Dave MacKay

My La Scalas were pretty beat up when I got them: chips, stains, broken corners, etc. I sanded the exterior surfaces smooth and used wood filler (bondo would have been better) to fill in the chips and rebuild the corners. I then applied 3/8" baltic birch to the top, bottom, and sides to: give a more attractive appearance provide a smooth surface for veneer address cabinet resonance I used Titebond glue and lots of brads to affix the new panels. I installed the panels slightly oversize and trimmed them with a straight-cutting router bit. I used BetterBond Heat-Loc glue to apply Ribbon Sapele paper backed veneer. I finished the veneer with Rubio Monocoat "Pure". I sanded the doghouse as well as I could and painted it black. I also sprayed the horns with Rustoleum "Satin Canyon" black spray paint. @Simpson, were I in your shoes, I'd fix the imperfections with bondo and apply new panels to the top, bottom, and sides. I'd also give the horns a coat of spray paint. That ought to make their appearance passable until you veneer them. I struggled to find anyone to do the veneering. The only quote I got was for more than I had paid for the La Scalas! Don't be afraid to try veneering the La Scalas yourself. The La Scalas were my first project with veneer. I practised on two subwoofers (just rectangular boxes) before doing them. Because I felt that the doghouses would be too demanding for my skills, I chose to paint them instead. The veneering was both easier and more satisfying than I anticipated. Also, in case you haven't done so already, get new gaskets for the squawkers, use DeoxIT liberally on all connections, and tighten the screws attaching all of the drivers to the cabinet. You might also want to apply a new gasket (weatherstripping works fine) to the doghouse access panel. If the crossovers are old you should probably replace the capacitors.

If you plan on veneering them eventually, I’d recommend that you not paint them because you may end up having to strip the paint when it comes time to veneer. If you insist on painting them, you could use Duratex.

In your opinion, which you haven’t supported with any data. Apparently not. If you stop I will.

The first statement is correct but the second is just an opinion. Satisfactory capacitors can be had from several sources.

How about posting the info? All I recall was mention of Roy having spent some time having a discussion with JEM. To my knowledge, no specs or special requirements related to how certain caps affect the transfer function were ever disclosed. If there is any substance to the claim, why can’t we see data to substantiate it?

Big claims such as you made require some proof. You haven’t provided any, nor has JEM or Klipsch. I’m sure JEM’s capacitors are very good. Because they’re endorsed by Klipsch they’re also a safe choice. But nowhere has there been any proof to show that they replicate Klipsch specs. Nor has there been any proof that other capacitors don’t. I enjoy your posts but this baseless cheerleading is tiresome.

Nonsense.

Try posting this question on the “Klipsch Korner” on Audiokarma.

Good luck @Chad

Much improved. Nicely done. 👏

NO! Do not use a powered sander! You’ll sand through the thin veneer in an instant. Sand by hand using a sanding block. Because the veneer (outside ply) of the plywood is thin, don’t use coarse sandpaper. If it were me, I’d likely use 150 grit sandpaper. Buy the good stuff, not cheap sandpaper.

Hard to tell from the photo, but, if the stain is persistent after a light sanding, you could try bleaching it with a solution of oxalic acid and water.

My La Scalas were in similarly poor shape when I bought them. Now, in my opinion, they look great: My suggestions would be: 1) Since your cabinets don't look to be damaged (broken corners, loose plys, etc.) you could remove the drivers and crossover and strip the existing finish from cabinets. - Use bondo or wood filler to address any chips or other damage. - If, after those repairs, the cabinets look OK you could consider re-staining them. - If they don't look good enough, you could consider re-veneering ($$) or painting them. - Duratex is a tough black paint that will give an industrial look. But it's not for everyone. I didn't think that Duratex was appropriate for my room and used satin black brush-on paint from Benjamin Moore for the doghouse. - If you search this forum you'll see other finishes (e.g., a piano black glossy finish) that others have done. In my case, I added 3/8" baltic birch plywood to the sides, top, and bottom of the cabinets to address resonances and to provide a smooth surface for new veneer and then re-veneered the cabinets. I used Sapele veneer and Rubio Monocoat "Pure" as a finish. I thought that re-veneering the doghouse was beyond my ability so that I opted to paint it satin black. Although I did the veneering myself, I hired a painter to do the doghouse. 2) Get a can of Rustoleum satin black spray paint. Give the tweeter lens and squawker horn a light sanding and then re-spray them. You will likely find that a fresh coat of paint makes quite a difference in their appearance. 3) If it were me, I would recap the crossovers. Your La Scalas have AA crossovers, which are pretty good. However, caps go bad over time and yours are ~40 years old. It's time to refresh them. 4) Since your tweeters have been replaced with DE120s (which are excellent), I'd look at replacing the tweeter lenses (horns). Since this forum doesn't permit discussion of modifications, you might want to visit the "Klipsch Korner" on the Audiokarma forum for a more open discussion. 5) Replace the gaskets between the squawker drivers and the horns. Replacements are inexpensive and available directly from Klipsch. 6) Replace the gasket (looks like weatherstripping) on the access panel to the woofer. Over time the gasket can deteriorate and turn to goo. Refurbishing those speakers will be a fun project. Good luck!

I think your room should work out fine. It’s your money, but — as pointed out earlier — they don’t come on the market all that often. If, after buying them, you decided you didn’t like them you could likely sell them. And the way prices have been going, you might even make a profit. Of course, it would be prudent to test them to verify that they’re working. If they are, and the price is good, I’d encourage you to buy them. If you don’t you’ll always wonder about what might have been.

This forum no longer welcomes posts on such topics. The folks on the “Klipsch Korner” (me included) on Audiokarma would be interested in this.

That is new to me too. Might the cabinets be home built?

I’ve got a MiniDSP Flex Eight (2 in, 8 out) that I’ll be using with my La Scalas and two subwoofers. I’ve only just acquired it and the necessary amps and haven’t started working on configuring it yet.

My recommendation would be to knock the panels apart, not to just re-glue and clamp. You can use a rubber hammer and a block of wood (to protect the panels) when knocking off the sides, top, and bottom. Hopefully the doghouse (the peaked element in the bass bin) is in good shape so that you won’t have to disassemble it. After you have the sides apart, scrape off as much of the existing glue as you can. New glue doesn’t adhere well to old glue; it wants to adhere to wood. Roughen the seams with 120 grit sandpaper and than apply new glue. Any good PVA glue (Titebond, Lepages, etc.) should be fine. Clamp the sides in place and use an air nailer with brads to nail them as well. The glue will do the holding; the brads provide reinforcement while the glue cures. Building a few jigs to help with alignment can only help. Good luck!

What tool would you recommend to see any audible difference between autoformers?

Was wondering if @KT88 had before/after measurements to show the differences he hears. Thanks for the reminder about the plots and for posting them. The differences looked to be pretty minor (to my eye) which is why I was curious. I thought that a single chart showing before & after would be clearer.

Have you taken any measurements, e.g., with REW? If so, please share a plot that shows the performance measured with each autoformer.

Looks fabulous! Congratulations on a lovely job.

Is it possible that your father (or the first owner) made some mods? Several things are different from my La Scalas (which date from ‘86, so a dozen years later than yours): Is access to the woofer & doghouse from the top (rather than the bottom)? It appears that the network is mounted on (what looks like) an access panel. Mine have the access panel on the bottom. The panel is a little smaller than the base so that the speaker appears to float on it. My networks were not screwed in; they just sat loose. The support for the squawker driver is different. Mine is bent aluminum, not painted. Mine don’t have the filler panels partially enclosing the sides of the rear opening. There is no evidence of screws being used on the top of my cabinets. Other members will know more and may be able to provide a definitive answer.

Thanks. You're right about not being able to make any sense of this! I've been going through Dickason's Loudspeaker Design Cookbook, but have been finding it hard slogging. Do you have any suggestions about learning materials/resources?

Like @mboxler, I'm confused too. I've been trying to understand how the 1st order filters used in the woofer section of the A and AA networks work. The filter consists of just a 2.5 mH inductor. When I calculate the crossover frequency into the K-33E (which is rated at 4 ohms), I get a crossover frequency of 250 Hz, not the 400 Hz that I was expecting. Even if the K-33E was 8 ohms, the filter would crossover at 510 Hz, not 400 Hz. I know that driver impedance isn't constant, and that it varies with signal frequency. When I vary the woofer impedance based on a curve that @Trey Cannon posted sometime ago, I find that the crossover frequency varies between 220 Hz and 1210 Hz in the frequency range applicable to the woofer. I had hoped for a nice clean drop-off starting at a specific frequency, but that doesn't seem to be how the filter works. i thought that higher impedance = higher crossover frequency = more attenuation = lower SPL but that's not what my REW measurements show. I must be failing to understand something. What am I missing?