Racer X

Hmm, room corners. While any speaker will do better in a room corner bass response and room coupling wise, it is seldom the best placement when considering a strong center image. Of course PWK countered this with a center channel. I experimented with this with using both LaScalas and Cornwalls together in a wall of sound. I now favor the Heresy pair pulled about 4 feet away from the back wall and toed in 45 degrees and well far away from the side walls.

Chris A, I certainly defer to your astute analysis. By uncolored I simply meant frequency response, flatness. This is of course room dependent. I believe others have noted the large rise in response in the LaScala bass horn. This can be countered, corrected with equalization. I still remember when I plotted the response in my too small room I could not believe the large resonance.

I really do not believe any mod will tame the nature of the LaScala bass horn. On the plus side it will play very loud and clear, but not low and uncolored.

When I started this game in the 80s, Klipsch prices were expensive, roughly twice the price of "regular" speakers. But for the quality of construction, it was reasonable. Now I just shake my head. Also, I doubt the price of the newer Heritage line has much effect on the price of the vintage gear. I believe used gear prices are more a function of seller anxiety and buyer elasticity.

I've modeled my wires after the Nordost line. They are 6 x 22 ga (14 ga) silver plated solid core PTFE teflon insulation in a widely spaced ribbon array. Also using this for power cord (but not in a ribbon formation). Very surprised this wire made such a huge difference, especially in the amp power cord. I would like to thank Jeffrey Medwin for providing an excellent source for the wire: https://www.apexjr.com/wire.html Um, your iPhone has an irritating signature Sent from my iPhone, you should correct that. How to Remove the “Sent from My iPhone” Signature Tap on the “Settings” app. Tap on “Mail, Contacts, Calendars” Scroll down a ways and then tap on “Signature” Tap “Clear”, or just select all the text and delete it manually.

Um, not sure contact cement cares if there is paint or not, but you may want to test that look with a splotch of electrical tape to be sure that is the look you prefer before splattering with paint.

Oh, and some weights and wax paper.

Contact cement. The cane fabric is definitely a classic look.

Moving the crossover outside made the stuffing process easier and offset the volume of the stuffing some. The inside would look similar to the OP pictures, except I used fiberglass which is the most economical stuffing and easily obtainable at the Home Depot. I used one large piece wrapped around speaker interior.

Not to dissuade you from your vintage LaScala dream, but as someone who moved from LaScala to Cornwall to Heresy, the LaScala is the most deficient in bass. No low bass to speak of and a huge bump in bass horn response around 100 to 200 hz.

I would like to thank DrTube for a most convincing presentation. I used 2.5 pounds of fiberglass wall insulation in each speaker. I gather the key is to heavily stuff the cabinet, light stuffing or half stuffing will not have much effect. I also recapped with the economical Solen caps and added the 12 ohm resistor. Also, moving the wires on the transformer taps 2 to 1 and 3 to 2 went a long way towards correcting the way too hot mid and tweeter balance. Another change I made was to move the E-2 crossover to the outside back of the speaker. Also, OTL tube amps rule them all. I favor the Futterman and Mellow designs.

Grille cutout inspired by LaScala look. Best of both worlds, grille on and off. Razor blade the grille and fold flaps back, use contact cement to glue to back side of grille. I was inspired to add additional 3/4" round dowels (not shown, screws...) to stiffen the cabinet. I used rubber to simplify the interference fit and installation and dampen. Another poster on this forum suggested adding rear panel and I ran with that. Used duct tape to try to level the inset 5/8" panel to the edge. Sanded the edge smooth of any lacquer imperfections. Please check OP picture of interior wiring: the inset back panel is not really a structural contributor to enclosure stiffness, especially considering dearth of screws. So the original cabinet is essentially backless. Once again, this simple addition of a piece of plywood and a bunch of screws will totally transform the sound of the Heresy.

Images attached....

Yes, especially considering expense of tweeter and crossover upgrade. I think the key is patiently finding interested local buyer maybe via the CL to avoid considerable shipping expense.

Been walking down this economical upgrade route with my Heresy 1.5: Add 3/4" plywood back panel glued to existing 5/8" inset panel. Secure with more than the 8 wood screws used. I used 36 #8 x 1 1/4" wood screws. Gasket material on back 5/8" inset panel. I used duct tape on both surfaces. Add rubber tipped 3/4" wooden dowels, one vertical, two horizontal, to further stiffen, dampen cabinet. Upgrade the original 18 ga stranded wiring. My wiring choice is of course different. Dynamat the midrange horn. Add 4 missing woofer screws. Add spikes (I used wood screws again). Cut out grille for the horns. I believe the additional plywood on the back (I actually used two 3/4" plys because I had the extra wood left over) made the biggest difference, tamed the mid bass / midrange boxiness greatly. Totally different speaker. Also any wire will be better than the stock 18 ga stranded.