[La Scala Drivers - Max Power Handling?]

On 11/19/2020 at 4:19 AM, Islander said:

I think K-77 tweeters are rated to only 5 watts or so.  Most K-33 woofers are rated at 100 watts continuous power and 400 watts peak power.  For the K-55 squawker, I'm not sure.

 

In most places, the midrange driver is called just that, but lots of folks here, including me, use the original term.  Woofer - squawker - tweeter.  Sounds and looks right, right?

 

If you're careful with the volume control, you can use pretty powerful amps safely.  My La Scala IIs are bi-amped, and are 2-way.  The mid and high section is disconnected, and I'm using the tweeters from a Jubilee.  The crossovers are also disconnected, and I use an E/V Dx38 active electronic crossover.  The system uses two Yamaha MX-D1 power amps, which put out 500 watts per channel.  One amplifier feeds the woofers, and the other amp feeds the tweeters.  Having each amp cover only half of the audio spectrum reduces distortion.

 

The K-33 woofers are supplied with 500 watts each, and the K-691 tweeter drivers, rated at 50 watts, are also supplied with 500 watts each.  I've been running the system in this configuration since 2008, with no problems.  At first, the speakers were original La Scalas, and the tweeter drivers were K-69-A, also rated at 50 watts, if memory serves.  I've got a normal sized room, 18'x19'x8', and I rarely listen to really loud music.  Where the extra power comes in handy is for overhead.  Loud transients, like kick drums, handclaps, gunfire, and so on, can call for hundreds of wats for a split second, when the rest of the music is playing at maybe 3-5 watts.  Having lots of overhead gives the sound realistic dynamics, meaning the drums can sound like actual drums, which makes for more convincing sound.

 

Nowadays, most speaker manufacturers recommend that you use amplifiers of double the power of the speakers' ratings, i.e., if your speakers are rated at 100 watts, use 200 watt amps.  This is to be sure that your amps won't be driven into clipping at high volume, which would send dangerous clipped signals to the speakers, which can damage them.  Actually, with the high sensitivity of most Klipsch speakers, especially the Heritage Series models, like La Scalas, very little power is normally used in a home application. Some Scala fans use 5-10 watt tube amps, and love them.  If you're playing them in a big dance club, then you'd be putting a lot of power through them.

 

I hope I didn't make that too simple.  I have no idea what you know, so I tried to cover all the bases.

 

Bump. Great post. Feel like it may be worth picking up where this left off and asking further questions on-topic. There is surprisingly little reliable information out there for those of us who want to use our LSIIs for music other than the kinds that sound stellar through a ultra-low-watt tube amps (orchestral, ambient, some guitar music, etc.). I also plan to listen to orchestral and other musics, but feel I have different needs than many other LSII owners. I am interested in using my LSIIs to play dynamic music, as it were. House, techno, etc.

 

Big bass, complex transient sequences can really do a number on my LSIIs with Hypex 252MP amplification producing 125W actual RMS (advertised as '250W'). Even at low volumes -- for me -- it can sound like they are the LSIIs are struggling to parse information cleanly and quickly; at higher volumes, the distortion can cause a little bit of an earache over time. I'm planning on adding a sub to lighten the LSIIs' load, but even when I do a low-cut (~80hz) through my dbx 234xs and just let the LSIIs breathe, 125W RMS is just not enough for my pleasure, personally, let alone when I'm throwing a party at my house!

 

I am close to pulling the trigger on a Purifi 1ETA400A in stereo, and hoping to run that to the 'low' terminal on the LSIIs while reserving the 'high' terminals for the stereo Hypex 252MP. My theoretical interest in this setup is built on the assumption that any much more than 325W RMS per channel of LSII is gonna be 'too much' because the LS is such a high-sensitivity speaker. Is this still true in 2021? Might I wanna look into higher-wattage amp for those inevitably high-power transients? Has anyone running their LSes for PA club situations found a high-wattage amp that they thought worked well with it? What have others' experiences with NON-JubScala high-wattage setups been (Klipschorn or LS)? 

 

I know that Dave Mancuso, for example, ran his Klipschorn system on low-ish watt amp (100W RMS / channel, I believe?). Alas, unlike him I don't have 6 Klipschorn to make good sound out of, nor the budget. 

[GSG Devastator]

Re-resucitating this for my first post  long-time reader, first-time caller...

 

Am running a pair of LSII's and in need of a true sub for music. I run very small parties out of my house and we play very very bass-heavy underground music. No crap EDM and American dubstep (sorry if you identify with those), just the good stuff (NY/NJ style garage, Detroit electro, jazz-funk, disco, etc.). 

 

I've had a lot of time to do research lately and from what I can tell the Devastator 28hz seems like THE promising option for those of us who might not want to pay over $2k and want to do an easier build. Problem is, lack of reliable testimonials out there. This thread has been helpful. For me personally, it's basically either "build a Devastator" or hold out for a Rythmik servo ("hold out" bc I'm intrigued by the prospect of a dual 18" from them). 

 

**Can anyone who got / was about to get their Devastators a year ago now chime in with some updates, please? Has the initial excitement of your build/purchase worn off into something else? Any new users out there wanna shed some light on the quality of their DIY units?**

 

Personally, I don't care if this is a true horn or not. Would be nice to see this thread not re-descend into conjecture by folks who ain't heard the speakers  Just the true heads, if I may so humbly request...

 

For science and the Klipsch community!

 

All best,

T.