Rolox

Speakers are passive elements - they don't "thump" except if asked to do so. so I would think either the recording or something in the chain - may even be something in the electricity network.

I have yet to encounter a vintage loudspeaker with electrolytic caps that were worth keeping. Seems to be the exception rather than the rule. As for vintage Klipsch oil caps, some like their sound - but high end they are not...

Oh well, those LaScalas were extremely ugly and I got them for next to nothing. It was a regular pair (non industrial) that had been cut in two by the previous owner to become some "split industrial" - because he was using them as PA speakers. There were metal handles that would vibrate at high level, and two holes on each side of the tweeters with some cheap piezo tweeters that you could toggle ON with some switch. Woofers were not original (I should have kept those somewhere, they were of the Tesla brand and were GORGEOUS). But finding LaScala for cheap in Europe is already a miracle. Every unused part has been separately sold including the crossovers. Right now using Peavey FH1 bass horns and still using the K33 but I want to replace them with Kappa 15C because I use subs and I'd rather have a bit more midrange definition.

I will soon put my K33E woofers for sale so I decided I would put them here first They were bought new about 10 years ago and Never abused (home listening) they are perfect Location is Brussels, Belgium if interested, pm me!

I always wonder why people hesitate so much to renew capacitors. Difference between old, worn out caps and new ones is usually night and day, plus you can buy much improved quality capacitors nowadays. In electronics, it's the same - but doing it at home requires a bit more knowledge. still, an old amp or preamp with tired capacitors doesn't sound as good as it should, far from it - and is facing reliability issues sooner or later!

While I haven't compared them myself, it seems logical that the IV would be the one to buy: look at that midrange horn and driver! That is where the music lives!!!

Whatever you use as subs, you're gonna need an active crossover to remove the strain from the main amps / speakers. You will gain enormously in clarity, dynamics, and max SPL without distortion. If you want the best sound quality for a still reasonable outlet, check Sublime Acoustic K231. It's fantastic.

If it were me, I would sell the Altecs, buy some K402 horns + appropriate drivers, put them on top of the KHorns bass bins, along with your choice of active crossover, and enjoy far better sound than anything else possible. oh yes you'll need two amps but I suppose you already have them.

I would consider the crossover network to be one of the most important things in a loudspeaker so, if your crossover sucks, there isn't a single chance the rest will sing. Start from there, then eventually upgrade your drivers. A55G is great, really worth the money IMHO.

Hi all, I wonder if anybody has modeled or tried the Faital Pro 15PR400 in a LaScala / Belle / FH1 type bass horn, and how it compares to K33 and to Eminence Kappa 15C?

Thanks for clarifying that. I rarely listen at more than 95dB, and that is already very, very rare. Knowing I have a lot of margin is the cherry on the cake and helps one feel confident 😉

My take on this is that the goal when using tap settings is to balance drivers relative to each other, NOT to tune the sound "brightness" relative to your preferences / room acoustics. That is NOT the goal and is NOT going to give satisfactory results IMHO. The way drivers interact and interplay is the important issue, and that is how the TAP settings should be used. If your mids are too hot (again, summarizing) in regard to the rest, it will make the sound shouty and nasal no matter what recording you play. It took me months to find the correct midrange tap settings relative to the tweeter, and the correct low-pass to high-pass level through the active crossover. Even a basic RTA app helps assessing what is going on. Sometimes a perceived midrange problem can come from a misbalance somewhere else in the audio range, for example, and it can prove extremely difficult to try and do it only by ears.

Another view

I can tell you about my experience with customizing some LaScalas: Started with a new mid horn (EV SM120A), plug and play: big improvement Improved tweeters (Beyma CP25): big improvement ALK Universal crossovers: big improvement. John Allen A55G drivers: big improvement again. Substituting the old, beat up, vibrating LaScala bass bins with Peavey FH1: improvement in rigidity and overall bass smoothness, but big step back using 1st order Universal crossover between bass and mids: the FH1 goes higher in frequency, and outputs mids simultaneously with the midrange horn - with a serious arrival time offset, creating intermodulation and a "wha wha" sound >> the cure: going active at 400Hz, with a 4th order (24dB) Linkwitz-riley slope. Active crossover: all actives (analogue) I've been using until recently solved the crossover issue but brought other issues (noise floor, distortion, electronic colouration) to the sound; going for a better active x-over (sublime acoustic K231) solved that issue and I'm in audio bliss again I'm not time-aligning yet I get lifelike, enveloping imaging - it could be better, but I chose to sacrifice ultimate depth of soundstage in order to NOT use digital / DSP based crossover. The imaging I get is good enough to my ears. The mids and high horns, in my system, are much more "aligned" than in the stock LaScala/Klipschorn due to the relatively shallow but wide open profile of the SM120 horn, and the deeper profile of the Beyma tweeters, in effect reducing the distance between their respective throats, when they are bolted to the same baffle. Using mids and tweeter horns that have similar dispersion curves (specially at and near crossover frequency) is definitely a good idea. Next step for me will be to replace the K33E woofers with Kappa 15C. To summarise, it's difficult to change everything at once and expect a immediate improvement; step by step is the best way to do it, except if you clone a proven recipe. It is also possible to get good sound without time alignment but not if your drivers/horns (I insist on the HORN part: just because a crossover has a certain electrical slope doesn't tell you what the ACOUSTIC slope will be with the horn; that is the reason why you may use 1st order with a LaScala bass horn, and not with the FH1 version) are outputting simultaneously a wide range (due to low crossover slope) AND do so with considerable physical delay. I'm summarizing a lot (it's been a 20 years journey since I bought the stock LaScalas) but still, I hope this helps.

I wonder if that big sofa just between the speakers isn't "eating up" a portion of the bass/low mids??? Also a 8 watts SET amp is maybe not the most appropriate to "kick" hard with rock. Try class D, minimum 30 watts.

That Luxman is absolutely gorgeous. Way out of my budget, and I haven't heard much about their DACs, but there's no reason it shouldn't be as good as their amps.

SMSL SU-8. (v2) is FANTASTIC for 250$. TRUE BALANCED DAC! XLR + RCA outputs! ESS Sabre! remonte control AND of course great great sound (after a couple weeks burn-in; mine sounded nasal and had no bass before that, but I'm sooo glad I patiently waited )

I recently bought a 250$ SMSL SU-8 V2 and I love it! It sounds great after a couple of weeks of burn-in ( a controversial subject I know, but this particular dac is VERY sensitive to it), clear, detailed, dynamic, with a very wide soundstage. I use it on a tri-amped, fully hornloaded system - think bigger LaScalas with two active subs- that is very revealing and frankly, I doubt I will want to spend more before very long. Plus it boasts both unbalanced RCA and true balanced XLR outputs, USB, optical and coaxial, is fully remote controllable including output level, has a last generation ESS Sabre chip, is small and well built. Mega bangs-for-the-bucks device. If you buy it make sure you buy the improved "version 2" as the first one had some distortion issues on the XLR outputs at full level. Just check the online reviews!

This is one of my go-to test tracks for bass dynamics:

If you are inclined to modding the Khorns, you could try some EV SM120 mid horns and Beyma CP25 tweeter; those have a much wider, smoother dispersion and are IMHO much more listenable than the Long throw K400 horn, especially in a small space. They would also allow you to keep your existing crossover networks and midrange drivers, it's all plug and play, build a top hat for the new horns, connect the drivers to the crossover and you're good to go! Aesthetics won't be fantastic but they probably would sound much better (some acoustic treatment on the side walls next to the mid horns might help further). They are also much more controlled dispersion vertically and mine work very well in a low ceiling, almost near-field configuration (see attached pictures; my "LaScala on steroids", crossover 400Hz and 6KHz although I have an active crossover at 400Hz).

(I just saw you are using a Scott tube amp: probably a very good amp but I would still suggest you to try a mini class D amp for a more detailed, « modern » sound - worse case scenario you can use it in the kitchen or give it to the kids, they are so small and cheap!

Acoustic treatments: you can find Basotect panels on EBay quite easily - and not too expensive - otherwise Vicoustic Cinema Round (Premium) are a good reasonable cost option. As Others said the ceiling needs to be treated.

I would suggest a good little class D amp (Amptastic Mini 1, Trends TA10.1...) a good phono preamp and a nice vintage turntable. You can also use a full function preamp and use the mini amp as power amp. Believe me, there’s real synergy between flea-power class D and Klipsch heritage! 8 watts is all you’ll ever need in that room!

I used to have a TDM unit, they have a great reputation and I liked mine but the K231 is in a different league, transparent, open, and incredibly dynamic - and super silent. There’s no way back for me. It feels like I’m promoting too much a product - disclaimer: l’m not affiliated in any way with Sublime Acoustic, but when something is that good, you want others to experience it as well!

Just for the record, I was announced a two weeks backlog but it took a week for my crossover to be shipped. I do know however that Mark from Sublime Acoustic is getting more and more orders so... in any case, you should definitely give it a try - and (this is important) give it some time to break in, and have some juice flowing through it while while doing so (I turn the power amps off and push the preamp output close to max ). Some electronics are more sensitive to break-in than others; the K231 went from « huh ho » to « wow » (at the beginning the treble was so sharp I was thinking of sending it back but I’m glad I didn’t).