Gorm

Since I don't really have the funds for a Mcintosh Tube amp...would something like a Conrad Johnson Mv-52 be worth getting over the Mc2505 solid State, or would they be pretty similar?

I'm still thinking a tube amp would help the sound overall though as well. The Mcintosh 2505 is well, but I'm thinking at some point I should think about getting a tube amp, I think this may very well help my issues with the mid bass as well.

I removed the absorbers from the room completely, reinstalled the sub, and pointed the speakers at about a 40ish degree angle, (basically the tweeter is now pointed at the opposite couch arm and they cross about 3-4 feet in front of the center position. What a difference...the harshness with minimized greatly. I'm still getting a bit of mid bass, but now I can turn them up much louder than before and not get that nauseating feeling I was getting. Bad thing is, I put the ALKs back in and the image and clarity improved far more. I'm thinking I may keep those well, they def were not working out in that old position, the AAs were much better there.

When you put the drivers onto the Fastracs did you use new gaskets? With fastacs the gaskets should be omited. No need for them and they restrict the throat. The bug screens may also be removed. Really? I will pull them out and see what happens.

I did measure the resistance of both K-55Ms, I got 11.4 on one and 11.2 on the other...so I doubt those are any problems at all.

I agree on the tow in, I have had them like this, the only problem is they tend to sound a bit too harsh in the center position. I'm not sure what to make of those sound absorbers, the guy I bought the La Scalas from originally had all this old sound deadening stuff he gave me as well. I'm not sure if they are having any effect or not.

No, I reused the same gaskets...they didn't look bad, they were not cracking or hard. There weren't in a absolutly perfect flexable condition, but then again I've never seen what a new one of those gaskets looks like. I'll probably just replace them anyway and grab a couple from crites when I order my heresy woofers from him.

You know i've never measured them for resistance...i should check that. Could be that they are bad or going bad...

I currently have K-55-Ms in the La Scalas. I did just buy a set of the soder joint style K-55s for my Heresy restoration...hummmm.

I currently have a Mcintosh 2505. For the most part I love it with the La Scalas, the imaging is good, the bass is almost a little too heavy, but good. However the highs sometimes put out quite a shrill on female singers, for example it happens on almost every Taylor Swift song. And yes, I realize that most of her work isn't designed music for the La Scalas...part of the reason why I'm picking up a pair of junk Heresys to restore. I am currently running the crites A/AA crossovers with the AA in position. But anyway, would a tube amp help out with the mids / highs? If so would this amp be a good example? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Conrad-Johnson-MV-52-Power-Amp-Mint-Condition-/120979765383?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item1c2af4b887 I like the Mcintosh tube offerings, but they are super expensive and many people say their bass is not good. Thanks

Well I did swap them onto the long way and....it was horrible. While having them 10+ feet apart did give a nice stereo image, I was sitting way to close to them. There was probably 5 feet between the start of the sofa to the speaker. That idea could probably with Cornwalls, but the La Scalas are way to deep. I ended up moving them back and did a little experimenting. First thing I did was plug in the K-77 tweeters...bad idea, they run WAYYY to hot with the ALKs. So i came down and did a little research on this site...I found a user who did similar experiments and said the difference between teh CT125 tweeter and K-55 should be 9.0 db on the ALK universals. Well, I did try this back in the original position and wow. So far, the bass it def more prevalent and the speakers sound much better and much much less harsh at higher volume levels. My new crites woofers who up today, and they will be installed tonight.

So basically, The room itself is probably 14x20 with an 8x6 foyer attached near teh front door. I'm looking forward to rearranging when I get home.

Well, time to revive this thread as the ALK universals showed up, and made one hell of a difference in sound / imaging. However I still think i'm surffering from the "tunnel" problem in my room. Tonight when I get home I'm going to swap them onto the long side of the wall about 8-10 feet apart and see if this takes care of it. Hopefully i will be better able to integrate the subwoofer in this fashion. I want to use a sub with the La Scalas, but everytime and on any settings, you can always tell that the bass is coming from the la scala, where I would like to be able to think its coming from the la Scalas.

Damn...I really wish I was headed out to Wyoming. I would love to get these. No chance of shipping at all?

Well, I bought and swapped in a McIntosh Mc2505...I also swapped back in the Crites A/4500. So basically I am running the Logitech Duet directly into the McIntosh with L and R splitters going for the subwoofer. I think I'm in audio heaven. Harshness is just about gone, except when very loud. I did have ALK make me a pair of universals, those should be here in a few weeks. We will see at that time which comes out on top, the ALK to the Crites 4500, which ever pair loses will get sold.

I am beginning to think that the A/4500 crossover really isn't needed now that the K-400 is out of the picture. A type AA would probably be just fine.

Your probably right...

Well I went ahead and swapped the original AA crossovers back into the La Scalas. The harshness is all but gone. The only real time I can detect harshness now is when I'm just playing them to loud to sustain. At Low-mid volumes they sound great. The AAs and the wood horns seem to be a pretty nice combo. There is a minor loss of clarity which is noticeable on vocals, probably due to the crossover ages. However they still sound very good. I also noticed that the bass became a bit louder and more pronounced than how it was with the Crites 4500...not sure whats going on there, I wouldn't think there would be a difference at all in that department. Maybe the A/4500 just aren't a good combo with the wood horns? I'm thinking of having a pair of ALK universals built for them now...

Lifting the speakers on 2x4s made them sound far worse. I also couldn't tell much of a difference by lifting them slightly in the front...oh well. I think I will invest in an equalizer to take out the room, that seems to be the problem at this point.

They are currently towed just slightly so that each tweeter is aimed to the other side of the listening position. I felt this was an improvement over the directly at the listening position. I'll have to grab some pictures tonight when I get home so you guys have a better idea.

Possible, at this point I'm not sure. As I said, its only at the higher volumes, at lower volumes they sound excellent. Another thing I'm going to do when I get home is raise the speakers about 4 inches off the floor. The sound stage is just a little too low as the tweeter is just slightly below ear level when I sit down. I'm not sure what this will do to improve the sound, although I'm sure it will cut the bass back a bit.

I will say that I did have them hooked up to a NAD 7240, and they sounded even brighter than with the emotiva. I was really surprised, because that receiver sounds sooooooo good with my dads Heresys.

This room has no treatments to it. This is my living room. The rooms demensions are 12x28. Height is 8 feet. The La Scalas are currently pointed towards the longer part of the room.

I just can't seem to get my newly redone La Scalas to sound just right. Currently here is my setup: 1979 La Scalas Crites CT125 Tweeters K-55-M Mid Tratrix Drop-In Wood Horns - These things rock! Crites A/4500 crossovers. Bins were cross braced and grilled over as part of the resoration. Woofers are factor Klipsch. The part number escapes me at the momnet, they were in very good condition when inspected during restoration. Current Amp Setup: (Not a big tube sound guy) Emotiva USP-1 EMotiva UPA-2 Logitech Squeezebox Duet Klipsch RSW-10D for below 60 HZ. (Soon to be RSW-12) I love the sound out of the speakers at lower volumes, however at higher volumes it seems to be blaring, and just harsh. I have a feeling this is due to the mid range. I have explored the possibility of going with ALK Universals instead of the A/4500. IDK...maybe I just shouldn't listen to my music too loud. What do you guys think?

Only 7.2? and 1499? Wow, guess I'll still with the Denon as its an awesome pre-pro.