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Split La Scala and center channel


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I would expect some very compromised performance.

My major concern is that six feet of separation implies that the mid and tweeter of the center will be well above the location of corresponding units of your flanking units and up near the ceiling.

At one time I had homemade K-Horns and a center homemade Belle, in a garage. The mixing worked well. The most impressive effect was when the rock recording had a singer mixed to center stage. The odd thing is that the singer seemed to located about two feet above the center speaker. I attributed that to floor and ceiling reflections. The center speaker mid and tweeter (same design as flanking units) were about 1.5 feet lower than the corresponding devices on the flanking units. Which probably was involved too.

Overall, I observe that good two-channel imaging takes place when speakers are located in very symetrical situations relative to walls. For example, if you don't have symetrical placement relative to walls, the only solution is to move them out into the room which works.

This might be extended to the placement of a center. This is particularly so for the mid and tweeter where our ears are able to locate them. Vertical sensing by our ears might not be very good, but it is there.

I have tried an improvised center channel by using a small transistor radio tuned to the local classical station while the bigger receiver and flanking mains are playing the same.station. A poor man's center channel mixing situation. It works well but I did not try vertical offset.

So, if you have a small receiver, e.g. a Sony Tap Tunes bath radio, you can experiment with placement.

Wm McD

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Look at my situation:

IMG_0392.jpg

My idea would be to put the squaker and the tweeter in the place the Paradigm Cinema 220's are, below the TV. The base of the La Scala would be beneath the window (where the little white table is). Those 220's just dont have the sound of the La Scalas, and if I put any speaker 6' under the TV its gonna be pretty obvious the sound isnt coming from the TV. The sofa is actually 20' from the TV, and 25' from the mains.

I am trying to make this a 5 La Scala system for timbe matching.

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  • Can you put the TV in front of the window? Or get rid of the window and use a cheap video camera /screen -- or a set of mirrors -- to let you know if anyone is wandering through the shop?
  • Can you move the gathering area/ viewing / listening area to another location in the shop in which the screen could be lower and all three La Scala tops could be at the same height? I think this is important.
  • If worst came to worst came to worst could you build two towers for the flanking La Scalas that would put all La Scala drivers at the same height? You might want to aim them (or just the mid/tweet section) down a bit, i.e., at the couch, and toe them in slightly, for the best sound from your tweeters. The K-77 tweeters in your La Scalas fall off rather rapidly off-axis, especially in the top (overtone) octave (~~ 8K to 16K). Aim the center also. Any towers you put the La Scalas on should have a solid "apron" across the front of each tower, below the La Scalas, to put back some of the bass reinforcement you would taking away by lifting the bass bins off the floor, and they should be strongly built, e.g., out of 3/4 ply (vennered for staining if you want) and 2 x 6s, with lots of internal bracing. Even though you are going to buy a very good subwoofer, you don't want to lose too much of the bass above sub range. PWK worte an article about bass loss experienced by people who put their speakers up on legs. The apron would probably lessen this ill effect a little bit. If you do raise the whole La Scalas, secure them them to the wall, and the tower bases as well. Given enough time, every area is earthquake country (except for a few square miles in Montana and Texas... so they say).
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I THINK YOU SHOULD SELL ME A PAIR OF YOUR LASCALA'S SINCE I'M A FORD GUY,PUTTIN TOGETHER AN RCR- GT-40 MK4.AND NEED SOME LASCALA'S IN MY SHOP.Big Smile

An aquantence here has a Cav MK4 (1966) for sale $134K. The superformance in the picture is also for sale $111K.

DSC_0957.JPG

He has a real deal GT40 and two Ford Gt's as well. Not for sale... :)

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  • Can you put the TV in front of the window? Or get rid of the window and use a cheap video camera /screen -- or a set of mirrors -- to let you know if anyone is wandering through the shop?
  • Can you move the gathering area/ viewing / listening area to another location in the shop in which the screen could be lower and all three La Scala tops could be at the same height? I think this is important.
  • If worst came to worst came to worst could you build two towers for the flanking La Scalas that would put all La Scala drivers at the same height? You might want to aim them (or just the mid/tweet section) down a bit, i.e., at the couch, and toe them in slightly, for the best sound from your tweeters. The K-77 tweeters in your La Scalas fall off rather rapidly off-axis, especially in the top (overtone) octave (~~ 8K to 16K). Aim the center also. Any towers you put the La Scalas on should have a solid "apron" across the front of each tower, below the La Scalas, to put back some of the bass reinforcement you would taking away by lifting the bass bins off the floor, and they should be strongly built, e.g., out of 3/4 ply (vennered for staining if you want) and 2 x 6s, with lots of internal bracing. Even though you are going to buy a very good subwoofer, you don't want to lose too much of the bass above sub range. PWK worte an article about bass loss experienced by people who put their speakers up on legs. The apron would probably lessen this ill effect a little bit. If you do raise the whole La Scalas, secure them them to the wall, and the tower bases as well. Given enough time, every area is earthquake country (except for a few square miles in Montana and Texas... so they say).

I am going to put the center speaker on the floor. The TV needs to stay up there, and timbre matching and immersive sound are paramount, it seems. I figure the human brain can cope pretty quickly to the picture being above the sound of the center. After all, it is only a TV, and not really a person speaking. Brains get that. I will then still be able to watch shows from the shop areas, and I will be able to turn the rock up.

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No you did not at all discourage me. After weighing everything said by all, I am going to start with a La Scala front and center on the floor. If it is real bad, I will remove the horn and the tweeter and position them up by the TV and see how it sounds. Keep in mind I will also be listening to the 5ch stereo and some rock when I decide. Perhaps I can do something irrational like having a second set of horns by the TV, and flipping a couple A/B switches to switch to TV mode. [:P]

I will definitely complete this thread once I have a final solution.

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Gill is right about the separation of sound, but you have to keep in
mind that anytime you have a large screen, the sound will not be
centered in the picture.


In my setup, splitting the source moves most of the mid-range
sounds into the center of the pic, since they are coming from both the
mid & bass drivers. However, I found that getting used to it was
easier than having all of the sound either above or below the screen.

The exception is using a projector with an
acoustically transparent screen, & the center speaker behind it.
Anything else is a compromise.


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