blue360cuda

That is one of the most well thought out replies I could have asked for. Your explanation of the bass with the LS is exactly what I experienced; the lower ranges didn't hit hard as the Forte's or other bass heavy speakers, rather it was more of a hint or whisper of what was there. The lower frequencies could still be heard, somewhat, but weren't highlighted. Danke sehr KT88 !

The owner of the stereo shop with the LS reached out to me, said they're getting Cornwalls in next month so they'll have everything from Heresy up to LS on floor for demo. The interesting thing is, I asked what amp they were using (forgot) and he was running them off a Prima Luna evo 300. The dealer with the Cornwalls and Forte's was using a Mac MA352. I'm really wondering now how much of the sound I loved from the LS was due to the Prima Luna. I mean it was a SIGNIFICANT difference in overall quality, imaging and just pure enjoyment. Almost felt disappointed by the Cornwalls on the Mac amp since I expected them to be much more closer to the LS. I'm sure this is going a bit extreme but what the heck, not in a rush so I'll run back to the first place and give all 3 another listen with that Prima Luna. On the topic of tube amps, I've never had one so looking to pick one up to go with the speakers. Not in a rush since I have the 2240 currently and she sounds great. Out of the tube market, what do you guys like and what sounds good on the Klipsch line up? Also, any preference for specific models of the Decware amps and why? Since the wait list is so long I might as well get on it and have something for Christmas next year. Appreciate how helpful everyone has been! Thank you all so much

Islander, thanks for all the info! I'm waiting my invite to hear your system in person; I bet it sounds awesome! Thanks for the straight info without being "mysterious" about your preferences and current set up . . . The thing that keeps me leaning back towards the La Scalas is how well they imaged during my demo. The Forte's did a decent job as well but nothing like those La Scalas. My dealer is going to have some cornwalls in a few weeks on the demo floor so I may have to do a second visit and hear all 3 back to back to back. I'd just say heck with it and pull the trigger on the La Scalas but they would be a bit of a tight squeeze in my current room before I do a remodel (near future). I really do agree that it seems the La Scalas with a proper sub or two seems like the best of everything. Thanks again!

Ok, so what's this mysterious "big stuff" you speak of . . .

"big stuff" as in Khorns or 200K Wilsons?

Indeed!

Ok, just got back from spinning a stack of my vinyl on some Cornwalls and comparing to the Forte's. No La Scalas at this place. . . Honestly, comparing the two, they're VERY similar. The Forte's have slightly punchier bass, the Cornwalls have slightly better imaging / soundstage, but not by much and not anywhere near what I heard with the La Scalas. The Cornwalls do for sure sound "bigger". I have to double check what amp they were running at the dealer I heard the LS the first time, I thought it was also a tube pre-amp Macintosh. I did like the Cornwalls, nice speakers, but the LS were better without a doubt. I don't know what voodoo is in those LS but they were just magical. Now I want to hear the K horns and hopefully one day the Jubilees! Maybe I'll change my mind in the morning but as of now I'm thinking I'll order the Forte's and get them nice and set up in my room and get used to them for a while. I have a nagging suspicion that eventually I'll get an itch to trade up for some La Scals and maybe a sub or two . . . we shall see! Also listened to some GoldenEar tower speakers. I don't know if my ears are broken or something but all those super expensive speakers just sound dead to me, TOO neutral or something? Anyone on here running Decware tube amps? Thinking I may need to start looking for something with lightbulbs on top to sit next to the Marantz 2240.

For those of you who have heard both in person, how do the La Scalas compare to the Cornwall 4s? There's another dealer about an hour away from me that may have Cornwalls on display so hopefully I can listen to those too before making a decision. The room I'm planning to put them in is 16' by 18' long so its med size. Thinking the Forte' 4s should be big enough and if I'm not happy could always trade them back and upgrade down the road. Side note: it really is crazy how nice these Kipsch speakers sound/image. I went to 3 different "hifi" dealers locally just to check out as much as I could get my ears on. The one place was a Mac dealer and had an over 1MM demo room with $250,000 wilson audio speakers and all the doo dads including a $200,000 turn table set up that weighed 800 pounds. Just crazy stuff; thought my wife was going to have a heart attack when she saw the price stickers. Now I'm sure all the high end audiophile folks would hate me but I swear, that music I heard yesterday on the La Scalas and a pretty nice music hall turntable sounded way more real and engaging than that crazy set up. I demoed about a dozen different speakers at these other hifi shops and its hard to put into words, yes they sounded amazing, they were crystal clear, but they just sounded too "neutral" , almost lifeless. So happy I decided to go for the Klipsch and just have to figure which one to pull the trigger on for now. Bear with me folks, I'm dorking out here . . .

Islander, That's a great idea and pretty much what I figured I'd do if going with the La Scalas. Do you really notice a difference having 2 subs v.s. just 1?

Hey everyone, thanks for those of you who gave me some info on vintage vs new La Scalas. I finally got to hear some in person yesterday. My local (ish) heritage dealer had La Scala, Forte' 4s and Heresy in stock. Wow! Those La Scalas are out of this world, in both physical and acoustic presence. I listened to some of my old favorites that I've heard 100s of times on my home system (zeppelin, beatles, jethro tull, bob dylan) and it was insane . . . you could literally hear Robert Plant like he was sitting in front of you with such detail it was almost eerie, in a good way though. After playing with the La Scalas for about 45 min I plugged in the Forte' 4s. Those honestly surprised me. While not as large and all encompassing of a sound stage as the La Scalas, they were dam good! I immediately noticed the lack of bass on La Scalas as others online have pointed out. It was weird, almost like you had the EQ for the lowest bass turned down to 1; you could hear the bass or a shadow of the deepest notes but it really doesn't come through. The Forte' 4s were another story though, they gave nice and pleasant bass and I'd say about 75% of the "presence" of the La Scalas but a bit narrower/smaller sound stage. I really liked them, and for my medium sized room they may be the ticket at 1/3 the price too. Question for those "in the know" . . . the La Scalas were positioned not in a corner but in the middle of a wall. Would this have a significant impact on their bass performance? I did notice the Forte' 4s were very position dependend but since the La Scalas are so heavy and were set up I couldn't exactly move them around in the store. I played with position a little bit with Forte' 4s (closer/further from wall and toe in / straight) that made significant differences in their sound for sure. I'm still floored by how sweet those big boys played but even though I'm not at all a "bass head", they did leave me just a little bit lacking in the low department. Any fixes for this? I know others have stiffened their cabinets and played around with ported stands on the older models, has anyone done some mods on these new ones with success? Was a fun trip yesterday. I actually didn't' even plug in the Heresy 4s since I ran out of time but wow, all these speakers look amazing and sound so sweet. Getting excited to make a decision! Thinking about another road trip to check out the Cornwalls at another dealer, very curious if those would give the bass of the Forte' 4s with the presence and sound stage of the La Scalas.

Hey everyone! I'm bringing some of my vintage gear out and getting it back up and running. Currently using a Marantz 2240 and Thornes 160 turntable. The missing link for me is speakers as my old no-names are shot. Question for those of you who have heard the new La Scalas and vintage ones, what do you think of them? I have the opportunity to buy a set of 1978 La Scalas that have had the mid drivers and subs updated with new but the crossovers are original. They're located a couple hours away so wondering if you guys think its worth it or should I just save up for a while and bite the bullet on some new ones? I'm all for tinkering and playing around with electronics so I thought it would be a fun project to rock the old school speakers; I also do some woodworking so new veneers wouldn't be a problem either. Just don't feel like sinking $$$$ and hours into an old set if they wont even come close to how the new ones are with all the updates through the years. Would greatly appreciate any feedback Thanks!!!