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LaScala Sonic Detail Improvement for only $220.98


ClaudeJ1

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Claude I did not want to say much about the Altec because as you said this is a Klipsch thread. I agree that there is no comparison between the 2 bass units. That being said the Altec was a great speaker with a very good sound from auditioning them in a showroom not a home environment. Maybe not the best sounding bass but great horn dynamics and the at the concert sound I enjoyed in my younger years. 

 

If I did not have LaScala's ,and I am satisfied with the bass they make, I would seriously consider building your pies. I wonder how the pie would sound with a board with a slot like the Klipsch design. It should be even tighter with even less distortion but how it would effect the frequency response is the question. Any Thoughts?

Sure. The bigger altec was even better (A4 horn section) but the best part is the Horn part, not the bass reflex part because of group delay. From about 125 Hz to about 8 Khz, the Altec is terrific. When I was 19 years old, I built a very serious 20 cubic foot cabinet that featured Altec woofer with the Altec VOT 500 Hz horn 808-8A driver, and EV tweeter. Made my own inductors and Xover design. So I'm not slamming the VOT, per se, it is a classic, but we have more knowledge and lots of free software along with better drivers to do a much better job today.

 

As to the Quarter Pies, all you do is push the curve around a bit by making a smaller throat. Trust me that larger throat is the MWM throat and I couln't improve on it by making it smaller I tried over 50 simulations), it only made it worse. The smaller throat in the Khorn and LaScala was actually designed by Klipsch to "slightly" compensate for the rolloff characteristics of the K-33 woofer.............again several compromises including cost with that woofer. Once you let that one go, the 15C provides better sound, just like the Klipsch K-43 did for my LaScalas when I discovered this performance improvement in the midrange. If you wanted to stick to pure Klipsch (custom made by Eminence), you can spend the extra money and order a pair of K-43's which are the commercial version LaScala woofer, which I think is still being used in the Grand 4 T bass section of the MWM. I offered the 15C as a cheaper alternative for home use which doesn't need to handle as much power as a larger theater would. So if you want some overkill head room, then go for the K-43 and the subs recommended below.

 

The Kappa 15C and the K-43 (as verified to me by Klipsch's Chief Engineer) has a higher BL product which tilts the curve in favor of the midrange near 400 Hz in the LaScala while thinning out, but tightening the bass response below 100 Hz. where you should have a good horn subwoofer like the Fizmaurice Tuba or the F-20 subwoofer take over anyhow. It's a SYSTEMS approach to the whole thing and those who have gone down that path instead of clinging to the past are enjoying more detailed, dynamic sound, with lower distortion, and full band performance. I have spent thousands of dollars and man-hours for decades getting to that point and I'm only trying to share my success, not my failures, which would bore you to death anyhow.

 

Or sell your LaScalas and build a pair of Quarter Pies with a K-402 horn and a TAD driver with an active 2-way Xover to go with your sub of choice. That would be the ultimate Klipsch setup for the home in my book.

Edited by ClaudeJ1
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Oh, my 15c from Parts Express arrived in Hong Kong just 6 days after my ordering. Quick!

Nice. Best thing to do with those is to build a pair of Quarter Pie horns and mate them to the best midrange/tweeter and horn sub you can afford. It's a full 5.5 foot horn that will get you to 50 Hz as flat as possible with no EQ
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Claude,

Thanks! Before a quarter pie will be available to me, I will first try them in my La Scala.

Btw, before coming across your QP, Martin of Azura Horn Australia also gave me lots of info and advice on his bass horn which I was considering seriously to retire the LS.

http://www.azurahorn.com/azurahorn_horns.html

Look for the L-Shape bass horn in the above link. He has the cutting plan provided on his page.

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Claude,

Thanks! Before a quarter pie will be available to me, I will first try them in my La Scala.

Btw, before coming across your QP, Martin of Azura Horn Australia also gave me lots of info and advice on his bass horn which I was considering seriously to retire the LS.

http://www.azurahorn.com/azurahorn_horns.html

Look for the L-Shape bass horn in the above link. He has the cutting plan provided on his page.

Nice. Wanted to make L version of my Q pie but never built one. It would be easy to keep the core section and have it fire down into a different mouth shoe but keep same volume length and expansion
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  • 11 months later...

Finally have my Eminence Kappa 15 C in the La Scala's completely broken in and the results are better than expected. As expected the deep bass is even thinner than the stock K-33's but everything else is far more detailed and much more pleasant to listen to, a good horn loaded subwoofer or two is a must running these woofers if you want to hear their full potential.

 

 

 

 

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  • 1 year later...

Bringing this thread from the grave. Installed the kappa 15cs about an hour ago. Been listening to tunes I listened to prior to installation and yep it’s a win. Bass is thinner in a good way, as I have a good sub. Love what I’m hearing in acoustic music and vocals and even sorta briight electric bass like U2 Unfogettable Fire which I wouldn’t have guessed would have been impacted. Thanks for the tip Claude. Ironically, there goes the last of the stock drivers from my ‘85 scalas and they sound great. 

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Glad you revived this thread.  I'm not new to Klipsch, but very new to Klipsch upgrades.  In fact, just beginning on my La Scalas.  After reading all of this, I'm wondering if I should sell my almost stock LS and have some base bins built, outfit them with the Eminence 15C, maybe a K-402 with appropriate driver.  I'm looking at this from a cost perspective.  I paid $1,200for the stock LS. If I upgrade them which would be all new drivers, mid and top horn with new xover, I would only be utilizing the original cabinet!  So, basically, 1,200 for a cabinet.

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7 minutes ago, DLStryker said:

Glad you revived this thread.  I'm not new to Klipsch, but very new to Klipsch upgrades.  In fact, just beginning on my La Scalas.  After reading all of this, I'm wondering if I should sell my almost stock LS and have some base bins built, outfit them with the Eminence 15C, maybe a K-402 with appropriate driver.  I'm looking at this from a cost perspective.  I paid $1,200for the stock LS. If I upgrade them which would be all new drivers, mid and top horn with new xover, I would only be utilizing the original cabinet!  So, basically, 1,200 for a cabinet.

By the way, I have a JBL 18" in an 8cf cabinet for low end  -3db at 22hz.  I will always have something similar, so the bottom end is not of concern.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 1 month later...
On 11/9/2015 at 10:40 PM, Welborne said:

A La Scal user here. I rotated the LS by 90 degree so it sits on one of its otherwise resonating panel, then put crossover, mid horn (a Le Cleac'h flare) and tweeter on top that damps the other side panel by their weight. This kills much of the annoying infamous resonance but still some are left there and I suspect its the doghouse.

 

Now this sounds really smart.

Do you guys think rotating the bass bin by 90 degrees will 'degrade' the sound in any way?

(i have the split industrial version, so that's quite easy to do…)

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