CapZark

Having re-veneered a couple pairs myself I can tell you how much time and material goes into a project like this. Even though I dont like the look of them personally they do appear to be very well done. I can't stand speakers that have chips and tears and scratches all over them. These look perfect in that respect and he should be able to command a higher price because of it. If a clean pair of stock La Scalas can fetch $1,200 on FleaBay then $2,000 to $2,200 would not be out of the question for these. I bet the guy is probably making about $10 bucks an hour for his labor of love when its all said and done. If you like them and you can afford them, get them. Life is short. If not, its easy to just sit back an say they are overpriced.....

Got to see that house, man. That's the beauty of the LS. I built upstairs grills from my last set and liked them okay, but when I restored my latest set I went naked and actually prefer that look the best. I like to see that big horn staring at me. There is no right or wrong when it comes to looks. It's all a matter of taste. I once saw a pair that were covered in shag carpet and the owner loved them that way.

Those ain't worth no 9K! His number seems okay if not a little high.

I think they are ugly.

They are gone now, but 1g for Chorus is too much.

If you like heavily modified speakers, then go ahead. Personally, I like the bright sound of the stock horn. If I wanted something warmer, I'd just buy a different speaker. The tweet on top looks kind of goofy too.

I dont like them. IMO when you cover up the doghouse on a pair of La Scalas you basically ruin them.

Love these. Had a pair just like that and thought they were worth every bit of what your friend is asking. Didnt work out they way for me, but they do rock. Kinda wish I still had them.

A few years ago I purchased a pair of La Scalas that had been sitting in an old cellar for about 5 or 10 years. When I brought them home they were covered in spider webs, mold and dirt. I cleaned them up over time, but in the process I believe a few brown recluse spiders came along for the ride. I started seeing these spiders a couple of years later and I believe they "might" have come from this purchase. I'm offering this as just a word to the wise - check these old speakers closely before you drag them into your domain. You never know what might be hiding in them. I'm glad to report I finally chased all the hitchhikers out of the house, but they are stubborn little buggers.

No comparison really, and nothing truly "blows away" a La Scala. Are there better speakers? Certainly, but La Scalas are one-of-a-kind like the K-horns. The efficiency is so important. Even with a big gun amp, I'd take a 103 over a 90 any day of the week. And a speaker without a horn? No frappin way (goes with the forum your on I guess).

I ran 12, but truthfully I think 14 is just fine. I have older equipment and 12 wont even fit in the back of some older equipment. 18 is very much on the edge of what would be acceptable. It will work, but I probably wouldn't accept anything less than 16 if I knew about it on the front side. I hope the drywall isn't up yet? Wire isn't cheap, but its worth doing if you can get to it. If not, I'd just live with the 18 and be pissed. If you approach your contractor he'll tell you its fine because most of them dont know boo about A/V systems.

I've had them all and La Scalas are the best.

Thanks for the advice, CAKE. I'll check into that place. I do have a question about edge banding. Do you have to use special stuff made for veneering the edges or can you just use the same venner you use for the panels (using the same glue and iron method)? I also guess tyou do the panels first and then put on the edge banding?

That's way beyond my grade level. We have only one good source of veneer around here and it comes in 4X8 sheets (paper backed). I also use the heat lock glue. I've had horable results with contact cement. The veneer I get has a repeating pattern in it that's about 6 inches wide. Not like that sweet rosewood you use. I think I will run the grain front to back rather than up and down since the La Scalas are nothing more than a big box - so all the grain moving front to back, top, sides, and inards. The stock box runs this way except the grain on the angled panels in the house run up and down. I guess I'll stick with this plan.

Yes, those look spectacular. Way more accents and trim than I am capable of though. I started thinking about it and decided I will try to veneer the inside of the house. My plan for the grills was to use the flat piece at the very back of the triangle or angled board to support one side of the grill and then tack on another brace directly opposite to support the other side of the grill. This grill would be much smaller than what you see in this picture and it would be further back basically exposing the entire diagonal in the house. They would also be at a right angle to the sides of the speaker, not at an angle like you see here. What do you think about that? Will those grills be too small and too far back to look respectable? Also, will the tacked in brace that far back effect the sound coming out of the loaded bass horn? The last thing I want to do is screw up the sound.