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Showing results for tags 'LaScala Woofer Swap Kappa 15c'.
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All, I got some birthday money and decided to take the plunge. PE had a sale on the Kappa15c over Thanksgiving so I picked up a pair for $100 each. Put them into my 79 LaScalas which I have both the bass bin mod and the ALK universal cross overs. My initial reaction was to immediately swap them back. There was a noticeable loss in bass. Then I started looking at the measurements. I had an un natural 3db boost down at 43-44db with the K33b drivers, That was hard to let go, but in my back of my mind I always knew that what I was hearing was not the way the recordings were supposed to be. After listening for a while, I feel like the Kappa Cs bring a much more natural balanced sound. I also think it does clear up the upper end of the bass to my ear. At the sacrifice of some low end, but not a lot. Recordings that used to sound muddy in that upper bass range sound less so. Not a huge improvement, but I would say a subtle and noticeable improvement. It's interesting now, every time I put something on for a critical listen, I tell myself the bass is missing. Then with the first low note, I immediately change my mind. With the K33b drivers there was almost always a low end presence that you always knew was there. The Kappa15c drivers produce those low notes without that noticeable low end rumble. The Kappa15c drivers are a drop in replacement. That was about as easy as it could be. I spent more time making a set cables to connect the new drivers than I did swapping them out. I did some measurements both before and after. I literally took a measurement, put my iPad fft recorder on pause, made the changes and took the second measurement all in a 4 hour period. That way there was no question that all the settings were exactly the same when I took the measurements. I noticed in several of the other posts that there was a lack of info comparing the two. Hopefully the frequency plot below showing both the K33b and the Kappa15c will help. Red is the Kappa15c, the other color is the K33b. https://app.box.com/s/uyyechrmtbi28v5z5xxszhyipav3woge Mike.