Rolox

Get yourself a real 2 channels amp. Even a small class D amp like the ones you find for less than 100USD usually sounds cleaner / clearer than an AVR. There's no magic: Klipsch Heritage are notoriously picky with ancillary equipment. All the garbage your amplifier is putting out will be laid bare because of the ultra high sensitivity. I suggest before you make any more mods you listen to your LaScala with a decent amp.

Did anyone compare the previous A55G with the new version?

Yes. They come in very handy! I can even slide the bass bins around on the tiles, for precise positioning adjustement, and in my room they bring everything at the right height for my ears. They are also quite effective at decoupling - but I use subs, so the perceived loss in low bass that may come from raising the bass bins off the floor doesn't bother me.

a pair of CW IV, a Winsome Lab Mouse amp, a source, and VOILA. No need for more.

Cornwall IV is an exceptional speaker that will perform extremely well on ANY kind of music. That's where I would be headed if I were you. They are also easier to drive and a truly high sensitivity speaker.

ALK Universal is the better network vs type A. Although you may want to compare by yourself, which is understandable, but make no mistake, the ALK network IS the upgrade it was meant to be

By the way that picture the OP posted from 2003 was from me, it was my old account in the forums, that I've stopped using since 🙂

I've been using mine on top of LaScala bass bins for quite a while, crossed over at 400Hz, and it was ok, but I have to say, now that I use them on top of FH1 bass bins loaded with Kappa 15C woofers, and I'm able to cross them at 500Hz 24dB, that is when they truly shine. 400Hz while doable isn't optimal I feel with those horns. I also use Crites A55G drivers to great effect.

How important is time alignment? It seems to me the culprit of DSP based crossovers are: noise, hash, lower inherent sound quality than a good analogue crossover.

Try to find a pair of Electro-Voice SM120A horns. Your A55G drivers will bolt right in, and they are perfect from 500Hz up They sound fantastic and I think they look very cool. I'm using mine with Beyma CP25 tweeters on top.

...and this is now (today I added a layer of pucks under, making it "two pucks high").

So this was before:

It's not the first time I'm trying this, but every time I'm gobsmacked by the difference (both good and bad) it makes to the sound. I own home-made speakers that are very similar to Lascala on steroids: peavey FH1 bass horns with Kappa 15C woofers, A55G midranges on SM120 horn lenses, Beyma CP25 tweeters. The "top bins" are separated from the bass bin by 9 hockey pucks (3x3) stacked. That raises the mids and highs at ear level. Well, if I take 3 hockey pucks from each side and put them UNDER each bass horn (thus keeping mids and treble at the exact same position in space), raising the bass horns 1inch (hockey puck height, more less) off the floor, the sound takes on a COMPLETELY different flavor: the lower mids / upper bass suddenly BLOOM and fill the room in a very different manner; on some tracks it's very nice, and some other it's quite overpowering. I'm trying to explain such a variation... 1) bass horn "decoupled" from the floor has a very different output due to the specificities of bass horn loading? 2) bass horn enclosure resonates differently when suspended on 3 footers rather than directly on the floor? 3) phase relationship between midrange and bass is now changed - due to the (tiny) difference in path length between both I'm not sure yet if I will keep the bass horns off the floor but it sure sounds interesting.

Okay so my Kappa 15C arrived, and they've been in the FH1 bins for a few days now. First of all, let me tell you: everything that has been said about that woofer is true. They are supercharged! Midbass punch, speed, impact, and much better low mids. K33 sound like softened cardboard in comparison. In my system, I use an active crossover; with the K33E I was using 400Hz/24dB transition to the EV SM120 midrange horns. Now I've settled to 500Hz, 12dB; the EV horn is happier, transition is smoother, and overall response much flatter! Positive side effect of this, I can now use extreme toe-in, crossing the speakers to a point in front of my head, and enjoy fantastic depth and 3D imaging! With my previous woofers / settings, it was way too bloated and muddy... so another unexpected benefit of the woofer swap. I'm a very happy camper! ^^

YESSS I've finally (!) ordered a pair of Kappa 15C last night 🙂 If everything goes right, they should be here by 48 hours. I can't wait to hear the improvement! Something tells me I'm in for a treat!

for crossover I really like Jantzen Crosscaps, they are good and not expensive.

Your friend is just listening so stupidly loud that no entry-level receiver is able to provide enough power for it. There's no cure for that; actually listening with only 2 channels might give the amp a tiny bit more headroom. In any case, the RB41 has a 4inch "woofer". Cannot expect miracles. Doesn't matter if there's a "Klipsch" brand on the speakers, they are still small bookshelves unable to provide the kind of SPL your friend seems to ask for. Small speakers driven by a clipping amplifier >> recipe for disaster. I can smell burned voice coils coming next. Instead of a 5 small speakers package, your friend would be happier with a stereo pair of bigger, second hand Klipsch - anything from KG4 to LaScalas depending on budget. Anything with decent woofer size and REAL sensitivity ratings, which go loud with little power, is what you need if you really like to crank it up.

If you want the easy approach, buy an ANALOGUE active crossover an a couple of small class D amps you could get the Sublime Acoustic K231 active crossover, with a few x-over cards - for example, 500Hz and 5KHz - 24 and 12dB each, so you can try both Big SS amp on the bass, and the small class D on the mid and treble You might find out that is all you need!

Hmm hmmm... well, I guess for the price there's not much to lose. Let us know how they sound. I'm curious to know if such a cheap driver can sound decent, to be honest. But maybe you'll have a pleasant surprise?...

Then find a pair of atlas / K55V in good condition and go from there?.. they are not bad drivers, used within their limitations

What you need is John Allen A55G driver. It is, in essence, a K55V but with much less distortion and a smoother response. I can attest of the superior sound quality versus the Atlas driver. I use mine between 400 and 6K Hz and they are smoooooooooth. Last time I checked, Bob Crites / BEC speakers was selling them, that's where I bought mine.

Just go for it! You can always upgrade the amp later on. They WILL sound much better with a proper hi-fi amp. Audissey? I would never use that kind of processing. For AV maybe, not for music!

Asking for a friend who is tempted by a purchase - but comparing both models in Europe is nearly impossible Acoustically, do the Cornwall need a bigger room? (I would consider their space requirements to be about the same) anyone heard them side by side? Big difference? system is stereo, music only, amplifier is a big Musical Fidelity

What could be interesting to experiment is to use an active crossover and a small class D amp - the active crossover in parallel with the main amp and only filtering the output for the add-on tweeters... that way you could continuously play with cutoff frequency and level - now to know if it would sound good? would probably be very different from the single cap, first order filtering - better or worse I don't know.