newoverkill

Dear all, yesterday I gave my Scalas a very last try. My reference recordings were the song 'Brothers in Arms' by Dire Straits and a song by 'Die Form' - french SM/gothic/industrial music. To rule out that there is a fault in the chain until the Scalas I checked everything with my old speakers. The center was all the time perfect - Mark Knopfler's voice was just in the middle of the two speakers. So I also checked if the sound meter would find a difference with the old speakers to rule out that there is a fault that is barely audible. The values on the fist take were equal on both speakers. Then I changed the speakercalbles between the speakers - still the same! Then I exchanged plus and minus still everything as expected. I used another pair of speakers - center also fine. Then I put the sound on the Scalas. Once again, voices, especially the female ones of Die Form pirmarly coming from one speaker. I exchanged the chanels - voice coming primarily from the onther side. Then I exchanged plus and minus - still no improvement. And exchanged the channels with the plus and minus still exchanged - again no improvement. For a last check I took a look at the Scalas cables - everything fine. So - the speakers will return to Klipsch. At least in my case the speakers aren't worth their money. What a pitty. All the best, Bernd

Hi, checking the polarity means not to connect plus with plus but plus with minus on one of the boxes right? But I have the effect on both speakers - right connection: (female) voices with a tendency to the right -> changing the channels: (female) voices with a tendency to the left...?! About the refunding - well the matter with the frequency and the resulting problem with voices is simply too much trouble. Of cause I can get a carpenter for the money saved on the speakers, but I can get not help here in Germany when I keep the Scalas and I might not be able to solve the frequency problem... The Scalas are quite exotic here and Germany is often know as a 'service desert'. Means that I might not get any support from the dealer nor the European headquarter of Klipsch. And I really have much more important things to care about - ask my girlfriend...;-) If I had here people as described on this forum where experts are available to improve even the matching, the situation would be different but unfortunately this is not the case. Speakers better than the Scalas? Means another long search....I've been searching for good speakers for around two years. And certainly more costly. But what is the alternative? All the best, Bernd

Hi guys, thank you so much for your absolutely great feedback! Well first about my equipment - I use a Yamaha AX1 surrond amplifier (switching to direct processing while testing and didn't touch the volume during the tests), I use a DVD 2800 MKI by Denon and an Acoustic Solid turntable with phonotools arm (made by jelco), using a pickup by Ortofon (Kontrapunkt a) and a Project tube phono-preamplifier. Furthermore I use my old speaker (three way with horn resonator) made by a small German company and headphones by Bang & Olufsen. My reference recording: the song 'Brothers in Arms' by Dire Straits - on CD and on vinyl, which is probably the most well known song I use for testing. I furthermore use recordings by Torri Amos, Kate Bush and a band called 'Die Form' (CD called InHuman). So the listening effect: On the song Brothers in Arms Mark Knopfler sings primarily from one side - not very strong but definetly the voice isn't coming form the middle, on CD and on vinyl! Torri Amos songs come mostly form the center but I have a live recording where the stage is not in the center. Kate Bush 'The Kick inside' comes from the center. Die Form - industrial, elektronic music whith high dynamics and one strong female voice - troubles me most, since it is my preferred music. The female voice doesn't come from the center, while the 'rest' is pretty fine. When I change the loutspreaker cables (left <-> right speaker) the voice changes from one speaker to the other. Of cause you hear the voice on both speakers but it is not in stereo. I checked the recording with my B&O headphones and the voice comes from the center. I will check especially this recording with my old speakers once again. When I change the balance so that the female voice comes from the center, the other sound doesn't. This is why I started testing with the volume meter (I am a quality engineer so testing is my business...) The Scalas: Sold as the last in stock for Germany - they indeed smell a bit moldy, although they were in an orginial packing that wasn't opened before. Both are equiped with K-55X and K-77F drivers. The sad thing is that there are even marks on the finish of the speakers and because of these I will have to return them anyway [:'(] Since these were the last in stock 'old' Scalas for Gemany the dealer will refund me... It is really a sad story. I intended to buy great speakers after using my old ones for 15 years and now I have a lot of trouble with them. So I might be not in this community in a few weeks when I returned the speakers and the new edition of the Scalas is too expensive (I got the old ones for a very special price). In German we have a saying - better an end with horror than endless horror... [:'(] Newertheless thank you so much, Bernd

Wow - this is definetly a much more precise feedback than I ever encountered on any kind of forum. I will follow you advice but want to thank you for you time invested!!! Greetings from cold, windy and rainy good old Germany Bernd

Hi there, well I still don't find my peace with my Scalas ;-) It seems to me that one speaker is slightly louder than the other one. So I changed the loudspeakercable (left/right speaker) and the result is that primarily female voices change from one speaker to the other one. This indicates to me that there is a fault in the chain of components before the speakers. So I started to experiement with a test CD by Denon, measuring pink noise frequencies of 125 Hz, 1 kHz und 8 kHz for each channel (= 3 signals), using a noise level meter. The results are as follows: left channel/right channel 62 / 66 65 / 65 70 / 73 This shows indeed to me that one channel is louder than the other one. So I changed the loudspeakercable (left / right) and expected to find the values changed from one speaker to the other one. But the result is different: left channel/right channel 64 / 63 67 / 63 72 / 71 Does anyone have an explanation for that? Could it be that there is something wrong with the crossover of one of the speakers??? Thanks for your feedback and greetings from good old Germany, Bernd

Well, I just know one guy who also has Klipsch Speakers. In Germany people tend to buy speakers that fit into their living rooms, meaning small, slim and designed speakers. So in fact I'm the only one I know who has these speakers. I've been looking for great speakers for about two years and checked different pairs by Thiel, B&W, Revel, Audio Note, Avalon, etc. Then one day I found an advertisement, offering the Scalas for 3000.- Euros - I listened to them and bought them :-)

Okay, thanks - I won't touch them. I thought that was unsual and that might be a point for a reclamation. Anyway I didn't pay too much for the Scalas - 3000.- Euros (about 4000.- USD) because they were remaining stock of the 'old' La Scala. But if I had paid the regular price of 7500.- Euros (about 10000 USD !) I would have been even more concerned. To be honest I knew that the Scalas wouldn't show prime classe quality when I saw a pair at my hifi dealer for the first time... But I knew that for 3000.- Euros the sound would be unbeatable... Kind regards, Bernd

@speakerfritz: this is really a relief to me. I already have some troubles with my Scala - the finish has some faults [] And did you notice that the 'legs' of that resistor on the other side are bended to the shape of an 'U'? I tried to mark that in the pic below. Kind regards, Bernd

Indeed - my concerns are about the bend over power resistor leads. As you can see they are bent over on the side shown on the photo, on the opposite side they are buckled. I hope you understand what I mean - my English isn't too good in technical issues. Thanks for the help (except the first comment) Greetings from Germany, Bernd

Hi folks, I finally received my La Scala (MK I) and have a question concerning the diplexer (I hope this is the right word for it): two of the components on the diplexer seem to be a little twisted and I don't know if this is a point I should reclaim or not (see pictures below). I would be very happy if you could give me an advice. The sound is brilliant but could this affect the life expectancy of the displexer or the components?

Hi folks, soon I will receive my Klipsch La Scala in black. What I would like to know is if anyone ever had problems with small 'stress cracks' due to change of temperature or humidity? Is there any special care needed? Greetings from Germany, Bernd