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DIY LaScalas are in the garage


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Jeez. These things rock. Got them buttoned up for a trial run, verify good drivers and crossovers, all that jazz. Got new K-33's, unknown K-55-V's with K-400's and wrong tweeters, K-77-M's. Built my own Al K. AA crossovers. Finally got to fire them up after rebuilding the cabinet tops, much screwing around with a router. Haven't yet pulled the 55s and 77s out of my 1977 Heresy's, just tried the good used stuff I picked here on this board. Drug out my old Yamahammer CR-620 and a mediocre cheapie JVC CD player. Played BB King "Blinded by Love" on the Doc Pomus Tribute CD, turned it up to 5, thought it was going to blow the garage door out. Holy tinnitus, these things get loud, and they don't sound like they're working at it either. On the same CD there's a Los Lobos tune with some really pushy baritone sax, whatta killer, bet they could hear it on the next block. I have never heard speakers that would go loud like that without losing clarity. These are not like my Heresy's at all.

Played that Pomp and Pipes deal, scared my 4-yr old boy. Cranked up Loggins with Messina, House at Pooh Corner, never heard an oboe sound that good in real life.

Nice to have something I've got this much money and time in turn out so good. Smile.gif And there's lots of room for improvement, tighten up the leaky woofer boxen, dampen the top and bottom of the 400, put in my good drivers, fix up the wiring, refinish the cabs, going to be nice.

What fun, Tom

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Congrats on speakers. I would like to know where I can get plans for the older models. A few years ago I built a pair of k horns (love em) and want to add to my collection. Presently I am using the k's as fronts along with RC3, RS3, and the 10" sub. It is great! Any help will be appreciated. Keep up the good work!

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I thought that was thunder I was hearing from the monsoon storm last night. Turn it down a little bit next time!

Glad it's all coming together. I really like my Scalas also. Maybe next storm I can move mine out to the garage and we can scare the whole valley.

Jim

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Yeah, Tom...

"House at Pooh Corner" by L&M is a great horn speaker recording...now get out the old Ten Years After and cue up "I'd Love to Change the World" for a bit of classic Alvin Lee...then go for The James Gang's "Midnite Man" so you can hear Joe Walsh on a twelve-string getting after it with a tremelo kicked in...the list goes on and on!!! Smile.gif

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Thanks, guys for the responses.

Thunder and rain was pretty wild here, but the rain drug out for awhile instead of the usual useless Az summer cloudburst.

jtkinney, I've been looking for a PHX hornhead to come over and help me wring these things out. I've got some different drivers and crossovers on hand to swap out. If you are interested, let me know. I want to beat these things a little before I tear them down to finish.

I'll need to get moving on this soon, I promised to loan out my homemade Al K. crossovers to the guy who sold me all the drivers and and the K-400s.

HDBR, Thanks for the suggestions. I'm getting real partial to this Doc Pomus Tribute disc, he wrote a bunch of the biggest tunes of the 60's and 70's. It's a bunch of his standards done by different artists, usually in a LOT different arrangement. Shaun Colvin does his Viva Las Vegas, you wouldn't recognize it as from an Elvis movie. Couple are really nice, only one stinker, an ex-Beach Boy doing Sweets for my Sweet, terrible. I'll check out that 10 Years After deal. Always did like Joe Walsh, too.

Tom

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jt,

sounds good to me. I used to work in my garage a lot, so I insulated the walls and ceiling and picked up an 18K BTU wall reefer from Home Depot on sale for a little over $300. Gets real nice in there, even when it's hot outside like now.

Let me know if when you're interested.

Tom

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Ten Years After's "I'd Love to Change the World" is on their "A Space in Time" album...and the James Gang's "Midnite Man" is on their "Thirds" album...of course you can always substitute "Rocky Mountain Way"...LOL! "Nathan La Freneer" by Joni Mitchell is a strange but very good sounding "heritage horn" tune, too...as is most of her work...especially her earlier stuff from when it was primarily her on acoustic guitar OR piano!...look for her "Blue", "Ladies of the Canyon", "For the Roses", and her "song to a Seagull" album...this last one is very hard to find...it was her first and is listed as "Warner/Reprise RS6293"...with no album title other than Joni Mitchell...but its actual title is "Songs to a Seagull"...it has "Nathan La Freneer" on it...to understand how "BASIC JONI" it really is...here are the credits for the musicians(seriously!!!, this is it!!!): "musicians: Joni Mitchell on piano and guitar/Stephen Stills on bass/Lee Keefer and Joni Mitchell on banshee"...about as basic as it can get!!!...LOL! A wonderful album, though... produced by David Crosby...and simply a treat for the ears through LaScalas!! Smile.gif

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  • 2 weeks later...
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My 2 cent's worth. My favorite 'speaker demo' CD---Ricki Lee Jones 1st (?) self-titled album (the one with "Chuck E's in Love"). Another good 'un: (but hard to find) Lou Ann Barton's "Old Enough".

Most impressive: U-2's "With Or Without You". Everyone who hears it is familiar with it, and the opening notes when the bass kicks in, but they've never heard it like my KHorns play it.

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Uh-oh. ran up against a serious problem with the WAF, speakers are back in the garage after being in the house for a couple days.

I goofed up by bringing them into the living room before thet were finished. Not very pretty, different colors of wood, screw heads visible and stuff. Dumb.

But, they sound great.

what is supposed to be wrong with using the K-77-M tweeters with the K-55-V mids, anyway? I know it's a mismatch. I'm having a hard time hearing the problem, but maybe it's my damaged hearing.

I'm going to use the transformer taps to attenuate some of the mids so the bass and tweeter are better at low volumes. When they are turned down low it's all K-55, not much low or high.

Tom

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