Shock-Late

Hi dude! I appreciate the fact you're using EV SM120 midrange horns. I'm using them in my Scalas and they make me completely happy!!! I would however use another midrange driver. You really need to get a driver going up to 6KHz to do these horns justice. With a 3,5K cut-off you will hear the transition between mid and highs. You really don't want that! Just use K55V drivers from klipsch. They're nice, and then you'll be able to use standard ALK x-overs. Just my thoughts...

This player is the top-of-the line Kenwood player. It has been widely acclaimed in the european hi-fi press (Nouvelle Revue du Son, etc...) It uses four Burr Brown chips per channel. Sounds very natural, detailed, transparent and very dynamic. Was said to be able to compare with players 4 or 5 times it's price. I think this is the last thing I would upgrade in my system! I frankly recommend it.

If you toe in your la scalas completely towards your ears, chances are you will have holes in your head in no time. What I did with my La Scalas was rather radical: i replaced the midrange horns with smooth, refined, neutral and open sounding EV SM120A. Do that and you'll wonder why you ever bothered with RF3. Believe me, to me the only "bad" component in the heritage line is the K400 horn. Way too "beamy". It screams at your head if toed in towards you, and sounds rather muffled and lacking detail. Just put them on the top if you don't wanna mess with the nice look of your scalas (mine were the industrial split version so I just had to remove the top bin).

I am in Belgium, yes... are you in Belgium too??? I'm not sure tube amps are for me. I only tried one of them (cheapo AMC classA EL34) and I was VERY disappointed with the sound: I kept it three days! Overal the sound was "nice" with classical music or anything sweet and acoustic... however it was muddy, "slow" (except in the treble) and "distorted" (not clipping distortion) with heavier stuff such as rock, pop or electro music. So If I could try, maybe I would like a tube amp. But I'm really not sure. Would be nice to try anyways So if you're in Belgium, feel free to send me a private message, we'll get in touch. thanks!

Thanks for all suggestions! Dean, those Musical Fidelity Typhoon power amps were actually made to be sold as mono amps. Most people used them "mono" and they are supposed to sound better that way. They're quite very special little amps (if you do a search on this product on the web, you will only find bridged mono configurations). They're also fairly cheap little amps (around 250$ here, used). Actually this is the best amp I ever heard (but i din't hear monsters such as MacIntosh...) for rock and pop music, as they're incredibly fast, nervous, taut, dynamic... They're very lively and detailed with classical music too. I just wish they were less harsh with music such as Mozart's Requiem for example. But then I tried a few amps that i liked a lot with requiems and classical, but simply sucked with anything a little bit too fast or heavy. So I always come back to my Typhoon... However i'd really like to know how it sounds in bridged mode, but it's difficult to try because you have to make a phase inversor or something like that... there's no 'mono' switch on the amp, you're supposed to use the Typhoon Preamp, there's a "bridged mono outputs" mode on it... since I don't have this preamp I will have to make my own device. I really do like this preamp, that said. I think for the price I can't find anything better: it sounds very close to the CD connected directly to the power amp, with just more bass and authority. I might try a passive preamp such as Creek OBH12. But I don't know about tube preamps... anyways... i'm not in a hurry... thanks for the advices, guys!

I'm considering upgrading my amplifier. I listen mainly to pop-rock-electro but also classical, baroque and opera. I love my sound to be pure, precise, detailed but without harshness. My speakers are modified Scalas (k33E, K55V, K77M, EV SM120 mid horns, AA x-overs). I currently use one single Musical Fidelity typhoon power amp, connected to a Rotel 980BX pre. I listen to CD's, don't have a LP player. I have a few solutions to consider (I'm buying second-hand): 1) buy another Typhoon power amp and run them in monoblocs (150 Musical Fidelity watts/channel), keeping the current preamp 2)Audio Analogue Puccini Special Edition integrated amp 3) ADCOM GFA2 power amp with current preamp 4) MICROMEGA TEMPO integrated amp 5) ruin myself and buy that splendid Conrad Johnson i see evrytime i go in my favourite shop (but after spending all my money i'd be forced to use it with my current preamp, as the CJ preamp is more expensive than the amp!!!) 6) Musical Fidelity A100 integrated class A amp. Any suggestion welcome... I also saw a few Phase Linear and Carver amps for sale... thanks folks!

What is this all about? Why would cheap, "home market" wire be more neutral sounding than expensive audio cable? and what's neutral? are amplifiers, cd players and loudspeakers neutral? never! Maybe cheap speaker cable is less revealing of the harshness in the amplifier or cd player. Then you buy an expensive cable and your system sounds harsh. Is it because of the cable? no... it's just because it lets more informations pass trough. I agree with the fact that high-end audio cable are insanely priced. But I can't believe one can use cheap home market wire for quality hi-fi. There are plenty of good audio cables, wich YES help you tailor the sound (tame a harsh amp, make a dull amp sound a little more lively)and don't cost a fortune. And it's not more "changing the original sound" than buying another amp that sounds different. Please guys, we're not talking equalizer with gadget reverb here!!! Why does an amp sound better than another? Because the circuit is more clever. Yes. Or maybe also because the componets inside, and the soldery, and the passive units on the signal are of better quality. Why would it be different with speaker cable, come on, it's also part of the electric circuit!

I own a pair of modified LaScalas (EV SM120 mid horn in place of the "good" old K400). I absolutely love them. However, now that i moved from my parent's home in the country to an appartement in Brussels, I'm more and more frustrated about the level restrictions... On the preamp, the volume knob never goes higher than 1 (say 7o'clock); after 10pm, I have to lower the output level of the CD player if I don't want the neighbours to complain, and during the night this output level has to be lowered to -25dB!!! No need to mention doing this i'm losing a great deal of the sound quality of my system, especially the CD player when I have to lower its output. I really don't see how people use their Heritage speakers in apartments. Or maybe I should rather use a passive preamp, wich would give less gain, but i'm not sure my power amp would work with a passive preamp (such as the nice Creek OBH 12). You see i don't really mind listening at "low" levels (even if sometimes i wish i could crank it up like in good old times) but if i'm losing sound quality because of that then it's getting a lot more frustrating... why not buy a pair of Bose micro****s then... any suggestions welcome...

I own a pair of modified LaScalas (EV SM120 mid horn in place of the "good" old K400). I absolutely love them. However, now that i moved from my parent's home in the country to an appartement in Brussels, I'm more and more frustrated about the level restrictions... On the preamp, the volume knob never goes higher than 1 (say 7o'clock); after 10pm, I have to lower the output level of the CD player if I don't want the neighbours to complain, and during the night this output level has to be lowered to -25dB!!! No need to mention doing this i'm losing a great deal of the sound quality of my system, especially the CD player when I have to lower its output. I really don't see how people use their Heritage speakers in apartments. Or maybe I should rather use a passive preamp, wich would give less gain, but i'm not sure my power amp would work with a passive preamp (such as the nice Creek OBH 12). You see i don't really mind listening at "low" levels (even if sometimes i wish i could crank it up like in good old times) but if i'm losing sound quality because of that then it's getting a lot more frustrating... why not buy a pair of Bose micro****s then... any suggestions welcome...

Hey guys! I finally received my Electro-Voice SM 120A midrange horns yesterday. I intalled them on my LaScalas (they're the split industrial type, so I just had to remove the top box, put the new horns on top of the bass horns, put the tweeters vertically on the upper lip of the mid horn's mouth, and there you go... ) all i can say is... FANTASTIC!!! I didn't expect such an improvement! Compared to the K400, the SM 120 is just so much better!!!! First thing that immediately spring to your ear is the better clarity of mid frequencies. I hear things in my favourite songs that i never heard before! Tiny voice inflections, vibratos, all things that previously were unnoticeable. Then you listen to some classical music, with violins, voices, and you realise that everything sounds so real, so natural. The violins are not projected in your ear like they were with K400, they "stand" between the speakers, with a physical presence. Voice are not muffled, nasal and somewhat "screamy" like they used to be; they now have a natural tone, they are flesh, not metal... and you can listen long and loud without headache... Same with mid-bass percussions: it now sounds so natural, resonance free! The whole LaScala sound is changed to better, included bass and treble! Then finally you begin to walk in the room, and wherever you stand, the soundfield stays constant, smooth, the sweep spot is now very wide (with the added benefit of the free-standing, vertically mounted tweeters) Those horns don't require any adjustement of any kind (except esthetics), you screw your K55V drivers on them, and there you go, they don't even require level adjustement, they blend perfectly with the bass and tweeters... i would definitely recommand to anyone who wants to improve GREATLY the sound of their klipsch to give them a try, before any other mod... this could be just what you need! My Scalas now sound like I always wanted them to sound!

Wow... thanks for the informations... those EV sentry must be cooool... could you post some pictures of them please? I tried to find some on the web but no success... I didn't know about those bracket, well i thought the holes where made to mount an EV st350 tweeter... in the mid horn's mouth.

I don't own klipschorns... My klipsch are Lascalas. But I have to say that for me the most important thing to get tight, defined, "jumping" strong bass is choosing the right amp!!! I'm now perfectly happy with my little Musical Fidelity amp. This little thing kicks ***! And i tried various different amps. Not sure tube amps are the best for strong tight bass...

can't wait to get mine!!! they're still on their way.... looks like you're very happy with them. Do you have any picts of your modified k-horns? where do you mount the tweeters? i'd like to mount mines vertically in the mouth of the SM120 horns, using some thin home-made brackets or something. I think it could give fantastic results as long as stereo imaging is concerned....

Take the time to build a gorgeous set of wooden midrange horns for your klipschorn, TAD-style!

Because in reality the K400 horn doesn't give you a full)range 90 degrees coverage... as it's a simple EXPONENTIAL horn, there's a "beam" of sound getting sharper as frequency increases... and it can make the sound harsh, along with reducing the "sweep spot"... if you take the altec 511b for example, this is a 90degree SECTORAL horn wich means that used in a klipschorn it'll give you full 90 degrees coverage from 400hz to 6khz... i'm not making this out, there were a few posts about this on this BB already... it's "simple" physical laws... now the EVSM120 I bought give you 120 degrees coverage, wich is "too much" for a k-horn maybe... i'll use them with LaScalas... but actually i'm not sure you can have "too much" coverage for home applications...

(here's a picture of the horns i bought)

Hey guys just bought a splendid pair of EV sm120 sectoral horns for only 60 euros...don't have them yet, they're on their way... I saw a guy here who has such horns on his scalas... would like to see that installation again but can't find the topic anymore... Would like to know if there is any measurable benefit of having the horn attached to a wooden baffle ( I know that with the K400 horns it helps lowering the cut off frequency, but don't know if this is necessary with SM120 horn) Also i would like to know if placing the tweeter co-axially in the horn, as EV does for PA application, would be a good idea for hi-fi... doesn't it cause some diffraction to the midrange frequencies??? thanks dudes :-) Frans

Hey there... i have a few spare K400 horns and k55V drivers. But i live in Europe... shipping might be very expensive. I would, however, since you have all the choice left, recommand you to pick up "better" horn lenses... like Altec 511B or like the EV SM120 i just bought... both are "sectoral" horns, not "exponential" and will give you better openess of sound and wider coverage... EV SM120 has the added benefit of being made from ABS or something like that, wich doesn't ring like cast metal horn lenses, and you don't even need an adapter to screw the K55 driver in it. good luck... contact me if you want a set of k400...

Thanks Guy, but it's a bit out of my budget!... I missed the auction on the SM120 today. I was the winner, until at the last second, a guy came and outbidded me. And he bought BOTH pairs! he didn't even let me one...GRRRR ( I spent the whole day thinking about it. This guy is a DJ, I'm sure one pair will stay in his garage, while he destroys the other... anyway there's a new pair for sale already, but it's more expensive. They come with the EV drivers, i was wondering if those drivers are better than my K55V. I'll let you know if I get those. They are close to the Belgian border, wich is nice to say the least. But I'm afraid i'll be outbidded again by a deep pocketed DJ... hem. Frans

Yep, true; incidentally all the Klipsch pieces I bought second hand were used in the PA sector. Very few belgian people use horn speakers for their hi-fi system; most of those who do own old JBL and stuff like that. Bad thing is: I don't have friends who own klipsch speakers; good thing is: those used klipsch speakers from the PA sector come for very cheap ( I paid 250$ for my La Scalas)... I'll let you know if I buy the EV horns, and how they sound...I'm sure they sound fantastic! Frans

Great!!! thanks thanks thanks!!! I will try to get one pair of those EV horns! They seem even better than altec and i don't need any adapter to screw my k55v into them... thanks to everybody, and long live Klipsch BB!!!! Frans

Hi! I'm desperately seeking for a pair of Altec 511B horns, but it must be in Europe, near Belgium...... also EV SM120A or Selenium biradial... thanks... (but are they european people on this BB??) Frans

Hi I have the opportunity to buy a pair of altec 805-A cellular horns for very cheap... cheaper than the 511B i wanted to buy. Are they good enough for the job? better or less good than 511?? i heard once that multicell horns sound "strange", is that true?? thanks.....

I admit the klipschorn is already very good sounding, but if I were to build some k-horn "clones" i would use a better type of midrange horns. I don't have k-horns, i have LaScalas, but they share the same K400 horns. Well IMHO those straight horns are way too much directional if you're not sitting far from the speakers in a very large room...that is, in a professional environment... see the "altec 511B" posts... really, you might want to build some other horns, not to mention they WOULDN'T necessarily need to be more difficult to build... just my thoughts!

Woops... I'm glad to be gay men like big speakers!