Islander

There is a simple way to reduce the squawker volume, but people may laugh at you. If your Scalas have grille cloth, just add 2 or 3 layers of grille cloth in front of the horn. If you have a model with no grille cloth, the tidy-looking way is to remove the horns, then staple 2 or 3 layers of nicely stretched grille cloth over the horn opening on the cabinet and re-install the horns. That will drop the volume slightly and take away the harshness, or as it sounded to me, the "shoutiness". Don't put any cloth in front of the tweeter, as even a single layer will give a muffled sound. Plenty of midrange detail still comes through, such as backup singers breathing in. As I mentioned in another post some time ago, to use a visual analogy, the midrange was like a TV with the contrast turned up too high, and the extra layers of cloth smoothed the sound back to normal. As well, it tidied up the look of the speakers, at least to me.

Nice cabinet! Will your LPs fit on those shelves?

If you've got the room, it could be time to move up to Heritage speakers!

My high school had the 150 year reunion in 1993. Some old dude from the class of 1938 was looking for any of his classmates, but I think he was out of luck. It was great to see some of the old gang from my class of '68. Check out www.classmates.com They've got listings for pretty well every school in North America. I went to school in Quebec City, but left the province after high school. I've been able to get in touch with a number of old friends that would have been difficult to find any other way.

Nice bass! Is that you?

Many DVD players and AV receivers have a "night" mode that reduces the dynamic range for late-night listening, so you can hear the dialogue without the sound effects being disturbingly loud. Movie viewers and audiophiles wanted realistic dynamics, and now that we have them, some grumble that it's too loud. I'm happier with having realistic dynamics on the sound track, so I can listen to it as is, or dynamically reduced if the situation calls for it. I occasionally use the night mode late in the evening, for both music and movies. It's a useful feature. As for speakers, the cones generally last indefinitely, but the foam surrounds are only good for 15-20 years. The newer rubber surrounds may last longer. With Klipsch speakers, the Heritage ones at least, the woofer has a pleated surround that's rumoured to last 30 years or more. After 20 years or so, the caps will no longer be at their best and should be replaced. Replacing the 32-year-old caps in my La Scalas immediately improved the clarity of the sound. The compression drivers used in Heritage might want their diaphagms replaced eventually, but I'm not sure how long those parts last.

Scary advice! Just because your wiring system conforms to code doesn't mean you can throw common sense out the window. If you overload a circuit, the breakers or GFCIs should protect you, but they can fail, just like anything else. The reason it's important to have updated, code-conforming wiring, is that it shouldn't catch fire if you use it properly. Even apparently proper use of old and outdated wiring can be hazardous, which is why my insurance company insisted on my upgrading from 60-amp service in my old rental house (with 3 kitchens and stoves, that ain't proper use!) to at least 100 amps. Just to be safe, I had a 200-amp service and new breaker panel installed.

Friday afternoon in Victoria, at 4:20 on April 20th: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:2007_April_20th_420_celebration_Victoria_BC.jpg

You might want to check out a Technics SL turntable. Just be sure the arm lift works okay. SL-1200, 1300, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1700. MK2 if you can find one. SL-1200 goes up to MK3, then MK5, since they're still in production, but they get pricier, of course. SL-1210 is the same thing, only in black. They're reliable and decent-sounding, and pretty well unaffected by vibration in the room. If it has not been in DJ service, it'll be in better condition.

Jubilees? Wow! Keep us up to date on your progress. I hope to eventually get a pair.

Of course I am posting this for historical interest only... Culled from several web pages. In 1972 it was the sixth best selling sedative on the market in the United States, where it was legally sold by the name of Quaalude, and luding out, was a popular college pastime. Because of its alleged aphrodisiac and euphoric qualities it was known as the love drug at that time (the 70s). In Canada in the late 60s and early 70s, MDA (the precursor of MDMA, or Ecstasy) was called the love drug, since it made people feel very friendly. The French speakers in Quebec even called it "ma drogue d'amour", which matched the acronym. After MDA was banned sometime in the 70s, MDMA was introduced, since its molecular structure was sufficiently different from that of MDA to make it legal. Therefore, Ecstasy was one of the first "designer drugs", formulated to be both legal and intoxicating. Unfortunately, it can cause Parkinson's-like symptoms, sometimes permanently, a side effect that was not seen with MDA...

The scene at the end of my block, beside Victoria City Hall two days ago... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:2007_April_20th_420_celebration_Victoria_BC.jpg

Great shot of Quay Lude, but I thought he usually had 14 inch platforms. Saw the Tubes 4 times in Toronto. Great show every time!

2006 - now the hair is on the inside...

1973 - wearing a suit to attend a wedding...

It helps a lot if your sub's not sitting directly on the floor. My subs are all on neoprene rubber pads, plus one's on a bedside table, one's on an end table, and one's on a sturdy box. None are on the floor, and I've never had a complaint. It helps that the building is made of concrete, which transmits less sound between apartments than a wooden building.

The "T" in the serial number indicates 1979, not 1974, and the stickers look like they're 1979 style as well. Since black La Scalas of that vintage are stained, not veneered, it looks like a piece of the outer ply or two got chipped off.

Thanks for the info, Max. I'm not sure what the server issue is, but I just sent you a reply. I'll update the forum when the unit is hooked up and working. Pat

Well, it's not jammed now, but it still won't print. Anyway, here's what I was able to do with Arrange-a-Room, scanned from the print I was able to make before the program stopped co-operating. The diagram shows 2 Scalas, with the Paradigm sub beside the left one, the 4 surround speakers at the back of the room, and I even threw a couple of cushions on the sofa and chair. The speakers have gray fronts to show which way they're pointing, no choice in the style, just in the size. The room is actually 18' x 19', but I thought I'd show how it opens up toward the dining room, because it's all part of the acoustic space. Sure beats scribbling on a napkin to explain a speaker layout.

Wow, what a handy program! I just spent the last hour or so dashing back and forth between the living room and the computer den with tape measure and notepad and printed out my listening room layout. It's got every detail, including bookcases, main and surround speakers, in the size of your choosing. The speakers are rectangular, but the corner fireplace could serve as an approximation of a Klipschorn in size and rough shape, if not in exact style. However, while it's easy to make up a colour diagram of your room, right down to cushions, and print it out, I had a problem saving it. It says it saves it to my hard drive, but it's a .mht file, something I've never heard of. Right now, the Arrange-a-Room window is open in mid-save and it's jammed up. Anyone have any tips? I'd rather not shut it down and lose my hour's work.

Did you mean "attenuation" or "augmentation" in the sentence referring to destructive interference? Mike, I quoted only the parts that bear directly on my listening situation. A few weeks ago, I decided to connect my old unused equalizer to my sub to try to tame a resonance in the room. Lowering the response 5dB at 30Hz did exactly as you just described. The sound was less annoying, but a little weak and thin-sounding, showing that the measurements I'm using don't tell the whole story. However, I've got a new sofa and chair arriving soon, with taller backs, that may have an effect on the room response, so after they're set up (if they need to break in, I'm thinking it'll take place over months or years []), I'll turn off the sub and start from scratch. It sounds like the best compromise, after the room is treated as best I can manage and the sub is in its best location with its best settings, is to only partially try to correct room resonances with the EQ, since what I hear is more important than what I measure. Is that roughly correct? BTW, thanks to you and mas for explaining audio theory. Some of it is is actually starting to sound like English to me.

With a long-term purchase like speakers, "what I'd like to spend right now" is not always the best guideline. What seems pretty extravagant at the moment can be something that enriches your life on a daily basis for years to come. That may sound like an exaggeration, but my La Scalas bring a big smile to my face when I turn them on, which is nearly every day before breakfast, and they improve my day. I feel lucky to own them. My advice is to buy the speakers you want. You'll have them long after they're paid for, and the price will eventually seem unimportant, but the sound will always be there.

My La Scalas have only 1 digit before the letter. One is 2M370 and the other is 2M389. I'm wondering if the first digit is the month of manufacture. The M will represent 1974 and the last 3 digits should be sequence of assembly. The drivers' numbers are sort of mix and match, with one speaker having a lower numbered K-77, and the other one having a lower numbered K-55V. I guess the assemblers weren't obsessed with lining the drivers up on the shelf with their numbers in sequence.

Okay, I can follow that you can't EQ up to "fill a void". What about EQing down to quiet or reduce an unwanted peak? If less energy (at the frequency of the resonance) is coming into the room and the room gain flattens a dip caused by the EQ, is that logical?

That's why banana plugs are banned in Europe. They do fit into European AC outlets, so now speaker cables are fitted with BFA connectors. BFA stands for British Federation of Audio. You can see some at http://www.knukonceptz.com/productMaster.cfm?Category=Connectors They're a split tube, with a wavy edge to the split, and they fit directly into regular binding posts. The BFA "bananas" (but they're not really a banana, since they're cylindrical) are actually a better connector, with more contact surface area.