How to clean and repair old LSIs

[ILoveKlipsch]

Hi there,

We are new to the Klipsch brand and just want to find out what is the best way to clean the surface and repair them. We've just had a pair of La Scala Industrials shipped to our studio yesterday (all 500 lbs of it!) from the States (to Hong Kong), and couldn't wait to set it up. We found the rubber corners had broken and some paint left over. Just wondering what was the best method to clean and repair them?

Have to say it is amongst the best set of speakers we have ever heard. We're properly convinced we're not going for any other brand of speaker for some time! My father heard it many years ago at a hifi show in London and said he'd always wanted to own a pair........so this is our dream come true! The soundstage and vocals from Porgy & Bess' Summertime was absolutely stunning to say the least!

from a new Klipsch owner

[Marvel]

Welcome to the forums. If you cna post a cople of pics, that would make it easier to give ideas on cleaning/refurbishing the cabinets. If you have the serial numbers, that will tell you the year they were made.

[to post pics, when composing text, go to the options tab, ckick on add/update and browse to a photo. You may need to then scroll to the right so see the save button, but save it and post. You can only attach one pic per post, which is a bit tedious, but it works]

LaScalas are GREAT speakers! [Y][Y][Y][Y] Since you are in Hong Kong, responses from here may be a little slow since you are currently 13hrs ahead of us on the East coast of the U.S. Just be patient. [] I was in HK in Oct., to meet up with my fiancee. I love it there.

Bruce

[dollar bill]

Fly me over and I'll take care of them!

I wouldn't complain about finding a future fiancee there either!

[ILoveKlipsch]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the introduction! It's great to be on here, and be part of such a big community of Klipsch enthusiasts! Yes HK is a lovely place (and one filled with many an audiophile lover I presume)! And yes I am aware its a wonderful place to find a fiancee! About the speakers, we got hold of them thru eBay as our local Klipsch dealer here didn't sell them. I think it was because they were out of production? We were looking for the La Scalas in particular.

We opted for the La Scalas as it was something my father had heard many many years ago when he still lived in London. At the time he was a real big audiophile, into Gales, JBLs, Luxman amps, Koetsu etc. He went to an audio show over there once, and how he came across Klipsch that walked by one of the demo rooms as he was visiting another stall. There was a dark blanket draped over the test area (he couldn't see anything), and the sound was so big and realistic he thought there was literally a jazz band playing behind it. When they pulled it back there was a pair of Klipsch. He was shocked, and needless to say got smitten by them ever since! So this is our first 'proper' pair of big Klipsch' so to speak, and already we are absolutely falling in love with it! []

I had a look at the serials. They start with 89 so I presume they were made in 89? They look old enough. Here's a photo of the units as they are:



Jason

[Marvel]

Jason,

Thanks for the pic. Yes, the first two digits are the year, the next two are the week.

Cleaning these up all depends on how far you want to go with them. If you want to keep the industrial look, you can remove all the corner protectors, clean and sand, then repaint. To make them really pretty will take more work. Your cabinets are the same as my home version (pic attached). There are LSIs in bare wood and split (bass cabinet w/mid and tweeter in a separate enclosure).

Being industrials, they should have a K43 woofer in them. They handle more power than the K-33 woofer which is what is the stock woofer for the LaScala, Belle, Cornwall and Klipschorn. If you are happy with them, you sure don't need to spend money needlessly just to change. There are quite a few folks on here with LSIs, some in use in their home theatre systems.

The thing most people will suggest is to replace the crossovers, as those should have a type AL, which many/most don't think was very good. You could build your own or buy kit/completed versions through some folks on the forums. Prices aren't too bad, but that all gets to be subjective. Some of that will depend on how loud you listen, and what style of music. For instance, I use 3.5 watt SET amps on mine, and the volume is fine for my tastes. A 200 watt amps can also work. Any good amplification will work, but some combinations are just magical.

I haven't actually looked, but you may find more info on the forums under the commercial section farther down theforum page.

Klipsch does still sell the LaScala, now the LaScala II, with one inch thick outside wall thickness and prettied up. Gorgeous speakers!

Bruce

ps attached is one of my '89s, sitting in my living room (I'm using a different tweeter, mounted on a baffle on the top of the cabinet.

[KauaiBass]

Aloha!

Some synchonicity going on here...I just got some LSIs very much like yours and love them. By chance I just posted a thread last night on my experiences repairing the corners with Bondo and repainting them black. My thread should go up in the Pro forum on Monday Feb 1st, as it's still being moderated.

Hope you find it helpful.

I think all us newbies are still in shock as to how great these speakers sound...[8]

[ILoveKlipsch]

Hi Bruce & KauaiBass,

Wow...look at that finish! And so well kept! Your units sure look nice Bruce! Totally agreed on the gorgeous bit. If there's one thing I love about speakers its the traditional finishes....no home system is ever complete without a beautifully finished cabinet.

The thing that gets me about the Klipsch is that its relatively inexpensive compared to a lot of other brands costing twice or several times more. Over here the most expensive speaker we can get (so far I've read) is the Magico Ultimate 2. It costs something ridiculous like $4M HKD! Yet you're looking at something that's using exactly the same technology (hornload) and a hundred times far easier on the pocket in a Klipsch! I just don't get it sometimes when people pay so much more for things that do the same job.....

We've just got a subwoofer today (Definitive Technology Supercube II) to match with the La Scalas. We'll see how that works out..I think it should be a pretty good combo as the sound is already spot on and vocals are crystal clear. DSD discs are quite amazing on these. We had a friend who said when he heard our LSIs that they very little coloration and distortion....and we agree with him. It definitely has a very tight bass and almost effortless playing on any material we've tried. I'm primarily a jazz, blues and classical fan but we have rock/pop, percussions, and ambient also...and these cans just fits the bill.

As I say, these LSI are for our studio. For sure our next set for the home will most definitely be Klipsch, no doubt about it. Just have to work out what system/setup to match them with, as there's so many to choose from nowadays. []

Thanks for the tips guys! I'll look into the woofer upgrades and Bondo repair techniques....we certainly have a few nicks and even some paint on the plastics we have to clear up. Much appreciated.

Jason

'I think all us newbies are still in shock as to how great these speakers sound...'

Agreed []