway. I have all-electric heat and the hydro savings can be as much as $50 a month in cold weather. As well, the Heritage speakers can be seen as the green choice in that they use less power and they're made of non-exotic wood that hasn't been transported long distances.

Although the 9kHz glitch certainly seems measurable, just how audible is it, and is it audible at most typical listening levels?

Why wouldn't you set your sub to Auto? It'll turn itself on when it senses a signal and off after it senses no signal for a while, five to fifteen minutes in most cases. There's no point in leaving your sub powered all night, or while you're at work.

Mike, I mentioned the tweeter swap because I had personal experience with that and it did improve the sound. You're right, it's got little to do with the midrange. However, the unit-to-unit variation in volume of the K-77, at least the older ones, could be considered a problem. Although it's mostly reproducing harmonics, that could impair imaging. In your experience, does the high-end have much effect on imaging, or does the mid-range do all of it? That idea of using the Jubilee horns sounds interesting and might make a two-way La Scala practical, but using a 402 horn would look pretty wild, since it's actually bigger than a La Scala, at least in terms of frontal area. Hope your weekend's going well and everyone has had their coffee or whatever it is they need to mellow out. This is a hobby and we do it for fun...

BEC (Bob Crites) sells the CT125 tweeters that will fit your speakers and very noticeably improve the sound. Musical notes decay more naturally, the speakers can reach higher frequencies, and the output from one tweeter to another is much closer than with the standard K-77s, which can vary quite a bit from one to the next. He also sells capacitor kits, which are easy to install, and which are a really good idea for any speakers over 15 years old. He's on this forum, and he has ads on EBay.

I was referring to meaning #1, as should be obvious to everyone reading this. Why such fuss over a difference in opinion? As I've stated repeatedly, what works for an unmodified La Scala may be inapplicable to a modified Khorn. Is them fighting words? Or do you see it as a case of the stubborn child refusing to be corrected by his elders? Like it or not, I'm equally entitled to my opinion.

Biglaz, if you want to try my suggestion, it might be best to keep it to yourself. No telling what kind of storm you might stir up.

This is an open forum. If you want to mock me in private, do it in private.

A little push? Give it a rest, Maron. You've stated your opinion over and over. Fine. You're entitled to it, but there's no need for mockery and name-calling. We're not in the schoolyard anymore.

I'm also using a Yamaha RX-V750. Its learning remote lets me control the TV and DVD player, as well as the VCR, although it works best with the TV. The sound is clean and clear and there seems to be plenty of power. You can even use just the TV (no receiver) with the Yamaha remote, for non-technical viewing. According to the manual, the remote can be configured to control up to 11 devices.

BEC's Sonicaps work great and aren't too expensive.

"cacamainey tweeko"? Bite me, you jerk! Every time you had a choice between responding as a gentleman or as an ***, you chose option "B". If you can't see your rudeness for what it is, you really haven't a clue... BTW, your "creative" spelling reveals your level of education.

You forgot Shakti Stones, the Irrational But Efficacious CD, Totem Beaks, alcohol, other drugs (whoops, those last two are too cheap to be audiophile grade), but the list is probably endless. So what do diffraction effects sound like? I know some speaker cabinets are designed to minimize them. I have heard comb filtering, so I'm familiar with that. In other news, my new furniture arrived last week, and now I'm sitting three inches higher than before. I'm hearing a little more midrange and high detail, along with slightly weaker bass. Time to re-adjust the sub! The new furniture reclines, and when the left footrest comes up, allowing the bass to travel directly through the 1' x 2.5' gap under the seat, the sound changes, and it changes again when the right footrest comes up as well. I'll check the bass response with my meter (sorry, it's all the gear I have) and try to chart the changes.

Looks like great fun!

Maron, perhaps you feel your language was not combative, but many people would. I certainly do. I feel no need to hang my head in shame. As well, when someone from the "MO galaxy", as the listing below your avatar window states, refers to spanking, as you did in one of your other posts, I have to wonder what direction the discussion will take next. I believe I mentioned that I had replaced the K-77s with CT125 tweeters. The volume of the new tweeters was within 1dB of each other, while the two K-77s differed by around 3dB. The improvement in the sound was immediately noticeable. Maron, I appreciate that you tried my suggestion even though you were not pleased with the results. If I were to now replace my midrange drivers and horns as per your suggestion, I think it quite likely that my speakers would sound better. However, that's not in my budget at the moment, and as I mentioned previously, I'm very happy with the sound I'm getting at present. As for my apparently not showing enough appreciation for your attempts to help me out of my "problem" (poor sound, bad attitude, shocking ignorance of basic acoustics, whatever), as perceived by you, you may recall that I was not the original poster looking for helpful suggestions. Biglaz asked a simple question, but rather than answering him, you felt compelled to issue me a "golden BS button of the year". On the bright side, if that was your button for the year, I guess everyone else is safe for another eight months or so. You have your opinion, I have mine. There's not much left to say, other than thanks for the opportunity to exercise my restraint and diplomacy.

Maron, look at my posting immediately prior to this one of yours. Although the Khorn and the La Scala have the same drivers, they do sound different, as many people will agree. What works for me apparently does not work for you. Neither one of us is deaf or a fool and we do not need to fight a duel over it.

Well, Mike, in non-technical terms, the sound went from "Man, that's aggravating! Maybe I should return these speakers!" to "Hey, that sounds pretty good! Hmm, amazing amounts of detail. What was that sound just there? I never heard that in the song before. Cool!" Technically, there was a 1-2dB drop in volume from the squawker. As well, I was able to go from -4dB on the treble (which didn't fully fix the harshness) to bypassing the tone controls. Although the Khorn and Scala share the same drivers, there don't seem to be as many complaints about midrange harshness from Khorn owners, so perhaps the synergy between the Khorn bass horn and the mid and high horns is different from that of the Scala. If you lived a lot closer, I'd invite you to come over and bring your instrumentation, along with some of your favourite tunes, so you could see for yourself. My speakers sound nice and I'm really happy with them. That's all. I didn't intend to start a bun fight over a simple little tweak.

Well, Maron, thanks for at least trying it for yourself. It appears that extra layers of grille cloth did not improve the sound of your speakers. It's as simple as that. Perhaps it was not stretched tightly enough, perhaps your La Scalas have a pleasant-sounding midrange that could only be worsened by a little sonic filtering, making it inapplicable in your case, who knows? Perhaps you're very pleased with the unmodified sound of your La Scalas. If so, I'm happy for you. Many others have found their midrange annoyingly harsh, including the person who started this thread. You yourself referred to "the Klipsch problem" and "the mid anomality" that you changed drivers to solve. Did your modifications produce a pleasant result? Maybe I will eventually do something similar. Aha, I just thought of something! Maybe you need to have some unmodified La Scalas to try the extra grille cloth on, since your modified Khorns probably sound just fine as they are. For that matter, do you even have a pair of La Scalas?

Heck, the factory puts grilles over the tweeters, which I would never do, unless they're in danger from pokey fingers. The factory grilIe covers the squawkers, too. Is that bad? I just put an extra layer or two on the squawkers. It's really not like stuffing a sock up the horn. Squawker attenuators? Hmm, might be an idea. I've already got new Sonicaps and CT125 tweeters, both of which made very noticeable improvements, so I really don't have tin ears. In the meantime, $10 worth of grille cloth makes the speakers very pleasant to listen to and appears not to sacrifice clarity at all. It's mechanical attenuation rather than electrical attenuation, with increasing effect at higher frequencies. Some folks don't like the sound of La Scalas, but every guest listener I've had (and a couple actually know what they're listening to) has told me mine sound great, so it's not just me. I know the concept sounds bogus to technoids, but it's my little tweak that seems to work. As I mentioned, if you haven't heard it yourself, you don't know. Try it, you might be surprised.

In Mississauga, just west of Toronto, there's a factory outlet mall that has a Rubbermaid store. It's called The Rubbery. Seriously. Michael, I've got a few of those Canadian Tire red plastic tubs. They're pretty tough, but I was able to crack the lid of one of them by stacking a pile of stuff on it. As for Rubbermaid, I had a couple of their Roughneck garbage cans and the lids broke on both of them in Toronto winter weather.

Based on my listening, not just with the La Scalas, it's my impression that grille cloths have a much greater effect on higher frequencies than on lower frequencies, in that woofers are not noticeably affected, while tweeter output is muffled, sometimes slightly, sometimes a lot. Accordingly, the lower end of the squawker output would be less affected than the higher end, giving the desirable squawker top-end roll-off that I'm hearing. That 9kHz glitch may also be greatly reduced, although I don't have the gear to measure that. Collapsing polars? Is that a global warming thing? []

See, the scoffing begins already... Yes, it's an acoustical filter. It filters out the harshness without sounding muffled. All I can say is that with my speakers, in my listening room, the sound went from unpleasant and annoying to smooth but still very clear and revealing. What apparent logic states and what practice shows is not always the same thing. You could always try it before dismissing it. No disrespect is implied, but that way your opinion would have more validity.