Gary Burley Posted May 13, 2012 Share Posted May 13, 2012 I live in London England and in the 1980's/90's I was UK distributor for Impulse Horn Loudspeakers. I know how hard it is to find quality cabinet makers and veneer finishes. Here is my story. In March 2009, I ordered a pair of Heresey 111 in cherry, when they arrived they had transit damage, one of the cabinets was crushed where the bass speaker is. When you looked at the box and packaging you could not see how this happened (they were not insured), apart from this the cabinets and veneer finish were of the highest quality. I was so impressed with their performance that in July 2009 I ordered a single La Scala 11 in cherry (in the UK Heritage is twice the price of USA) and listened to it for 2 years in single speaker mono (see Jimmy Hughes review "Klipsch La Scala 11 back to Mono" in Hi Fi + no 77). In July 2011 I ordered another La Scala 11 in cherry for stereo listening, when it arrived it was many shades darker than the older La Scala, even looked like walnut. I sent photos to quality control in Hope and was assured it was definitley cherry but was not given a proper explanation of why it was so much darker than the older one. Just told I should have ordered them at the same time, which I accepted. The grille on the new LS11 frames the top hat on all four sides as opposed to the top and bottom on the older one. I actually prefer the new darker cherry and both speakers are built like a battleship to last forever and the veneer finish is of the highest quality. Anyhow the La Scala 11's life changing performance more than makes up for this difference in veneer colour and I am honoured to own them, I have even had the personalised brass plaques made which look great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Burley Posted May 15, 2012 Author Share Posted May 15, 2012 Has anyone else had problems in matching new Heritage Veneer finishes with older Heritage models? Do you think Klipsch should have announced these changes in standard veneer finishes or at least inform people that are trying to match with older Heritage of the changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juniper8 Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 I dont think it is the manufacturers fault. 2 years is a long time for wood to be laying around in a modern factory, every batch of wood is slightly different and they may of changed stain, or oil companys or wood distributer. Did you tell them that you were trying to match a 2 year old single and maybe send them pictures? If I were you I would ask klipsch to sell you some veneer that more closely matches the one you like better for a future reveneer although you really can't match the grain maybe the color would be closer?? I bet they would even give you a discount..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muel Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 The color of cherry (heartwood) will change drastically over time and depending on exposure to light. This can be almost unnoticable as it occurs slowly. One tree can be different from another as well. Cherry has a high degree of variability and they have to be careful when selecting veneer so that they don't have 2 speakers that look totally different. I have no idea what stains Klipsch may have used over that time. Maybe they used heartwood on one and sapwood on the other. I prefer all heartwood and no stain on cherry... just a good sanding and clear laquer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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