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

Another area to look at is your room and speaker reflection points. I have La Scala's and in My Room raising the speakers off the floor improves my sound stage a noticeable amount. My room is 17 wide 22 long with a 14 ft rounded ceiling and I sit 14 feet away from my speakers which are 6 ft + seperated Suggestion get 4 rubber door stoppers and put them in the back of your speakers and see what happens Good Luck and Enjoy The Music

In addition the Dave's suggestions above I would add running a bead of glue on all inside joints once you are in the Woofer area. you want this air tight as possible. Another idea I did was to drill a 3/4 hole between the woofer area and the Squaker/tweeter area. I then made a single wire connection to the woofer instead of the original two piece connection, this hole was then filled with heavy industrial caulking to once again make it air tight. As you can see there are many excellent ways to go about your project, my carpentry skills were not up to the task, so hired someone to do the project and yes it cost more than the cost of the beat up La Scala's . But my wife is happy with the results

I made a personal decision to go with 1/2 MDF which was glued and screwed, which added at least 75 pounds of weight. I even put the MDF in the tweeter/squaker area, the back and on the bottom. This totally eliminated the classic "Live Sound" the 87 models were known for. What I got was "In My Opinion" a more refined sound similar to the new La Scala models. When you start the Modifying Process you lose the value of your Original La Scala's , so you have to be sure of what and why you want to make these changes. Personally I have a smile on my face every time I listen to my system. My La Scala's are now the last speakers, I have a Decware Torii Jr V2 which is my last amp, and now looking for a new Dac. The Chord Qutest is in the lead. The Qutest is a FPGA based DAC which allows programing changes. Oh well, we all make personal choices which means not everyone will agree with us, but I am comfortable with what I have done and the results. Remember its all about the Music , so enjoy

I went the veneer route 1) it took 3 4x8 sheets of veneer to get the grain flow right 2) I found a true wood working craftsman to do the job - best decision I made 3) the woofer bin is the most difficult, you need to get a lot of weight on each inside sheet during the glue drying process we used sand bags and a piece of train rail for weight. Because of this the bin area took 4 days alone to veneer that area. Also we first painted the very back of the bin black before veneering because we could not figure out how to veneer that space and it is already dark in that area anyway. 4) you will have to decide how you will deal with the surround edges of the tweeter and squaker area. there are a couple of ways to deal with these edges but you need to decide before you start the actual veneer process as you need to match grain flow. 5) We made paper templates for each piece and then laid them out on the 4X8 sheets for grain flow very important process 6) Would I do it again Yes my 1987 La Scala's I think were used in a bar atmosphere and were really beat up with scratches and gouges everywhere. 7) we decided to put a thin layer of MDF on all outside of the speakers this helps with the resonance issue know with this age of La Scala Hope this helps and as always Enjoy The Music

001 I agree with you 100% - I am just able to live with change not right or wrong just a different point of view

If you are a purist in which only klipsch can make changes then buy the newest heritage speaker you can afford. If you can imagine making changes on your own then go for it. I am in that group, I have a pair of 1987 set of La Scala's . These were purchased from a garage and looked very beat up, deep scars and scratches were on all surfaces. One woofer was working but damaged, the tweeters were different, the squakers were the only good and original parts. I went with all new Crites drivers and their new A4500 crossovers. I also added 1/2 inch MDF to all sides of the speakers, newest La Scala's have 1 inch sides, then put a veneer for looks. Was there a difference Yes, unmodified was very LIVE like the bars and dance halls of my youth where La Scala's were hung from the ceiling in pairs or quads. the modified ones are much more refined, more like the competing high end speakers in the market. Yes it still has the La Scala sound, and ability to project a solid center stage. Would I do it again, absolutely. Just like cars, original is the best that the accounts allowed to be built at the time, that is why there is an after market for both cars and speakers. Just my opinion Remember it is about enjoying the music, not analyzing your equipment

Designer cables were designed to solve a problem of interference from other electrical devices ( computers, TV's, Refrigerators etc. are generally consider a source of this type of interference ) if you do not hear any interference from your system then simple Zip cord makes a good connection. By the way simply twisting or braiding multiple wires does a great job, remember that the only difference between Cat 4 and Cat 6 network cables is the number of twist per foot. Today Style has become a major part of connecting cables, and you always pay more to look good

Thank You I agree for a few bucks and a little time I can play It will be a while before I can get to this as my wife has a few honey do's that will come first😀

My problem is a significant dip starting at 200 htz bottoming at 300 htz and gone by 400 htz From the graph above any of the above "should" solve the problem the 2.5 provides the widest coverage the others only extend to say 800 htz and then goes away. Do you want to do the job and go away or provide an impact over the wider range I truly appreciate your time in helping me understand this process. Thanks again

having no knowledge of sources would Parts Express be a good source my cross overs have Sonic components is it beneficial to stay with same brands Also you gave a range of 50-65 UF would is the expected difference Thanks