jhoak

I plan to use one of the "Universal" crossovers to start. Perhaps with the 4500 change. I costed out the parts and it adds $107 to the cost of the kit. We'll see... I'm not entirely sure the "ES" upgrades are cost justified in a DIY La Scala. The BB is flipped over so the original opening up. Of course this made for a few "challenges". Since the bottom was now the top all four corners of both cabinets were in pretty bad shape. I don't like Bondo. I don't want it in my cars and I don't want it in my speakers. What I did instead was carefully cut away several layers of the original plywood and inlay thin strips of oak. You can spot one of them in the second picture. I'll try to get a shot or two of some of the others before they get veneered over. A lot of work but better than expected results. As for the ports, all of the design work was based on info gleaned here. The shelf is 7" deep. I'm assuming that shelf depth and port length are equal. But if that assumption is wrong it's very easy to cut the shelves a different depth. They're held in by small "L" brackets and very easy to remove. I've cut a pair of slotted backs for the THs but I'm not happy with them so I'll be cutting different ones. In the first version the ports are 9.25" long and 1.5" wide. The ends are round. That dimension gets me to within .06" of the total ID of 4" PVC pipe. Since the shelf is 2" down from the top cleat the next version will be 2" wide ports. I don't recall the length without consulting the drawing but obviously they'll be shorter than the 1.5" ports. I've also drawn up a single 2" port version. I'll decide which way to go soon. I'm getting really anxious to get them drug in to the living room and give them a listen... More to come...

Thanks all!!! What you're seeing represents a LOT of hours of work. Especially considering that this is my first attempt at veneer work. So far everything is turning out better than I expected it to. I'm actually getting better at it as I go along. I think I'll end up with one so-so veneer job and one pretty nice one. I'm really hoping that they sound as good as I think they will. When I'm done (who am I kidding, we're never really "done") they'll have Crites woofers, Crites tweeters, GotHover fastrac horns, and ALK crossovers. That's a few months out though. I have to add the various bit's and pieces as the budget allows. Makes for a fun "long term" upgrade project. The jury is still out on finish but it's looking like Watco Danish oil. I've got scraps of veneer with different stain colors scattered all over my garage. What I'm liking best at the moment is Watco "Cherry" (one coat) with 2 or 3 more coats of Watco "natural". Of course there will be some manner of wax after the finish is well set. We'll see...

And finally an explaination of what's going on here... A few months ago I bought a pair of "beater" La Scalas. I paid WAY to much for them in a moment of weakness when I really wanted a pair of La Scalas. After listening to them fo a while and doing a lot of reading here I began to formulate a "plan". I cut the tops off and built a pair of tophats. The bass bins have been flipped over and a 2" riser added. The bottoms have been cut out of the tophats such that they sit on the bass bins and by way of foam weather stripping will seal to the bass bins. In the top of the tophats is a "port shelf". It's installed such that I can easilly change the depth of the shelf. The backs of the tophats will have slot ports. The cool thing about the design is that they can be configured 6 different ways. (1) conventional by covering the doghouse opening (2) conventional with the BB facing backwards (3) slot ported (4) slot ported with the BB facing backwards (5) much larger volume cabinet by installing a solid TH back (6) larger cabinet with the BB facing backwards. It'll be another week or two before they find their way back to my living room. Hopefully by the time that happens I will have raised the coin for a sweet tube amp to drive them with. If not they'll just have to get by being driven by a Marantz 2240. How bad can that be?

A general idea of what the final product is going to look like...

A pair of veneered tophats...

Bass bin ( waiting for it's turn to be veneered...

Freshly veneered bass bin almost ready for final sanding...

Now there's a signature line if I've ever seen one... []

Here's a set of cornwall plans. Two different port styles are shown. Cornwall_Plans.pdf

And I listened. I'm assuming that you know a whole lot more about such things than I do. A pretty easy assumption actually since you need to know much to know more than me. I wish I had my camera back from Nikon repair so I could post a picture... What I did was a single brace on either side of the bass bin offset from center by 2.5". Where I took a different tack is that one brace is 2.5" below center and the other is 2.5" above center. The cabinets are "mirror" imaged so that depending on how they end up the they match. Of course appearance wise it's pointless as they'll be covered by grills. I should be wrapping up this coming weekend. Nikon tells me that my camera has shipped back to me. I'd have liked to have been taking photo's all along the process. Oh well... I'll document the next project better.

I've never done an oil finish. How many coats should be done? Do they need to sit for a while before I can apply wax?

Here's a set of drawings that turned up on another forum... Cornwall_Plans.pdf

The final veneer is red oak. I've tried a sample with the Watco "cherry" oil with stain. A single coat makes the color I'm after but I'm afraid the second coat will make it darker. Something I don't want. I'll know more tomorrow when I apply the second coat on the sample piece. I really hadn't thought about wax but now that you mention it I suspect it's a good idea to (a) bring out a bit more sheen and ( add some protection. I can't wait to have my camera back in house. Trying to use my phone to take decent pictures is an exercise in frustration. I've got a document started documenting the process. To date I'm 7 weeks in. I have high hopes for them. I'll be crushed (momentarily) if after all of this work thay sound like crap.

Has anyone ever used any of the Watco oil finishes. In particular the ones that "stain & finish". If so I have questions for you. 1) Does the color get darker with succesive coats or do you need to switch to a non-staining variety after the first or second coat? 2) Will latex paint stick to an area that has the oil on it? I plan to paint the motorboard black and like Greg Roberts I prefer to stain first then paint. I suppose I could mask off those areas but I'm lazy and would prefer to avoid that if possible. I know that I'll be masking the stained areas prior to painting, just trying to avoid double work. 3) How did your project turn out? Are you happy with the results? Would you do it the same again? 4) Is there any compelling reason to NOT use Watco oil finish? My project is a pair of 83 La Scalas that are undergoing a total restoration/rebuild/refinish with a little "surprise" for you guys. What's the surprise you ask? Yep... Another pair of "reflex modded" La Scalas only with a twist. These are slot ported out of the back of the tophat. I haven't really mentioned the project here except in passing because my camera has been at Nikon being repaired. I got the email yesterday that it had shipped so I'll be able to post some photos very soon. Come on... You know that every time someone posts a new project the very first response is "pictures... we need pictures... More to come...

I briefly considered the same process with mine. I thought about laminating 1/2" MDF to the top, bottom, and sides and then veneering the whole mess. I abandoned the idea because (A) it eliminated any possibility of commercially available edge banding, I'd need to find 1 1/4" edge banding or waste an assload of veneer. ( it made the bass bins 1" wider than the tophats. Not a "big deal" but visually that's the kind of stupid thing that makes me crazy (Yes I'm THAT OCD). Since I've already completed and veneered the tophats I was pretty much married to that width dimension. I really didn't want to add another 1/2" all the way around on the tophats and scrap out the that much veneer. I really think (OK... I'm hoping) that simple braces will be just as effective as adding additional panel thickness in taming some of the cabinet resonance. I'll know soon enough... [] What I do find interesting is the comments on brace placement. It would not have ocurred to me to NOT center them in the opening. Especially since every one of the brace installs I've seen have been either centered or in the case of two braces evenly spaced in thirds. The concept makes sense but I'm not yet convinced that 2 1/2" one way or the other will make all that much difference.

Oh yea... I already have. Absolutely stunning work. I hate it when someone "raises the bar" [] I copied his shape and cut the pattern this evening. My plan is to make grills just like the La Scalas that he did. That's bound to be a world easier than trying to veneer the interiors of the bass bins to match the exteriors.

I'm in the process of reworking a pair of La Scalas. I know that the bass bin can stand some additional bracing. I've seen some who do a single brace centered and some who do a pair of them effectively dividing the opening in to thirds. Is there any distinct advantage to either approach? Obviously one brace per side is a lot less cutting and a lot less work but if two of them is a lot better then it's worth the effort. Input from anyone who has done either (or both)?

OK... It gets even stranger... I got home this evening, click on the original link and it goes right in with no problems. Whatever change they made it looks like the DNS updates are finally getting to the far corners of the country.

I went to http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com and entered audiokarma.org. It reported that it was just me and gave me the link. Clicked on the link and it worked fine. Clicked on the old link in my favorites and it bombs. No problem... created a new favorite and life is good. HMMM... There must be something a little wonky in the DNS down here.

Anyone know what happened to audiokarma.org? Looks like they fell off of the web.

How does the cabinet volume on these compare to Heresys?

Re-introduction actually. Once upon a time I had some really nice old tubed McIntosh equipment. Alas divorce has a way of forcing you to give up the things you love in order to do things like eat... Is anyone using Dynaco tube amps with their Klipsch speakers? I see quite a few of them for sale in various states of restoration. I'm especially interested in the brand because you can still get pretty much all of the parts fairly easily. Got a Dynaco? Hooked up to Klipsch speakers? OK... Which amp and what speakers? Most importantly how does it sound? F.Y.I. I've got a pair of poor-mans Cornscalas, a pair of La Scalas undergoing restoration & upgrade, and a pair of Heresys. I haven't decided on a preamp so I'll probably use my Marantz 2240 as a preamp until I become inspired. THANX!

The PM was in reference to having a known good K-33E available for sale. Nothing at all to do with the eBay auction. Although I am a bit skeptical about the woofer shown in the auction. I don't think I'd buy it unless I was able to get it a really really good price.

I just sent you a PM about this.

I'm not real sure if this belongs in the HT area or the 2 channel area. Let's start here. Note to moderators: If you feel that this should be moved PLEASE do so. I have not the space nor the means to have both a dedicated 2 channel system AND a 5.1 HT system. I've been looking at some of the HT Pre/Pro pieces and I frequently come across the term "HT Pass-Through". Given that I'm certainly not the sharpest tool in the shed I just can't wrap my brain around how this would hook up. What I would like to end up with is (a) a nice 2 channel system with tube main amps AND ( a decent 5.1 HT system for movie nights. As a FYI the current hardware is a pair of Cornscalas as mains, an Academy at center and a pair of Heresys as surrounds. Bringing up the "bottom" is a custom built IB subwoofer driven by a Berhinger EP2500 amp. The main Pre/Pro/Amp is a Pioneer Elite receiver though I'm currently shopping 5 and 7 channel amps. I'm a bit partial to Emotiva and Outlaw so I suspect that I'll end up with one of them at the front end. Possible?