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Crossover Roadshow


Deang

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I received the Roadshow Crossovers last Thursday, and I installed them on Friday. I invited a buddy over who is a Klipsch Chorus II owner, he is now an even bigger believer in the La Scalas! We first listened to TH49's recapped AL-3s, which compared to my ALs were fantastic! I then installed the Super AAs, we were impressed, over a wide variety of music, from Jazz, to Classical, from Classic Rock to modern Blues, Eagles to AC/DC, we listened at low volume settings, to I thought my ears would bleed. Across all of that one thing really stood out; clarity, I heard things on CDs I have owned for 25 years, that I had never heard before. Even my wife, who is far from an audiophile commented on the difference, that blew me away. System wise, I do not have the best setup, I now have an older Sony 5 channel receiver driving the La Scalas, and it is a far cry from the Yamaha system that drove them until the pre-amp succumbed to one to many PCS move. I did notice that it took just a little more volume to get the same level of sound, but not nearly enough to overcome the benefit of how great the sound was, I'm talking 8 instead of 6, I can certainly live with that. It just seems that every frequency was more vivid, while I wouldn't say it necessarily increased the bass response, it was more present, I'm not one for a lot of bass, so I could be making no sense there. Overall I am very impressed, and I am very thankful to Dean for the opportunity to give them a test drive. Job well done.

Dave Beeman

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Here are some comments on my personal experience with some networks that I have tried. I think I will also post this out in "2 Channel"

ALK Cornwall B Series replacement Ver 2.

– Used in Cornwalls with stock horns and Cornwalls with Cornwall Fastracs.

  • To my ears a very even response top to bottom with stock horns. With Fastracs the mids were just too loud and I was going to have to find a way to attenuate.
  • These networks are still worth building if you are sticking with stock horns. Not very flexible though.

ALK ES-5800 and ES-500T networks

- Used in Lascalas with Cornwall Fastrac

  • Can attenuate highs and mids
  • Pinpoint accuracy – places each instrument precisely!
  • Very clear and holds up well to any volume you want. Drivers don’t seem to be working hard at all.
  • Much under 80db it starts sounding restrained or soft. Sound stage shrinks at lower volumes.
  • Great if you listen loud or like to have block parties. Probably better than the neighbors deserve.

ALK ES-5800 and AP12-500 networks

- Used in Cornwalls with Cornwall Fastrac and Lascalas with Lascala Fastracs and with Cornwall Fastracs

  • Can attenuate highs and mids
  • Pinpoint accuracy – a little more cohesive than the ES-500
    (ES are very nice above 80 db or so)
  • Good imaging – best at higher volume
  • Very clear at any volume.
  • I kept creeping the volume up to 75db or higher and didn’t even realize I had it that loud.
  • I liked the AP12-500 better than the ES-500. It would be interesting to hear this with really nice caps but that would be cost prohibitive.

ALK CornScala-Wall networks

- Used in Cornwalls with stock horns and Cornwalls with Cornwall Fastracs. Also used with Lascalas even though the crossover is a little high at around 600hz for the bass bins)

  • Can attenuate the highs (resistor based) and mids
  • Not quite the clarity or accuracy of the higher end ALK networks… more balance between the drivers.
  • Sounds open and still decent soundstage at lower volumes. Can play loud and doesn’t fall apart as quickly as stock networks but still no match for the steep slope ALK networks.
  • Impressive for the money. For late night listening on the Cornwalls with Fastracs these were my preferred networks.

- I recently replaced the stock capacitors on the ALK CornScala-Wall network with Mundorf MCap EVO Aluminum Oil caps. I tested for a short time on the LaScalas with Eliptracs and will be moving them to the Cornwalls soon

  • Initial impression is they have been opened up and there is improved resolution. If these need break-in time I’m pretty happy because they sound better from the beginning. I’ll have to wait to hear if I think they were worth the investment.

Aletheia Audio Super AA with VH Audio OIMP V-Caps

- Used on Lascalas with Eliptracs

  • Can attenuate the mids
  • Most cohesive I have heard… VERY balanced and even sound
  • Excellent resolution (hear it all… good and bad)
  • No harshness, not bright but still very clear
  • Can be pushed loud without falling apart but ALK ES networks still have the edge there.
  • My current network of choice.
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  • 1 month later...

These are finally on their last leg of the journey.

I have two left on the list which I think are question marks.

Rhetor

raburns

If either of you are still interested, would you please shoot me an email with your mailing/shipping address:

If anyone one else wants to get in on this, we can do a round 2.

dgwescott@gmail.com

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Well, there ain't no way I'm sending a pair of networks like the ones I'm building for you from one end of the country to the other - I'd never see them again! I'd be more than happy to put you on the list though, so you can compare what I'm sending around to what you bought.

Not quite done with the first one, but here's pretty much what they're going to look like.

post-1106-0-61840000-1389160365_thumb.jp

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I'll be done with them by tomorrow night. I probably won't ship until Monday though -- I don't want to risk having these things sitting in a UPS truck over the weekend.

I'm trying to decide what to send around. Al builds the CornScala-Wall, and that might be a good one to send around -- I'm sure he'd do it if I asked. I personally tend to like the old first order designs with stuff like the paper in oils and Jupiters. I suppose I'm willing to do that, but I just don't have the loose change for that right now -- it would probably have to wait until Spring.

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