cobramatteo Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Hello All, I am a newer member, but have around as a guest for a good while. My job requires me to work overseas in Afganistan, and I long for the sound and looks of a full horn loaded setup - but my needs require small scale. Is there anybody on the forum that has built or would be interested in building a set of Klipschorns or La Scalas that are only about a foot tall or less ? What I am talking about is a fully functional loaded horn setup that would go well with my 17watt Quinpu tube amp and be portable enough to be mailed home in a foot locker. Seems like these could be built using 1/4 or 1/8 in plywood and maybe a 4 in driver with a small horn. Would this not be the ultimate desktop executive sound system ? The more they look like the real deal at 1/5 or 1/4 scale, the better ! Remember seeing a mini pair of La Scalas on the forum somewhere, the pic said they were fully functional. - Would be awesome to have a set of them. I would be willing to pay up to 400.00 for a mini K-Horn pair that was done well and 350.00 for a La Scala pair. If nobody takes up my offer, in a few months once I have some free time, I will start trying to build a set myself. Only have a dewalt 36volt kit, and a few other tools, but will give it a go. If anybody has ideas on driver types/crossover that would be ideal, let me know - open for all suggestions. Kinda surprised there is nobody out there building these yet. I have researched online, all I found was a mini Tannoy - looked kinda cool, but not a real horn setup. Could the parts from the Klipsch Pro Media speakers be used ? If one had a CNC Router, the ensclosures could be sold as flat packs in a precut,kit form -These would sell like hotcakes ! Awesome would be the only way to describe it, IMO ! Thanks ! Matteo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennie Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Mini - La Scalas...... (sorta!) Dennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psg Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Doing a mini KHorn by hand would cost more than $400 in time alone, I'll bet, and wouldn't sound very good. A flat-pack kit would be cool, but I still wouldn't expect it to sound great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrtie Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 An interesting idea but horn loading by nature is extremely exponential in size as the frequency gets lower, then end result would be very very unpleasent, I think you would be much better just taking $400 and buying a nice pair of bookshelf speakers, there is no way to make a foot tall bass horn work in as far as I know. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Mini - La Scalas...... (sorta!) Dennie, I SO wish they'd make PC speakers in the likeness of Heritage. I think that's nice!!! Imagine a baby pair of Belle's, LaScalas (duh)...not sure how you'd do small Khorns like that... [Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 I would just take a pair of heresy's. The new ones are really nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Tony Reed says he made a small working la scala but I still haven't seen the pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennie Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Mini - La Scalas...... (sorta!) Dennie, I SO wish they'd make PC speakers in the likeness of Heritage. I think that's nice!!! Imagine a baby pair of Belle's, LaScalas (duh)...not sure how you'd do small Khorns like that... You'd have to have mini-corners!!! [] I'd buy them in a minute if they had "PC La Scalas"!! Dennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Richard Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 A horn a foot tall would only be good for midrange and it would sound pretty bad on music. The path length would have to be at least 7 ft long to reproduce 40 Hz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet_Hollow Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Klipsch Heresy I,II,or III or you could go all out with a Danley SM-60F. All can sound very good when tucked tight into a corner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 I would be willing to pay up to 400.00 for a mini K-Horn pair that was done well and 350.00 for a La Scala pair. the LaScala's would be an easy bulid......but....since your going to need a subwoofer to work with them....you might as well buy Heresy's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmvette Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 This is not at all what you asked about, but as others have mentioned I think you will be sorely disappointed with a speaker that is designed to be big, but is actually not. A Khorn without the size will not produce Khorn type sound. If you want some small speakers that sound good and can be easily transported there are a lot of really good bookshelft speakers. One step up might be a small single driver speaker, see Tekton speakers. A compromise could be a small single driver version of the cain & cain abbey's. See link: http://www.lovecraftdesigns.com/speaker_theNoogi.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkytype Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Matteo, To quote PWK, "Miniaturized bass speakers have been attempted, but so far no one has invented a miniature 32-foot wavelength." Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Is anyone going to mention that at $350 to $400 a used pair of Heresys is the max that you can get as far as heritage? It will also be difficult if not impossible to build a decent horn flare with basic tools. Maybe look at Tangents or the KG line with a really inexpensive subwoofer, but still pushing it budgetwise. I'd hate to see this guy blow his budget and time on a project that will probably not work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrestonTom Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 Bass horns do not scale down very well. Really, a Heresy with a sub-woofer is called for and can sound pretty good. I would also like to thank the OP for his service overseas. -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted August 15, 2012 Share Posted August 15, 2012 I don't want to say PWK didn't get that right but it's in reference to a back wave supported woofer. My 11 inch square Velodyne sub has no problem going down to about 28 Hz. And yes, the wavelengths cannot be scaled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobramatteo Posted August 16, 2012 Author Share Posted August 16, 2012 Thanks for all the replies, after doing more research I now know building a functional correct pair of LaScalas or K-horns is not feasable.[] However, I still can and eventually will design and build a speaker using the guts from a Klipsch pro media set [these are cheap on Ebay used]. While it will not be a folded horn design, I can make them physically look just like a La Scala or K-horn in miniature. That's the most important thing for me, is that these look like the real ones and sound decent enough for desktop use.[Y] I have looked into buying a 4in table saw for hobby use that should be able to make the needed small precise cuts. We have plenty of 1/4 and 1/8 in plywood laying around, order some veneer and grill cloth and it really should not be that tough to make a K-horn replica about 8 in tall. It only needs to look like a K-horn from the outside, and mostly the front at that. I could reverse the pro media woofer to fire backwards and build an angled reflecting baffle to act a false corner and direct sound around the sides and forward. Then just mount the small tweeter in a box covered by grill cloth to replicate the top hat. Add veneer to the enclosure and wire it up. Could tuck the sub out of sight so it appears all is coming from the 2 micro K-horns. I will be on R&R for a few weeks come early Sept, and once back to work over here - will get started on them and share my progress. Kinda off topic, but does anybody run K-Horn's or La Scala's with Nakamichi PA7 power amps ? I have four of the series 1 and they are being sent out to get fully updated. I realize that tubes are the way to go and 200 wpc is overkill, just curious. I have 2 pairs of Polk SRS SDA 1.2s that will likely be used with the PA7s and am having a custom 5 channel tube amp built for home theater use rated at 185wpc. Just wondering if they would be acceptable. Also does anybody have experience with vintage Yamaha M85 or others in that series ? The specs are pretty sweet and I have read they sound incredible when restored and calibrated - even able to dethrone the mighty McIntosh - or it that [bs] ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davis419b Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 baby lascala's 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobramatteo Posted August 16, 2012 Author Share Posted August 16, 2012 Are they for sale ? Who built them ? Tell me all about them, I am all ears ! baby lascala's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 There was a forum member here from Vermont that did indeed build scaled down versions of the Klipschorn and Belle's. Not sure if a search would come up with the info. I think Greg in Maine bought the scaled Klipschorn's. He did a beautiful job, they looked spot on. Here I found the link. http://community.klipsch.com/forums/t/52672.aspx?PageIndex=1 He did a very nice pair of scaled La Scala's as well with a 12" woofer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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