Modding my AA La Scalas to 2 ways

[NBPK402]

I have 3 late 1970s vintage La Scalas that I am going to do some mods on.

I just ordered all the parts to complete the mods and this is what I am planning to do.

1: Cut the top box off of the La Scalas

2: Reskin the speaker bass bins with an additional layer of 1/2" Birch Plywood

3: Make a new motor board for my new horns

4: Cut out a hole for my Faital LTH142 horns

5: Install my new Faital HF140 drivers

6: Install my new Bob Crites type A crossovers

Something like this for the upper box...

What do you think? I would have loved to go with the Jubes but this is a budget upgrade.

Edited December 18, 2013 by ellisr63

[tigerwoodKhorns]

Don't cut the top hats off. Do the ported mod.

[NBPK402]

I have to cut the motor boards for the new horns... So it is easier to make them into a 2 box setup than to cut the motor board out and insert a new uncut motor board. I could also do the ported mod but I have a sub I am using already.

[Tarheel]

Similar idea but three way.....

[Guest David H]

Absolutely, take the saw to them... Thats how I do it!

Dave

[NBPK402]

Absolutely, take the saw to them... Thats how I do it!

Dave

That's just like I want to do but with a 2 way

Edited December 19, 2013 by ellisr63

[NBPK402]

Similar idea but three way.....

Do you have any other pics of it so I can see how it is supported from the front? Just trying to see what options there are for connecting the horn to the bass bin.

[Tarheel]

_{Similar idea but three way.....}

_{Do you have any other pics of it so I can see how it is supported from the front? Just trying to see what options there are for connecting the horn to the bass bin.}

_{Ellis you may have seen this. These bass bins were built from 1" MDF not a cut down LS. The horn support is not attached to the bass bin allowing me to reposition the top hat as needed. Altec 511B horns, 902 drivers, Beyma tweets. "old school"....}

_{A pivoting pistol grip support is attached to the hole in the Altec flange allowing a little height adjustment to the mid and tweets.}

Edited December 19, 2013 by Tarheel

[Tarheel]

Here is a close up of horn support and a photo of the top hat adjusted to one side.

Hope this helps.

[NBPK402]

Yes, that def helps! I hope to start on one of mine some time in the next week or two.

[NBPK402]

Well my wife, and I took a couple of days on a short trip, and Fedex attempted to deliver while I was gone... They called me due to a signature being required, and I told them to keep them at Fedex, and I would come pick them up on Monday. They said no problem but that they would be closed on Monday, and I could get them on Tuesday... Imagine my surprise when I receive a text today about one hour before we got home saying they were delivered! I figured a neighbor must have been home, and signed for them. When I got home I saw the attempted delivery tags but no parts. I asked my neighbors, and no one said they signed for them. I called FedEx, and they said I had signed for them! I told them that that was not possible as I had just got home from a short vacation, and they were claiming I signed for them 1 hour earlier when I was on the freeway heading home. They said they would enter a claim and I would be contacted so I contacted Bob, and he sent me the "Proof of signature"... I looked at it and whoever signed for it did not sign the way I did, and they even got the wrong spelling for the last name. It was interesting that they signed my first name in cursive, and then printed my last name, and still messed it up.

I hope that this gets straightened out soon as I really wanted to get the conversion done. At this point I am def not a happy camper!

Edited December 29, 2013 by ellisr63

[SonicSeeker]

Fed-Ex is only closed wednesday for Jan 1st so I am not sure why they said they would be closed Monday. Second who called you, the driver or dispatch? Also did this require a Direct signature or indirect. If direct no one but the recipient at the residence would be acceptable to sign, which in either case was obviously not you and that should be easy enough to prove. Good luck hope you get a quick resolution.

[NBPK402]

It was a "Home Delivery" which is only open Tuesday-Saturday. I believe it was dispatch that called me... All I know is it was a woman who identified herself as calling fro Fedex. My wife said not to worry too, but she doesn't know how much I spent.

[CECAA850]

Sounds like a Fed Ex driver trying to unload his truck by whatever means possible.

[NBPK402]

Well one of my neighbors came up to my house today... She had all 3 boxes which she found on her doorstep. She told me they had no idea why or how they got there but they were there this morning. I thanked her and she was on her way.

This means this week I will be cutting the top off of the LaScalas and completing the mods. The "A" crossovers look very nice and it will be nice to have them in view on top of the LaScalas.

[SonicSeeker]

Well one of my neighbors came up to my house today... She had all 3 boxes which she found on her doorstep. She told me they had no idea why or how they got there but they were there this morning. I thanked her and she was on her way.

This means this week I will be cutting the top off of the LaScalas and completing the mods. The "A" crossovers look very nice and it will be nice to have them in view on top of the LaScalas.

That is great news!

[NBPK402]

Would I be better to add 1/2" Birch or 1/2" MDF and then veneer for reskinning the cabinets?

[NBPK402]

I got the first one cut up on New Years Eve... Wasn't too bad except that I had to use a sawsall to fut the woofer access base off. I decided to flip the bass box upside down so that the serial numbers will still be visible but on the bottom. I am going to add a 1/2 layer to the top and then flush cut the access hole to match the original hole... At that point I think I will make a recess and flush mount a plexi window. I got the whole exterior sanded down, hooked up the new crossover, mounted the driver to the horn, and I did a temp mount of the horn on the cabinet. I did a little listening and it def sounded dif... Since I don't have it setup completely yet nor do I have a good way to A/B the setup I will be completing the other one this weekend.

Question: I am going to add another layer to the cabinet for stiffening... Should I use MDF or plywood? I will be buying some veneer to go over the whole outer cabinet of the bass boxes.... I know that MDF is what is used in the later versions but not quite sure if I should add it our stick with another layer of Birch ply and then veneer.

Any ideas?

Edited January 2, 2014 by ellisr63

[Islander]

It may be kind of late for you at this point, but did you ever consider converting your La Scalas to JubScalas? It's a bit costly, but the sound improvements are really amazing, and there's no guesswork or experimentation required, since the combination has already been tested and tweaked by Roy Delgado at the Klipsch lab.

If you upgrade/update to La Scala IIs later, all you do is put the Jubilee tweeters on top of the LS2 cabinets and plug everything in, because the EQ settings are exactly the same.

Using an active crossover with the ability to very accurately tune the sound, as well as time-align the woofers and tweeters, is the ideal way to go, if you can make it fit your budget.

[NBPK402]

I got all the 1/2" Birch ply cut up today to do 2 of the LaScalas... I will try and get 2 of the bass cabinets completed in the morning. I am open to going to bigger horns down the road but at this time it will be the Faitals, money is the big issue now. If I do upgrade I think I would be considering this horn... I like the Jubscala but I think the horn is a bit too big.

Edited January 3, 2014 by ellisr63