Bottlehead Paramours and 1977 LaScalas

[Tommy F.]

Currently I'm using my Paramours (RCA 2A3's NOS 1947) to drive a pair of Klipsch RF5's. I supplement the lows with a Klipsch RSW 10.

The sound staging and focus are exceptional, but I'd like some loudspeakers that are more efficient... like horns.I have a chance to purchase a pair of 1977 LaScalas this weekend for $800. I don't think the crossovers have been upgraded, but I love projects like this. I probably need to 'stiffen' the cabinets also.

Knowing that LaScalas are somewhat weak in the low end, below 60Hz, I plan on keeping my RSW 10.

Has anyone heard this combination before? Just curious... and I have butterflies anticipating my new project...

By the way, this is my first post. I just joined the Klipsch forum this morning after reading through the pages. Looks like a great place to share ideas!

PEACE

Tommy F.

[Daddy Dee]

Tommy,

Sounds like a wonderful project. I have driven LaScalas with Paramours, among other 2A3 amps and thought the combination was very, very good.

You will definitely need to get fresh caps in your LS crossovers. For some music the sub will remain helpful. I would give the 2A3 and fresh capped LS plenty of listening time w/o the sub too, to fall in love with the LS sound.

Diana Krall - Live in Paris was my reference CD for this combo.

[Dennie]

Hey Tommy, Welcome to the Klipsch Forum. We're glad you're here. That sounds like a great project and I think you are going to love the La Scalas.

$800 sounds like a good price for a pair of La Scalas. As you and Daddy Dee mentioned, the crossovers will need updating, but that is part of the fun.

Keep us posted on the progress and Congratulations! [Y]

Dennie

[jcmusic]

I at one time used a 2A3 amp with my 1977 k-horns and loved the sound, as others have told you the xovers will need to be updated or upgraded your choice; I recomend upgrading.

Jay

[dollar bill]

Congrats and welcome!

[Tommy F.]

Daddy Dee,

Great suggestion, to listen to the LS's w/o the sub, especially at first, to give them a chance to shine on their own.

I'll be shopping for caps this week....

[Tommy F.]

Thank you, Dennie

I will keep you all posted.

PEACE

[DizRotus]

Welcome.

I agree with the suggestion to listen without a sub for a substantial time period to establish a basis for later comparison. I also recommend that you listen to them as they are for an extended period and then change one variable at a time, with a substantial listening period after each change.

After establishing how they sound now, then contact Bob Crites, BEC on this forum, to get new caps to return the networks to stock, before "upgrading." The cost is minimal and it would allow you to establish a baseline before making more expensive changes. After new caps, consider bracing the sidewalls of the bass bins; another inexpensive upgrade.

Enjoy your project.

[Colin]

wonderful combination, when dialed in properly!

read this:

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0405/acititan.htm

the peak of the sub is close to where the LaScalas roll off

[Dennie]

Daddy Dee,

Great suggestion, to listen to the LS's w/o the sub, especially at first, to give them a chance to shine on their own.

I'll be shopping for caps this week....

So............you bought them???

If so, we love pictures!!! []

Here is the Link to "Bob Crites Site" ----------------> CLICK HERE

Dennie

[Erik Mandaville]

I have also used a parallel feed output 2A3 amplfier with LaScalas, and thought the combination was exceptionally good. The Paramour should be a great match for the LS, as others have mentioned.

We use a subwoofer with both our Lowther rear-loaded horns and Heresies. It can sometimes take a bit of experimentation in terms of placement, phase, and crossover point, but once it locks in place is very enjoyable. I honestly didn't realize how much I was missing until I listened to music with a subwoofer, given to me by my wife as a gift. I'm not in the least a bass fanatic, but do like to hear the lower frequency instruments reproduced at more realistic levels.

Have fun,

Erik

[Colin]

musical notes have harmonics that extend above and below the intial note:

Our Reviewing Standards

By Editor Steven
R. Rochlin

It is not easy
being an equipment
reviewer. All the different possibilities each reviewer can use to
optimize their
setup are mind boggling! The difference between a product being
rated as "good"
to being rated as "great" could all boil down to simply changing one
interconnect! This is just one of the many pitfalls of being a
professional reviewer.
Another is that there really is no set standards. No guidelines in
what one means by
"a deep soundstage" or "an expansive sound". Well now there
is! The one thing no one ever seems to have tried is standardizing
the
"audiophile measurement lingo". Putting a quantitative result to a
subjective measurement. Therefore Enjoy the Music.com is now
the very
first subjective magazine to have all of its reviewers use a
"standardized
form". This form is plainly explained below.

What you are about to read is exactly the same as what every
Enjoy the Music.com reviewers uses to judge a product within
a given system. There is
no special lingo, he-man secret handshakes, or secret "read between
the lines"
underground language that was known only to the now extinct
Audiophili-asaurous'. We
are breaking free from the "old school" and have found what we feel
is a better
way. As the Big Book (by my friend Bill W.) says "If we are
painstaking about
this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half
way through. We
are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness." As i was only
half way through
this new subjective measurement idea, it was painfully obvious how
overdue it truly was.

Every product will be rated by a points system. Each product
will be
analyzed in various ways such as stage width, depth, tonal accuracy,
spectral balance,
imaging, etc. In this way you, the readership, can plainly see a
measured subjective in
which you can compare one product to another. Of course each
reviewer will have her or
his own base-line in which to begin. Each category will have a point
value of 1 to
100 with 50 being a good measurement. Consider most good high-end
gear a 70 while the truly exceptional pieces get
a rating of 90 or above. Now let us begin learning more specifics
about this new
system shall we.

The Judging System

First we will discuss
what i feel is the most important issue of
all. That being tonal (and harmonic) balance and accuracy. If a
reproduced trumpet
does not have the same tonality and harmonic structure as a real
one, then who cares if it
is precisely imaged or how deep it is within the soundscape? It
still does not sound
close to that of a real trumpet. Once overall tonality is surmised
we can break down
the frequency range into sections. Sub-bass being from 10Hz to 60Hz
(dark blue),
midbass as 60Hz to 200Hz (lighter blue), midrange as 200Hz to
3,000Hz (green, with
middle "C" being orange), and high-frequencies as 3,000Hz on up
(red).

As you can see from the above piano, most musical notes are in
the
midrange (green). This is also true with the acoustic music we
hear. Generally, most of
it is reproduced by the driver(s) that cover from 200Hz to
3000Hz. Since no natural
instrument i know of produces a "pure" tone, we also have an
instrument's
timbre
to consider. For instance, a trumpet may be playing a middle "C",
yet we
also hear the higher and lower frequency tones added into the pure
tone such as those from
the trumpet's brass bell. This is what we call timbre and also
referred to as the
harmonics of an instrument.

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/judging/

[Coytee]

If you get the LaScalas and later on, start to research crossover choices.... you are welcome to come to my place (Knoxville, TN) and bring your amps if you wish. I've got a pair of 1979 LaScalas with Al K's 'extreme slope' crossovers in them.

There are many choices with crossovers and these are probably the more expensive road you could travel. If you chose to do this, it would give you a flavor of how they sound prior to making any purchases.

You could also simply spend $100 or something and refresh up what you already have.

I could drag one of them outdoors so we could remove any room issues.

Just some thoughts for you, honest offer.