Daan

My Decware Zen amps also only have 2 Watts to offer, but they play very [very] nice with Al's "universals". These crossovers can be used for other speakers as well, so if you buy something else later; put them in your new ones.

I read about the same issue when looking at the University Classic design. These horns also have such a turn where you'd expect a deflector BUT I think the designers have seen that spot as well and had their reasons NOT to add a extra panel under a specific angle there. From what I read, it's not as simple as it looks, I resisted trying it when I was rebuilding the Classics. Not sure if you are talking about the bassreflex mod for La Scala's in your first post ?

Before replacing my La Scala stock-sized mid-horns for the EV HR-90's I had to find another place for the tweeters. I simply placed them on top of the cabinets and positioned them in the middle; sounded more open compared with them in the original place. Also soundstage became wider. I always wondered about that; the original [ rear-] mounting of the tweeters looks kinda weird..... Go ahead and place them on top; if they're a bit high, tilt them a bit downwards so they will "beam" nicely to the sweetspot. You could be in for a nice surprise.

God's word must have been heard loud and clear.

Strange how things come together sometimes; about 7 months ago I had bought a pair of Beyma CP750Ti drivers [2 inch]. These prooved to be a mismatch for the EV horns I had in the La Scala's [1.4 inch], I simply did not pay attention when I bought them. Now a friendly forum-member in The Netherlands just offered a set of EV940 horns on the Dutch version of Craigslist. These horns would make a good match for my drivers and we made a nice deal, so after arrival I bolted the massive drivers onto the horns and my wife said; "those would fit in the Classics as well, wouldn't they..?" NOW SHE DID IT.... I had to try and on a rainy Sunday I removed the cobreflex horns with tweeters and fitted the 2 inch combo. Using a active crossover at 600Hz 18Db slope, the two Decware mono's for mids and a 100W Denon amp for lows I played some music..... This played more " lifelike" and with more punch than I expected and after some finetuning my wife predicted; You've got some work to do on the speakers again dear". I had to admit it simply sounded way better and it looks awesome too! The Beyma's do a terriffic job playing from .6K all the way up to 20K and I'll never play them hard enough to do some damage, even crossed that low. Bottom line; we're going two-way active for sure, I already cut the flanges off the 940's [they are just slightly bigger now than the Cobreflex], sanded and spray-painted them in the same colour as the interior of the Classic. Next I'll be making a holder to mount the massive combo inside the basshorn-mouth. To be continued [as always]. Nico

Started with one "Decware Zen" amp , now got two which are rewired and modded as mono's now. Small amps, no bling but they combine superbly with horns. LOVE THEM.

Thanks for your all your comments, nice to see that this make-over looks decent even for people who know about their horns.... Some modifications came during the build itself, like the placing of the tweeters; others had to be prepared from the beginning like the added braces. We will be selling the original N-3 crossovers and tweeters as we plan to first use the ALK's with the CT125's and later go two-way active with a 2 inch driver that reaches up to 20Khz. I've seen the single one for sale, thanks for the tip.... but I think I reached the max size this time for speakers to be placed inside our modest livingroom. The upper half of the basshorn-mouth will have a frame covered with a speakergrille so that the big Cobreflex horns do not stare at you anymore, sitting in "the sweet spot". We're happy you enjoy this project with us! Nico

Last pics, it was still difficult to choose from about the hundred pics made during the build. I integrated the CT125 tweeters [Crites] into the Cobreflex midhorns by removing some material from the middle; they fitted right in after that, I removed the flanges. Well....then after constructing a pivot for the mid-high section and bolting everything together it was time to drag them into place and hook them up to the Decware Zen tube amps. Right from the start these speakers fill the room with authority, can't find a better description. We were used to the balanced sound of the heavilly modded La Scala's but were immediately struck by the richness of the Universals. Let me say that my wife is VERY happy with the endresult, it made her forget all the mess we had in our livingroom during sanding, coating and working on them. Hope you enjoy looking at this thread, I learned a lot from looking at all the threads you guys posted! Thanks, Nico

Still going backwards with these pics, simply look from bottom left please. You can see the lexan material, the frames, and front panels ready to be mounted with braces. Next the crossovers; the well-known ALK Universals [funny how the name fits] ; these crossovers are indeed universal as they let these monsters play loud and clean.

Oops, pics appear in the wrong order.... but we'll go on. Next My dad and I glued a layer of 9mm birch onto all sides, making the thickness of the panels 27mm [more than one inch for you guys]. Everytime I had time and the weather was good, I dragged them outside and continued sanding the cabs and putting the colour on the cabs. In the end two layers of cherry, and one layer walnut prooved to be what we wanted. You can see them together with the La Scala's in our livingroom. I wanted the big woofer-panel fixed into the cabinet, and a window to be able to see the monstrous C-15W woofers. Making the frames to hold the 15mm lexan was a pain; special alloy aluminium prooved to be tough to work with..

After removal of the units not everything prooved to be re-usable. First the cabs were taken care off; removal of all parts that did nothing for the sound but only made the cabs square and big. Next the fabrication of supports [braces] and sanding off the black coating, then painting the inside with primer.

Again I was staring at the screen, showing the add of a set of black theatre- monsters called "University Classics". -I had no transport to get them home and no place to store them -I promissed my wife the La Scala's were the biggest loudspeakers I had dragged into our livingroom -The La Scala's sounded fantastic after all the work I had put into it, we had no desire for other speakers. SO; I called the owner and agreed to pick them up next weekend. After that call I told my wife what I had done, she reacted with " it's your passion dear, pick them up and we'll see if they fit in here". After pickup we dragged one of the cabs inside and swapped it for one La Scala; after a few minutes we knew these were our next speakers.... Next day began a project that became a experience to remember. Out of the blue my father [a old carpenter] offered to store them and help with the woodwork I had in mind; our relation never was good enough for me to expect that.... After a few weeks the cabs were ready to take home and finish there; we rearranged the livingroom so that the cabs could stay there, work would be done outside. The rest of this story will be told by some pics; give me some time to post them and I hope you'll enjoy. Nico

Thanks guys, give me some time to pick some interesting photo's from the hundred-plus I made during the past months while rebuilding them. And yes, I constructed a large [ball- bearing style] pivot to position the mid-high section at any angle. Will be back with building-pics for those interested. Nico

Hi Moray, I will make a post about " the rebirth of the University Classics" soon, showing the makeover from black theatre-monsters to wife-approved furniture with a BIG sound. Drawings; http://www.geocities.ws/loudspeakerguru/UniversityClassic.jpg They're only playing since last Wednesday, buy already impressed with effordlessly playing loud, clean and low.

HR-90 horns that I sanded down to the right size to fit the La Scala tops. First I replaced the K-400 with the Fastracs; a huge improvement. Later I wanted to go two-way and installed these EV's with 18-sound 1.4 inch neo drivers that go all the way to 20K with minor EQ. Used active two-way they sound very direct and coherent, used passive with K55-V drivers, CT125 tweeter and ALK universal filters they sound smooth and very refined. Biggest difference is the way they "get the sound into the room" , the EV's win hands down and are able to project a better and bigger soundstage. The La Scala's are replaced since last week by my latest project; modded "University Classic S-8 " hornsystem. Nico

Pic attached now.

I guess you never seen these before as well...

The best preamp I ever had [and still use today] is a pot from "Thel audio" [germany]. http://www.thel-audioworld.de/bauteile/regler/Potis.htm This passive component lets me control the volume by a remote control while it adds or detracts nothing. I tried out a bunch of similar pots from exotic brands but came back to this one. Combined with the 2V output CD player and hornsystem I do not need any extra gain and in fact this is perfect for beeing able to control the volume in a precise way from background to full throttle.

Thanks Cris, I will try that. Will post "the rebirth of a pair University Classics" in a week or so; after a complete makeover they are still the hornsystems they were but with a totally different look. Nico

Thanks Cris, I had a feeling it might be something like that but I have my limitations in this area... So best is to connect only one voicecoil as this way the crossover "sees" the nominal inductance that it was designed for? Thank you, Nico

Hello fellow members, I'm looking for help regarding my C15-W woofers [university classic horns] . As I'd like to use my "UNIVERSAL " crossover from Al Klappenberger I wonder if that is going to work for this woofer. These woofers have two voice coils of 3,1 Ohm each , making 6,2 or 1,6 Ohm connection possible.... The label on the woofer says to connect in parralel for 4-8 Ohms and series for 10-20 Ohms. This seems to be wrong as the coils measure 3,1 Ohm each....? Coil on the crossover is 1.3Mh [as I read it on the coil itself]. All help is appreciated!! Thanks, Nico

I liked the sound of the K400/55 combo for years but after hearing Dave's tractrix design [fastrac] with the same K55-v 's I was amazed about all the details that were there suddenly. Though a tractrix like that does sound "soft" at first, going back to the K400 after a week or three was a big dissappointment.... I sold them without any regrets. Now every comination of driver/ horn sound DIFFERENT and what sounds right to YOU is RIGHT IMO. Nico

I'm thinking about the biggest version to go with my new Universal Classic cabinets and go two-way since I've got a pair of Beyma CP750Ti drivers lying around doing nothing... How do your horns sound like, it is a tractrix design right? Nico