po6430 Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I am quite new to the whole stereo thing but have become infected!!! Started a couple of years ago when an audiofile friend sold me a Marantz SR 18 and a superb pair of Yamaha NS1000M's and said that's all I'll need for "good" sound" for the moment....!! It was a lovely start!! So now I have just purchased a pair of La Scala's off e-bay Australia having researched them for a while and thinking they will give me similar bright and natural sound as the yamaha's give but with the added punch of the bass (and I have a large room). I know many say the la scala's are limited with bass but I luv live music and live is not full of super low end distortion (If the guy on the mixing desk can keep ears on the job..lol). From what I've heard so far I have not been dissapointed. I am running through a Marantz 9600 AV as the pre and a Rotel 1080 (200w which I know is more than enough for the efficient La Scala's) as the power amp. The Marantz is WAY too bright as the pre and on testing them with a ME 14 pre the sound was superb.....Bass soooo punchy and the hissssiness gone from the vocals. That is the first part of my question. I know the Rotel is not high end but I need to progress as the budget allows. The ME pre amps are no longer available and rarely appear second hand so my question is regarding pre amps and which pre's luv La Scalas...? I guess a lot will say valves for both pre and power but I"m not ready to go there. Question 2 regards the age of my new babies... The tags from the back are long gone so the only things I have to estimate an age is the components which are the AA crossover, K77 tweeter, K55V mid, bass...?, and the stamps in the rear panel which are 27W711 on one and 27W751 on the other as well as the USA stamps. I guess without getting into the serial numbers on the horns these stamps my not mean much? Would luv some advise on these questions.... Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RT FAN Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Welcome to the Klipsch Forums, PO6430. Nothing like jumping into the deep end of the pool with a nice pair of La Scalas! Congrats on your first pair of Klipsch speakers. I am no expert but I believe the "W" in your serial number means they were manufactured in 1981. I'm sure one of the many experts around here will chime in to confirm. Stick around, there's plenty to learn from a knowledgable group of Klipscheads here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Welcome to the forum. La Scalas are truly lovely speakers for experiencing music. One thing, at their vintage age, the caps on the crossovers will have become resistive and have drifted off factory spec. If you like the sound now, you will fall in love with them after replacing the caps with fresh ones. It's an easy enough diy job, and the best bang for the buck improvement you can ever make on Klipsch Heritage speakers. The caps need not be expensive, just to match the factory originals. The result will be the closest to out of the factory sound possible. Bob Crites, BEC, on this forum has Type AA crossover kits on eBay or you could contact him directly. He is a great support for getting this accomplished inexpensively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
po6430 Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 Hi Stephen, Thanks for your reply and yes you were spot on,,!!! ( I also posted in 2 channel and was given this link which is an Alladins Cave) http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/p/103886/1048788.aspx#1048788 Yes I am in the deep end but I do need to sort out my amps / pre's. My grail is a pair of Klipschorns as my room would be perfect.... Patience is a virtue....so they say LOL.... Thanks Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
po6430 Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 Hi Daddy Dee, Thanks for the tip re the crossovers. Being 1981 speakers I can appreciate your concern and I guess fully expected some work would be required... Luckily they sound awesome already which indicates all the horns are still OK so the crossovers may well need some updating. Bob Crites sounds like the man and I have seen his e-bay listing..... Not sure if I should go the whole AA replacement or just the capasitor kit? It all looks pretty old back there... Thanks for your input. Phil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Yeh, can't go wrong either way on buying a new crossover or just recapping the old ones, you'll end up with optimal sound. If one wanted to keep one pair original, replacement would be the ticket. The refreshing caps only is also a viable option because of the durability of the other crossover components. There would be no discernable difference in sound between recapped or completely new crossovers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted August 20, 2009 Share Posted August 20, 2009 G'day Mate! W is 1981. That's the best year ever for a La Scala except maybe the 2005 and later versions. The K-55-Vs should have solder terminals and the tweeters should be K-77-Ms with rectangular "mud" magnets. If they have been used regularly, the capacitors in the crossover are probably fine. If they've been in storage much, you need to think about replacing the caps. I used Hovland Musicaps in mine, but I think Solen Fastcaps are about as good, and I've used them in my Heresies and other crossover projects. Now that you've gone A over T, run a Forum search on "La Scala crossover". There are several floating around. If you are going to keep the 200 watt amp, stay away from the simple ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
po6430 Posted August 21, 2009 Author Share Posted August 21, 2009 G'Day John......! Thanks for your feedback ...Much appreciated..... Of course it encourages a few question. The first being why is, and what is different about the 1981 model? From my very "Green" research I assumed things changed slowly with the La Scalas? It is the K 77 M and slightly rectangular (mud..?) The K 55 V is soldered at the joints. As far as I know the speakers have been used quite regularly but I will check that. Finally I guess you are saying my Rotel 1080 is simple.......? I guess I know that but the budget is a factor and with a nice pre it performed!! If I could find a nice power/pre amp that suits my babies I would be thrilled.... Thanks Phil..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 I can't find my K-77 vs K-77-M data sheet, but the -M is a little smoother and goes higher. I've attached an old Dope from Hope showing the difference between the "new" solder terminal K-55-V and the old spring-terminal -V. The solder terminal -V was only used for about 1 year with the Type AA crossover. The tweeter crossover frequency is 6,000 Hz. After that Klipsch switched to an Electro-Voice made K-55-M using Type AL through AL-3 crossovers. After 2002 (I think), Klipsch switched to a K-55-X that is identical internally to the early, spring-terminal K-55-V. The crossover was changed to the AL-4 and the tweeter crossover point lowered to 4500 Hz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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