derringmusik

What's the current market price for a pair of Klipsch Belle speakers made around 2002, both in excellent original condition with no modifications? I'm located in the Southeast. Thanks.

Has anyone tried Mapleshade heavyweight footers under the La Scala? Seems like these would work very well. http://shop.mapleshadestore.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HFSET From Mapleshade website: "Nothing hurts the sound of speakers more than mounting them unrigidly on carpet, on rubber feet, on damping pads, on flimsy stands or on shaky shelves. Flexible mounting lets the speaker rock back as the drives cone(s) moves forward. That means boomy bass with weakened attack and dynamic punch. Similarly, freely vibrating speaker enclosure panels muddy the midrange and treble. To make a speaker sound its best you must stop it from rocking and you must drain panel vibration efficiently. This requires coupling the speaker, via massive brass footers, directly to the floor or directly to an ultra-rigid stand. You can’t get optimal sound just by placing the speaker’s flat bottom on the floor or on a stand. Because of the large area, low-pressure contact, much of the cabinet’s vibrational energy is reflected back instead of being drained efficiently and cleanly down into the floor."

Myibidder.com Reliable and free service. I've used it many times with great success.

The Audion amps sound very good. You'll definitely enjoy it. Cheers!

I read the exuberant and positive La Scala II review by Sam Tellig from several years ago, and he actually hooked up a supertweeter to use with the La Scala II. He used it to extend the upper frequencies, since the upper frequencies only extend to about 17kHz on the stock LSII tweeter. Anyone here try using a supertweeter? I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts on this. Thanks!

Audion is a UK company and makes some good sounding gear. I've owned one of their 300B amps and it sounded quite good. My only concern has been longterm reliability of Audion products. My local Audion dealer has had a few units with problems and had to have them repaired. I've also read anecdotal reports of amps that were received with build defects as reported by some buyers. My local dealer also said that the Audion warranty is not in effect in the USA. The dealer and support network is thin for Audion in the USA, so good luck in getting an amp repaired if there is ever a problem.

One of the best inexpensive manual cleaning systems is Disc Doctor. This is a manual cleaning method, so not as fast or efficient as a vacuum record cleaning machine, but the Disc Doctor cleaning fluids and brushes are very well made. Disc Doctor makes cleaning fluids and brushes for LPs and also early shellac records, too. It's great stuff. http://discdoc.com/ The best cleaning method is a vacuum record cleaning machine. They simply do the best job and the results are very impressive. You can pick up a used VPI 16.5 at reasonable prices. This machine has been in production for more than 30 years and remains a favorite of vinyl enthusiasts; it's a rugged product that works extremely well. These pre-owned machines show up on Audiogon occasionally, so you can get a good deal on one. http://vpiindustries.com/clean-hw165.htm Cheers!

Congrats and hope you enjoy the LPs!

Agree with the above. Condition is everything. I've bought some new sealed LPs from 1960s-1980s that appeared pristine and sounded terrible. But many others that sound truly spectacular. Many of the older LPs are gems.

I tried searching for Soniphase but couldn't find very much. What's Dana's full name or Forum ID so I can use that for a search.

Has anyone bought bass horns or high frequency horns from Soniphase? These look very promising. Anyone have experience with the sound quality and build quality of these horns? Thanks. http://www.soniphase.com/

Never in a store. I'd love to hear all the current Heritage speakers to compare all the different models. Several dealers in my region offer Heritage speakers for sale, but none of them keep any Heritage in stock.

If the vinyl was stored in a temperature controlled location, not subjected to temperature extremes or extremes of humidity, and was played on a well set-up turntable by the previous owner, then you should be good. If improperly stored or abused, you could have issues with warped and/or damaged discs. In general I've had great experiences with used vinyl as long as the condition is excellent. Many of these discs can sound spectacular. Cheers!

Is this also helpful for the La Scala II? I think the LSII is about 3 inches taller than the original LS. Does the LSII also benefit from risers, or is the tweeter/midrange height already elevated sufficienctly in the taller LSII cabinet? Thanks.

Nice work on the enclosed bass bin of the Khorn. I wish Klipsch offered this as a factory option on the current Klipschorn.

Does any forum member in central North Carolina have a pair of La Scala II speakers that I can audition? None of the local dealers have any in stock and none available for demo. I'm located in Raleigh, but I'm willing to drive a few hours if necessary to hear the LSII. Thanks.

Hi TarHeel, Thanks for the helpful info. I've had mixed results in repairing scratched CDs with some of the systems available, but I've never had access to a professional machine. That seems to be the most complete solution for severely damaged discs. Has anyone used the CD repair / polish from Mapleshade called Mikrosmooth? This might be a good solution for minor scratches, although they market it for undamaged discs also, to create a more uniform disc surface. http://shop.mapleshadestore.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MIKRO-SMOOTH Also, I've wondered about Mapleshade's disc cleaner called Optrix. Anyone use that stuff? http://shop.mapleshadestore.com/prodinfo.asp?number=OPTRIX Thanks.

Interesting thread. Some audio enthusiasts are constantly in the pursuit of greater audio "perfection". Of course, there is no perfect audio system, there is only personal preference. Audio reproduction is only an approximation of the real event. This obsession can lead to an endless series of component changes in the hope that incremental improvements in fidelity will be realized. This can culminate in listening more to the equipment than listening to the music. The Tannoy Westminster speakers (and many other high end speakers) are extraordinarily expensive, but that doesn't guarantee that they will recreate recorded music with true fidelity. Some of these high end speakers don't come close to capturing the real music event, despite their phenomenal cost and hype. You would think that as the ultimate expression of Tannoy's audio philosophy, there would be virtually no further refinements possible in Westminster, but there are many audiophiles who tweak them to "improve" their performance. This is especially true in Asia where the Tannoy Prestige speakers are popular. To my ear, the Tannoy Prestige speakers produce a sound that is inherently artificial, colored, recessed, and dissatisfying. I've heard speakers at a fraction of the cost that sound more natural, transparent, and musical. But to each his own. There's also a disturbing belief in high end audio that higher price equates with better performance. This is reinforced by the audio press through annual lists of recommended components and buyer's guides. And a trend for audio companies to make minimal changes in speaker/component design, to release a new improved version with modest changes in performance accompanied by a major increase in price. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the music. Cheers!

Yes, that would be great. I'd love to hear the La Scala II if anyone in the Raleigh area is available for an audition.

Thanks for all the feedback. I agree and think the Manley 300B Neo-Classic amps should be great with LSII speakers. The high sensitivity of the LSII along with benign impedance should work great with Neo-Classic amps in PSE mode. 12 watts should be plenty of power and the amps move a lot of current. They already sound great with far less efficient speakers, but I think they would be spectacular with full horn speakers.

Beautiful amps Bruce. That's helpful information. I'd think that both 2a3 and 300B amps could be used with La Scala with great results.

My 78 project has been on hold but I would guess an equalizer is not mandatory. Maybe the other guys will check in later. Check the offerings on this webpage for turntables, re-equalizers, etc for use in playing back old 78 rpm records. There's lots of very good gear including cartridges designed specifically for early 78s. http://www.78rpm.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=NRC&Category_Code=100 Thanks for the link and welcome to the forum....good to see another tarheel here! You're welcome! Naucks does have great resources and also great auctions for old records. I'm intending to get an archival turntable for 78 rpm playback sometime in the future, but I've been focused on LPs lately. Too little time. If you ever need some info on reproducers and phonographs, I'm happy to discuss. I've rebuilt some reproducers in the past and also restored some machines. I still occasionally listen to early acoustic 78s on a Victor III phonograph and the sound is really amazing. Most people can't believe the fidelity of these early machines when playing a well-preserved record on a properly set-up machine.

Has anyone here paired Manley 300B Neo-Classic amps with La Scala speakers? I'm wondering how well these would match up, especially for orchestral music and large scale opera, but also for jazz. The Manley delivers about 12 watts in parallel single ended mode or 24 watts in push-pull mode. Given the high sensitivity of the La Scala II, this would seem to be a very good combo for orchestral music and should have plenty of dynamic headroom. I'd be interested in hearing others experience with La Scala and SET amps, especially 300B and 2a3 SE amps. My room doesn't have a configuration suitable to use Klipschorns, so La Scala would be my only option for fully horn loaded Klipsch speaker. Thanks.

My 78 project has been on hold but I would guess an equalizer is not mandatory. Maybe the other guys will check in later. Check the offerings on this webpage for turntables, re-equalizers, etc for use in playing back old 78 rpm records. There's lots of very good gear including cartridges designed specifically for early 78s. http://www.78rpm.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=NRC&Category_Code=100

If you look at many of the original sleeves, they state that you should use a fresh needle for every play. As to wear, they are amazingly resilient. I've many with visible groove enlargement that still sound good. I run my Empire TT at 6 grams. That's, of course 10 times what one may run on an LP, but still a fraction of what a vintage player might have. Wear with a proper stylus and modern cartridge is neglible. Dave Agreed. Don't play any rare discs on original Victrolas because the very heavy reproducer and steel needles will wear the shellac disc. But many 78s are numerous and common examples, so it can be enjoyable to play old 78s on an original phonograph. Use a new steel needle for each play. Only use the needle once and then discard the needle. Otherwise you risk serious wear to the groove.