Shakeydeal

Of course it would be best to hear both speakers in the same room with the same system. But I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary. I think once you hear the AL5 you will know pretty quickly if they are for you or not. And to answer your earlier question to me, yes I use subs (2) with the LS II.

I have to laugh at people who flip out when some random dude on the internet disagrees with them. It’s supposed to be fun and I’m not going to get down and mudsling with someone I don’t know and will probably never meet. Better things to do….

Who said you can’t discuss it? And I don’t give two s$&ts about which one measures better. I guarantee you one will sound better than the other. And if I were shopping at that level and the 1400.00 preamp sounded better, I’d buy it and keep the difference. If the more expensive one wins, then I weigh the delta and decide if it’s “worth” it to ME. If it is, then I spend MY money. Worth is such a subjective term. So no need beating this thing to death. You are welcome to if it suits you because this is, as you suggest, an open forum for such things.

I see the point you’re trying to make. But a Honda civic will get me to and fro much like a Ferrari 296. In their basic forms, both are essentially cars. Does that mean I should tell someone the F car is not “worth” 300k? Just like an economy car has its place, so does an exotic one. And both are worthy to different buyers. Now before someone says you can objectively measure why the Ferrari is better on a track I will say that a good system brings its owner joy that will never be measured by test equipment.

Yes, and I suspected as much. The LS II is much closer to the AL5 than to what you had.

I think the “broad swipe” is to assign worth to something out of context. A 50k preamp wouldn’t be on my radar even if I had Elon Musk money. But most people approach the question of “worth” from the perspective of whether or not they can afford the item in question. If it’s within reach, the answer is different than if it’s truly a pipe dream. So yes, a 50k preamp can be worth the $$ if one can afford it and one likes what it does. Who am I (or you) to say otherwise?

Would you like to qualify that remark with a “not worth it to me”?

Are you sure they were LS II? The resonance sounds like original lascalas. What year were they produced?

This isn’t the comparison you’re looking for, but close. I owned a pair of CW IVs and sold them for a pair of LaScala IIs. As good as the Cornwalls are, the LS IIs excel at midrange openness and texture. Slightly more dynamic sounding too. So that said, I’m sure the AL5 will be even better. As you already know, subs will be necessary to equal the performance of the Cornwall in that area. But the bass of the LaScala is world class in definition and impact. Just doesn’t go very low.

If one isn't going to sweat the details with the rest of the system, zip cord is just fine. However, if you have done your homework and have put together a system of high quality components and have sorted out your room, cables can and do make the icing on the cake. You can usually take the responses of those who say otherwise and make an assumption that they have not done these things and you'd be right a good percentage of the time.

GLWS

They are beautiful, there’s no denying that. So what makes you believe you can “clear” 7000.00? Hey, you said to ask questions.

I can't say if it's worth the money to you or not. But the WE tubes will be head and shoulders above the stock tubes.

I bet they are long gone. Same as the OP.

Agreed. Horns don’t make good near field monitors. You need space between you and the speakers.