Modding Older LaScalas

[Kriton]

Ok, say I have a pair of older LaScalas, that till need a facelift at some point - and I am thinking about new veneer. Those inside angles bite, so I figure I might want to fill in the errors and paint it black (would the industrial pebbled finish be bad *inside* the throat of the bass bin?)

Here is my real question - we know the enclosure vibrates, hence the thicker walls in the new LS2's - if I am going to reveneer these tthings anyways, along with edgebanding the front edges, what would be the problem with say, screwing in another layer of dense plywood onto the LS bin and then reveneering the whole thing? Besides making the bins a lot heavier (too heavy?), what would be the downside?

B

[greg928gts]

what would be the problem with say, screwing in another layer of dense plywood onto the LS bin and then reveneering the whole thing? Besides making the one bins a lot heavier (too heavy?), what would be the downside?

I doubt it would make them any heavier than 1" mdf cabinets.

As long as the entire surface of the additional layer was glued to the cabinet, I don't know why this wouldn't work to make a thicker walled bass bin. Whether or not that makes it sound better is still a question.

Good idea though.

Greg

[Guest David H]

Another option is to add an internal V brace to the bass bin, and re-glue the structure internally as well.

[Kriton]

The new LS2's are split top and bottom, so you can move them, right? These buggers are pretty heavy, and another half inch of baltic ply is going to make them damned heavy.

B

[greg928gts]

The new LS2's are split top and bottom, so you can move them, right? These buggers are pretty heavy, and another half inch of baltic ply is going to make them damned heavy.

B

What about 1/4"? That would make them 1" thick total.

Splitting is a great idea, it give you some flexibility with upgrades and you can try the trick of turning the bass bins backwards into corners to see if that works well in your room.

Greg

[Guest " "]

makes more sense than refinishing scruffy cabinets.

if you are detail picky you're going to need large clamps and plenty of glue.....

if you are not detail picky and want the vintage birch raw look you could use nail guns that shoot thin brads along with plenty of glue....

glue expands big time when you clamp it so to avoid streams of glue from flowing in all directions glue one side and lightly wet the other....it will cause a vacum and suck the wood together.

putting high grade plywood over scruffys is very easy to do. you can use pieces just slightly larger that the desired pieces. start with the front, secure it, then edge router it, do the backs using the same process, do the sides using the same process, then do the tops . Make sure you have a few new plung router bits. You could try to pre cut exact peices, but the odds that both your table saw and original speakers are really truly square would make an exact fit approach a little more challenging.

[seti]

Now this is a mod. Ported and V braces.

[Kriton]

putting high grade plywood over scruffys is very easy to do

Yeah, but will this negate the cabinet vibrations I keep hearing about? Since I will have to fix (with filler) several edges, could I use the this as the opportunity to make the cabs square, and then mitre the ply sheath to exacting standards? (Not that I will do this, I am just saying?)

B

[Coytee]

Hey Bruce,

According to my conversation once with Jim Hunter, this should give you (essentially) the same bass response of the LaScala II. I've been debating on doing it with my 3rd LaScala (beater box) to give it a try. I was thinking adding some 3/4" nice plywood to the outside and then along the now, 1 1/2" wide face (two 3/4" pieces of plywood together) putting some kind of edge banding or even buying some matching wood hardstock wood and attaching it to the front.

If you want to wait until you move this way, you can use my beater box as a guinea pig if you want. I'm already thinking on cutting the top part off so all I'm left with is the bass bin. Seriously... if you want to hack at it, you're welcome to. It can't get much uglier than it already is!

[Kriton]

Now this is a mod. Ported and V braces.

Hey SETI, long time no talk - so in this picture this is an LS I bass bin, on it's side, with V-braces in the low end, and the part of the box that held the tweet and the mid-horn is filled in and ported, right? The ported part, that wouldn't actually have open ports to the bass enclosures, though right, it is just a passive box right? When I picked up these LS's I was given the ported boxes that PB made to ist under the LS bins, to improve bass repsonse, adn they are just nil-boxes, without direct port opening to the drives...that is right, yes?

I will need to smooth and reshape a couple of inches of the pointy V shape in the LF bin that has been damaged, hence why I want to paint the inside all black - that filler is going to look like hell under stanin, and if I veneer those angles inside the LF section look killer hard to get to and make look nice...

B

PS - Coy, I may take you up on that - I would not mind experimenting, will give me something to do! I guess I am surprised that no one has already done this mod?

[seti]

Now this is a mod. Ported and V braces.

Hey SETI, long time no talk - so in this picture this is an LS I bass bin, on it's side, with V-braces in the low end, and the part of the box that held the tweet and the mid-horn is filled in and ported, right? The ported part, that wouldn't actually have open ports to the bass enclosures, though right, it is just a passive box right? When I picked up these LS's I was given the ported boxes that PB made to ist under the LS bins, to improve bass repsonse, adn they are just nil-boxes, without direct port opening to the drives...that is right, yes?

I will need to smooth and reshape a couple of inches of the pointy V shape in the LF bin that has been damaged, hence why I want to paint the inside all black - that filler is going to look like hell under stanin, and if I veneer those angles inside the LF section look killer hard to get to and make look nice...

I think they made these La Scalas from scratch but could have been a mod. It looks kinda cool on its side. You know how underneath you have a hatch to get access to the dog house. This is removed and the ported part attaches there. The hatch stays off. It gives the cabinet extra volume. Give it a listen and tell us what you think. I haven't asked any Klipsch guys if it is a compromise or not.

[Marvel]

Now this is a mod. Ported and V braces.

Fabricated from scratch...not just a mod.

Bruce,

The ported section is open into the doghouse. According to djk, this can give you almost flat to 30hz. With a standard LS, you can open up the TOP of the doghouse, and enclose the back (where the crossovers reside) and put ports out the back. Same volume increase. Or you can remove the bottom cover, and stack teh LS onto a ported box to accomplish the same thing.

[djk]

The above picture is Frode's Oris 200s.

"Yes, it's djk's mod. I'm very happy with the change in bass performance. Now I can call it a fullrange system.

Frode "

Below is the Oris 150:
Oris horn owners like both the stock and the vented LaScala bass units.

[DizRotus]

Kriton-

djk's mod has been done many times. Much information about it can be found at the following link: Ported La Scalas?

That link will take you to a thread with several other links about djk's bass reflex modification to La Scalas.

As to beater La Scalas, they don't start out much worse than these.

[DizRotus]

The speakers in the photo above turned out like this. Not pretty enough for a living room, but more than suitable for the high school band practice room where they now reside.

[Marvel]

Oris horn owners like both the stock and the vented LaScala bass units.

The LS bass cab design is what Bert used to sell with his horns. Looking at the gallery on his website is always fun. He has an Oris made for a 2 inch. compression driver, too. I wish it didn't cost so much to get them over here (or there, I guess, too).

Bruce

[djk]

Les Hudson's Oris. He liked the look of a slot port better.

"It's a home made Lascala bass cabinet with a bottom section added to increase the volume of the dog house to 4.8 cubic ft and port tuned to 35hz. huge improvement. "

Les Hudson's journey into PPSL (push-pull slot-loaded):

"I was expecting it to take some time to get aquainted with the way that it sounds but I knew within seconds that it was what I wanted. It's cleaner , faster and the kind of bass that usually comes from servo systems. I'm even able to drive the woofers much harder before cone break up.

My actual tuning came out to 33hz. and they sound very linear up to 400hz. Thanks"

[DizRotus]

Dennis-

Please elaborate on what is seen in the two photos above.

Is the upper version essentially your modification with a slot replacing the two tubular ports? If so, is that done primarily for cosmetic reasons? Does it affect (either good or bad) the performance compared to the round ports?

More information regarding the PPSL unit would also be appreciated. Is there more than one driver? From the photo, it's difficult (for me, at least) to envision the final configuration and its operation.

Last, how does one load more than a single photo into a post?

Thanks

[seti]

DJK,

Have you heard the Oris horns with La Scala ported LF? I'm really curious about the Oris vs. stock Klipsch top hat. I wonder what it would be like with a pair of JubClones.

[Marvel]

Dennis gave me sizes for a slot port some time ago. I had been wondering about the idea of a built from scratch LS, with the top section enclosed, and a slot at the apex or point of the doghouse.That way it wouldbe height of regular LS, but port to the front.

I have a whole warehouse of of ideas, which is probably better than everything built and nowhere to put them. [*-)]

Bruce