JMeader

while you are in the woofer doghouse run a bead of glue along all seams and replace gasket material on the bottom piece of plywood, this insures a air tight seal of the doghouse

Also tight all the screws on all the drivers they can get loose

I have 1987 klipsch La Scalla's in a 17 X 17 room with high ceilings and have driven them by Crown XLS 1002 Two-channel, 350W @ 4Ω Power Amplifier and now by a Decware Zen Torii Jr V2 https://www.decware.com/newsite/TORIIJR.html 20 watts Sound out of my La Scalla's is great with both and I think you can enjoy your system with either tube or non tube. The Crown amp never went past 1/4 volume the the Decware less than half I think a good quiet Pre amp will make either sound better, I use a Schiit Audio Freya S ( no longer available ) and using a XLR connection between the two is recommended Enjoy the Music

BTW I use a Schitt Freya S ( non tube ) preamp. I took the preamp out of the system and it made no difference so put it back in. I even tried turning the amp up and having the preamp at a lower level, and the reverse with no difference. Currently I have my amp at slightly less than half way and use the preamp for volume control which seldom get above half way.

I have La Scala's with all new Crites drivers and the A4500 cross overs ( 105 db ). I waited 18 months for my Torii Jr V2 and yes I have a slight hum. I called Steve and and he suggested some different Tubes, which I got and it made no difference as to the hum issue. My hum is slightly noticeable but not annoying for me, so will keep my amp. Our music systems are for enjoyment, and I would agree that there are many great amps that do not seem to have the hum issue, so you have options to get back to enjoyment. The good news is Your Decware amps have a great resale due to waiting lists. Enjoy Your Music

Generally there will be a positive difference, but I think you would loose your bluetooth connectivity and nned a wired connection

"Could be" each of your amps have their own Dac and sound processing and that is the difference you are hearing

Pre amps are about signal gain prior to your amp and are generally a positive enhancement, but truly depends your total system components . I have a Decware Torii Jr V2 and use a Schit Freya S ( non tube ) pre-amp which is fed by a Denafrips Pontus 2 12th-1 via XLR connectors Normal listening is pre-amp 50% and Decware at 50%, with the pre-amp use as volume control This combo in my system works extremely well, with enhanced sound stage and clarity. BTW I just added two sound absorbers behind my listening position and that also help over all enjoyment

@Mycuff Buy the speakers, You memory of the sound never goes away and no matter what issues you have to solve, the smile on your face in the future is worth it. I had a similar story of desire for the La Scala's and bought a 1987 bar find that were really beat up and they had issues. My La Scala's are now my Last speakers. OEM replacement parts are readily available and are simple plug and play as long as the cabinet is solid. The only regret you will have is not moving forward Good Luck and Enjoy The Future Music

Just yesterday I received these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002WLB0RW?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 I have to agree it does make a positive sound difference, I also have heavy floor to 10 ft ceiling drapes behind my La Scala's I just leaned them up against the wall behind each shoulder - I am about 10 ft away from La Scala's

Merry Christmas to All from Reno A Day for Family, Good Food and a Little Merriment 😀👍

Resonance can be a positive or negative. In my opinion the resonance in the older La Scala's was part of their LIVE Sound. I personally added 1/2 MDF to the side of my early La Scala's and the resonance was gone and also that live sound was definitely impacted. To me the result was a more refined sound and lost the Public Address sound. I would highly recommend listening to a more current La Scala Model with thicker side walls and then listen to yours. One is not better than the other but they are different. Someone earlier recommended to open up the base bin and tighten all the screws on the woofer. Mine were less than tight when I did this not sure I heard that much difference but they should be tight not loose. Remember this is Your System and in your Room and your the only one that needs to like its sound. The single biggest impact on the sound of my La Scala's was spending the time to properly locate your speakers which include how high your tweeter is and weather your room wants any toe in. A simple laser measure tool from a local hardware store will help in this process especially with equal distance from side walls and to get the toe in pointing to the same location. Enjoy the process and then enjoy the music

Audirvana Studio

I bought a barn find 1987 La Scala's that were so beat up that they had to be at a minimum reskinned before my wife would allow them in the house. While they were in rough shape the base bin was still in solid shape and still sounded great with that Live Sound that all La Scala's of this time period. Just FYI there were two different tweeters, the squakers were still good but one of the woofers had a whole on the paper part of the speaker If you really love that Live Sound, then replace the oil capacitors on the cross overs and stop. I choose to "Update" my La Scala's, 1/2 inch MDF on all exterior sides, this eliminated all cabinet resonance and really eliminated that Live sound, but did give a more refined sound closer to the newer models, I bought all new drivers for both speakers along with new cross overs. The result for me was a more refined sound similar to the newer versions. So you really need to think what your end goal is and go from there. That Live Sound is unique and most enjoyable in the older La Scala's. Remember it is all about enjoying the Music

another possible solution is to put the Base Bins closer together ( base is omni directional ) get something to use as a speaker stand and put the top hat portion on both sides of the base bins. A simple cardboard box could be used for testing . You would have to create a wiring solution but that should not be that difficult. Also it would be easy to test different locations. Oh Well Good Luck thinking outside the box