Jump to content

Lascalas Riser Modification


edriz

Recommended Posts

I have been searchin all over this forum for some, any NEW information regarding the Riser Modification that some of us Lascala owners have made to our Lascalas. I have done the riser mod to mine and wanted to discuss the mod with other Lascala owners that have made the Riser and want to see/ask their opinions and what they think about the modification.

I have no way of measuring exactly how much more bass i actually gained by adding the mod but it does seem to be lower to my ears. I've had these Lascalas for a very long time, bought them new in 1981 from the PX Audio Store while stationed in Germany. You don't want to know how cheap I got them either. [:D] Oh, one more small question. I'm listening mostly to hard rock/heavy metal and these speakers really sound amazing. Everything sounds good on these but one day I was playing a new Metallica~The "Black" Album on vinyl and there was some serious vibration coming from both speakers so bad that I could not listen anymore. This is the first time this has ever happened and the only band this has happened too. Right away I switched to another band still on vinyl and cranked it up to the same listening level and nothing. Just as clean as you could ask for. So next I put on Metallicas "And Justice For All on vinyl and using the same volumn level, the same vibration.

I have tried to duplicate this with other types of music and it just doesn't happen. Even with such bands as Genesis with such low and deep bass that they have at certain times. and various other bands, don't matter, I can not get this to happen. Any ideas what may cause something like that to happen. You wouldn't think the Bass Bin sides would be vibrating causing that sound and if they are, why can't I get it to happen any other time?

Oh well, Just wondering. My main issue is talking with Modification owners anyway. Have a great day

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, I've added the riser to my LS & am very pleased with the results. To my ears the LS had very little bottom end when just stock until I changed the woofers to Crites cast frame models. When I added the risers the bottom increased even more.

I don't have any measurements either, but they go at least as low as my Altec 19's which comfortably go to 30 Hz. I couldn't go back to listening to them as standard.

Strange about the vibration....is it the cabinet vibrating or the woofer? Maybe the amp is running out of steam?...not sure

Here's a pic.

post-32839-13819539514682_thumb.jpg

post-32839-13819555054318_thumb.jpg

post-32839-13819567870564_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Damn, yours are a lot prettier then mine. And newer I think. Did you build yours. I never seen an actual pair with the tweeter built outside the box?? Anyway, your risers are a bit different but yours are the actual size too. My rizers are a bit smaller but only because I already had mine built 25+ years ago. Back when I built my risers they were more to just get the bass bins off the floor and the tweeters more at and just a bit above ear level. When I came to this forum some 28 years later and seen the thread on the modification I just figured why bother building a new pair of risers and just use the ones I have. My risers are maybe 2" X1-1/2" smaller and maybe 2" shorter then the Modifiefication calls for. I did build them out of 3/4" pluwood though.

My Lascalas were originally the Birch Black. I got them while stationed in Germany and I figured with using them in this type of setting and moving them in and outdoors plus moving arounmd the world, the black would be easier for touching up. Once out of the service I fell on hard tomes, sold them, years later got em back, bad shape, I restored them (long story condensed but its a great story)..

I did want to refinish them to a nice wood finish, ya know, reveneer them and maybe seperate the top cabinet from the bass bin but the lack of a space to do that kind of work and the skill (I'm an outstanding steel worker but can't cut a 2X4 in half) made me think twice about that extent of refinishing. Plus, I really wanted to get them back in my system again [:D] When I got them back one had a blown woofer so I got a new one from Klipsch, the Xovers were completely rusted and I took a brass wire brush to them. Really went after them too. Hooked them up and they sounded amazing.

So, I then went after them, sanded and sanded, repainted twice, refinished the risers then proceeded with the mods. I followed all the other directions on the mods except the actual dimensions.I don't know if mine being a bit smaller makes a big difference in the sound or anything like that. Like I said, theres no way to make any actual measurements but there is a lot of air movement so the ports are doing what they are supposed to. On some things I block one port on each speaker. On most I don't. I may at some point make plugs, proper ones. I may even make new Risers one day and use 3" pvc just to see if that makes an even bigger difference. I bet it would. What I wonder the most is the effect these ports has on the efficiency of the Lascala. Does it reduce the efficiency rating? If so, how much? Are we sacraficing efficiency for lower bass response?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had mine built for me by a cabinet maker friend so they are basically brand new....I built the riser for the bottom.

Yes, you will lose a little efficiency...not sure how much as I also cannot do any measurements. It can't be a lot though as I still have heaps of efficiency from mine, although I did back off the mids 1 notch to balance things out a bit. The recommended size for the riser is the same size as the width & depth of the LS & 10 inches high. The ports should be 4 inch diameter & 7 inches long. There's a thread in here somewhere about the results of using different port lengths & diameters. With the standard tuning you should get good response down to 30Hz.

Good to hear you got your old babies back again & they are working well for you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good to hear back from you.

I was overwhelmed when I saw the guy I sold them to and he said he still had them. I actually sold him a bunch of gear and he even had most of it. I asked him if he was using any of it and he told me he had it all in his garage and hadn't been using any of it for nearly 7 years. I asked him if he was interested in selling it back to me. He thought for a minute and said to give him a price. I just told him that I didn't think it be fair since I knew what he paid me. He said go ahead and name a price so I jokingly said to him "okay, how does a crisp new #100 bill sound?" He looked up at me and just said with a smile..."SOLD"

I said "WHAT" He told me to meet him at his house next Sunday, which was Mothers Day, last year 2009 because he had to go out of town for a week. Can you believe that. I got 70% of all my old gear back for $100. Now this was 23 years after I sold all this gear to him. Well let me tell ya, this was the longest week I had ever spent. Unfortunetly, this guy had a house fire some 15 years ago and a Carver C-4000 pre amp I had and a Sanyo Q50 Turntable, some KLH noise reduction gear, SAE Tick and POP eliminator, and aDBX-3BX were lost in the fire. He did manage to get the Lascalas out but he went after the Carver C-1 Pre amp, some Carver amps and other gear first si the Lascalas did have some water damage.

I have no idea how he blew one of the woofers. Let me tell ya, when I bought those lascalas in Germany, I used and abused those puppies and it had to be virtually impossible to blow those woofers!!!

Anyway, I got them refinished to the best of my abilities with what I had to work with. If I wasn't so Inpatient to get them back in use, I probably could have done a better refinishing job. I really wanted to re-venner them which would have added another 1/8th" thickness to the cabinets and I could have put any finish I wanted on them. But, I don't have a garage to work in so I had to take them outside to sand them, back in to paint, out to sand, back in at night, out to paint. I tried to get them all finished up by the time the woofer got here. Unfortunelty, the guys at Klipsch were faster then me.

I'll tell ya, I called the Klipsch place and ordered the woofer over the phone and I kid you not, 3 days later it was in my hands and that includes the day I called!!

Anyway, The finish job is another story. It includes an Ouch!!! [:'(]

The modification I did does have the correct sizr PVC. The length is correct and it is a 4" pipe. The only difference is the size of the box itself. It is smaller. I wish I could find the thread about different sizes. I have looked at threads everywhere about the modifications but theres nothing new. Everything I have been seeing is from 2008 and older. I got so tired of looking so I started this one. [:D] I do wish I had a better finish, the black is okay and they look nice enough. I tell ya, they sound great. I made some changes and put the B&K Crossovers and the Crites tweeters in.

I still have the old crossovers and I may at some point recap those. I hooked them up with the old Xovers and they did sound really good but still after 28 years they must have needed new caps, especially after sitting in a dark damp musty garage for 7 years and before that being hosed down with water in a burning house!! The old Xovers were very rusty too. I cleaned them up as good as I could so I may go ahead and get a kit for them. I still have the original tweeters for them. Who knows, Maybe I'll build me a pair of Cornwalls. I could use these Xovers and tweeters, Just need the mids, woofers and build some cabs?? HHmmmm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...

Thanks for bumping.

So does the mod work better with a K43 (or similar driver)?

If so, what woofers are we loking at?

The original....no need to change for the passive mod I'm thinking of.....where is Bruce? He has looked at this extensively.

Oooops see it in the other thread. Thank you Bruce!

Edited by Tarheel
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 years later...

Has anyone noticed that on the measurements on the riser ports, that they have the center of the port holes 6-3/4 inches from the outside edges and then they are supposed to be 12" on center of the two holes. The width of the Lascala front is 23-3/4 inches. If ya do the math, this adds up to 25-1/2" Somewhere, somehow who ever made this original diagram didn't do the math very well. Does anyone know where the center of the holes for the ports should actually be from the outside edge?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With my kappa 15c in a Belle (ported), I still have mixed feelings about porting . There is somewhat deeper bass than stock, but still - it is not day and night and I feel a subwoofer is still warranted (and yes , I tried boosting around the tuning frequency too)

Maybe it's my woofer, maybe it's my tastes but this is just my honest opinion. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"With my kappa 15c in a Belle (ported), I still have mixed feelings about porting "

 

Did you ever stop to think that the ultra low Qts (0.25) is a bit low for good ported use?

 

This is the part # from Eminence, the makers of the speaker.

SPEC 15162

PART # K-33

RE OHMS 3.39 FS HZ 34.46

LE MH .96 MMS GMS 78.59

QM 7.39 CMS mm/N .2714

QE .410 RMS NS/M 2.3037

QT .390 VAS LTRS 301.66

XMAX MM 8.20 SD SCM 889.59

BL TM 11.88 EBP 84.4

EFF % 2.91 SPL dB 96.6

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I built a pair of small tapped horn subs to use as risers for my Belles. I use them in a small room so they are able to keep up. In a large room or for HT, they would probably fall short of the mark, but for me and 2 channel music only, they add that little boost for the low end. I have the subs crossed over just below 100 hz and these little subs reach down to 25 hz (in theory)

 

 

c3.jpg

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, djk said:

"With my kappa 15c in a Belle (ported), I still have mixed feelings about porting "

 

Did you ever stop to think that the ultra low Qts (0.25) is a bit low for good ported use?

 

This is the part # from Eminence, the makers of the speaker.

SPEC 15162

PART # K-33

RE OHMS 3.39 FS HZ 34.46

LE MH .96 MMS GMS 78.59

QM 7.39 CMS mm/N .2714

QE .410 RMS NS/M 2.3037

QT .390 VAS LTRS 301.66

XMAX MM 8.20 SD SCM 889.59

BL TM 11.88 EBP 84.4

EFF % 2.91 SPL dB 96.6

As I said, .. ".... Maybe it's my woofer, ..."

 

What would you recommend as an IDEAL woofer - K33 as you mentioned - or anything better (the 15c apparantly extends higher than the K-33 making it possible for me to cross over around 550 Hz in a 2 way config?

 

I guess I could add some inline resistance to raise the woofer Qts and see what happens. See relevant post below. This might explain why the bass sounds fuller when I use my old mcintosh Mc2100 (low damping factor) as opposed to class D paperweights

 

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...