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La Scalas or Klf-30's for HT?


Dssguy1

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I have a great set of klf-30's already but was wondering if a nice set of late 70's La Scalas would be better. I know the scalas can hang with the best in music but how do they do with HT?

I have a medium sized HT in my basement with everything listed in my profile at my fingertips.

What is your opinion?

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Personally, I'm a fan of bigger is better, as long as you can make it work. That said, it really boils down to what you want to hear, see, move around!

You should contact Steve (Fyrpwr) although I probably spelled his screen name wrong [:P] and see what I mean about bigger & better.

He's in the Chicago area.

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If you put LaScalas in as mains, then I'd say you really need to have another LaScala for center. For me it would be a situation of "what do I have to do in order to get this done" (install a LaScala center).

It would not be a question of "should I do it" unless you rule out every single possibility and even an act of God can't make it happen. Only then would I look into a second option.

Could you put a LaScala under your screen? Could you get a LaScala bottom under your screen and mount the upper horns into the wall? (sawing off the top half, remove the horns and fabricate them into the wall itself with an acoustically transparent screen)

What ever it takes baby!!

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I don't have a projector. That is an 82" tv on a stand recessed into the wall 2ft.

I'm not really wanting to go to extremes to have the "perfect" sound. I don't really have a golden ear so maybe I should have phrased my question differently.

Will La Scalas be a better main speaker (75%HT,25%Music (mostly hip hop, techno, rock), than the KLF-30's I currently have?

Sorry for the drawn out thread but I am going to get in a little hot water buying more speakers, I just want to make sure it is worth it!!

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Here is my 2 cents.

Based on your ratio of HT/Music and your music listening mix I would stick with the KLF-30s. They are some great speakers and work well with the music mix you like. The C-7 integrates well with them and is, of course, the speaker designed to go with them.

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TNRabbit, yes I have an RSW-15 so I am not worried about bass in the least!!

I was watching Iron Man last night and when he walked out of the cave in his cobbled together suit I though my house was going to fall down. My wife texted me from 2 stories up to tell me the windows were shaking and I was scaring the dog!!

I love subs!!

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I think my only concern with people recommending these large (normally used as mains) for center channels is they are incredibly difficult to work into a clean HT install unless you want your center channel off to the left or right of your tv.

If you do that, the audio sounds like it is coming from the wrong location and all the HT dialouge goes through the center. For music, i'm sure that is not a problem. I have a ton of unused room where these speakers would go, so space is not a concern.

So I see a couple people saying that the KLF-C7 won't be a total tragedy and I can get a pair of early 90's La Scalas for just a couple hundred more than what I can sell my KLF's for (so that is not a big deal)

I just wanted to make sure that wasn't a huge mistake for a HT heavy environment. When new KLF-30's sold for $1800 a pair and La Scalas were more than double that amount so I was hoping there was a pretty big difference in sound quality.

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I can see where LaScalas for a center would be problematic. (nice room by the way!!)

Question for you...(since I'm facing a similar issue with using a LaScala for center)

Is your space above, large enough to fit something that is about 2x2x2 feet ?? What I'm thinking of (for me) is, cutting the top section of my third LaScala off. This will shorten the speaker by roughly 10" (only a guess). It will however, make the bottom section about 2x2x2'.

I'm personally looking to do something different BUT.... could you do that, fit the bass bin inside your cubbyhole and then take the other two horns and fit them into a new wall space between your studs. I mean, fit the actual horns into the wall, not the top box section of the LaScala.

In my case, I'll have room on the floor for my center LaScala however, if I use a screen, it might be too tall. I'm researching right now, about cutting it down in height (to allow more screen space) and take the HF horn, build a box for it and set it on the floor in front of the bass bin, angled towards the viewer.

Prior to this, I was thinking about my rear channels and doing something similar however, instead of a seperate box, I was thinking on framing the HF horns into the wall, between the studs. As it turned out for me, I am able to fit the entire LaScala INTO the wall behind me so it's not a big deal anymore about seperating the horns out.

I'm still having some issues with the front though.

It WILL happen one way or another. I will not put any other center in there but for some form of a LaScala (JubeScala actually)

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KLFs are great. LaScalas are spectacular. There's really no comparison but if you can't make them work the KLFs are damn good (as you know). You won't believe it until you hear it.

One word of caution though. If you really can't swing it due to space constraints, do NOT listen to someone's LaScala HT system.

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Best center: Remove La Scala mid and tweet, mount them on a baffle boare you create that is at least as big as the one that came with the La Scala (the mid horn absolutly needs this) and mount the assembly above your screen, leaving the La Scala bass bin below the screen.

I would front mount the tweeter, to avoid diffraction. If the Las Scalas aren't new enough (mid eighties) you may have to get a "Z bracket" to mount the tweeter flush with the front of the baffle board.

Some people like the K 401 fiberglass-like horn better (in the La Scalla from abouut 1987)

The Belle Klipsch is very similar and the top section comes off! .... at least mine (c2004) does! But .. the midrange horn is not quite as long.

Both the Belle and the La Scala have the potential to sound harsh with old or poorly recorded soundtracks. I like my Belle center and Klipschorns with most movies, but an Art House I knew in Berkeley put in La Scalas, and while they were quite articulate and dynamic with newer soundtracks, they were not as forgiving as that theater's previous speakers (Altec 604 Es). At S.F. State there was a projection room with Belles. They were great with studen't wild sync soundtracks on mag tape, and terrible with optical. With VHS HiFi they were fine. I imagine they were good with most DVDs. Horn loaded speakers tend to not have the veil of friendly harmonic and FM distortion that can mask distortion or bad balance in the source..

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