Dear Klipsch

[CECAA850]

Yes, pics for sure.

[fuzzydog]

Yes, IMO, Belle is the prettiest speaker Klipsch, or any other company, ever made.

These are a prettier version, IMO.

http://www.voltiaudio.com/vittora.shtml

[DizRotus]

Yes, IMO, Belle is the prettiest speaker Klipsch, or any other company, ever made.

These are a prettier version, IMO.

http://www.voltiaudio.com/vittora.shtml

Fuzzy Dog-

I agree, but the Volti is custom made, not really in the same category as the more mass market Belle.

It reminds me of the interview I saw years ago when a sports reporter asked a baseball expert, "Who's the strongest player in baseball?" The person named someone whose name escapes me. The interviewer then asked, "What about Ted Kluszewski?" To which the expert replied,"Oh, I thought you meant besides Ted Kluszewski."

Edited November 2, 2014 by DizRotus

[The History Kid]

I'd find a way to purchase a new set of Belle's..for sure...

[joeydingo]

I have seen and heard the Volti Vittoras in person and they are fantastic. However, a mint pair of Belles just happened to fit my budget a whole lot better! However, if you have the cash----Greg Roberts has done a fantastic job on the Vittoras.  

[garyrc]

La Scala II has thicker walls than either Belle or La Scala I.

[jimjimbo]

Waiting for the red oak Belle pics.....with cane grills I suppose?

[TasDom]

Waiting for the red oak Belle pics.....with cane grills I suppose?

He posted some in the gallery Jim

 

https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/gallery/image/888-img-0283/

[djk]

Nasty phone photo:

 

[The Dude]

I've always wondered about the sound of the Belle vs the La Scala because I hear people go both ways.

In what way does the LaScala sound better to you?

I would like to know as well, does the Belle's side walls buzz like the Lascala.

My La Scala's don't buzz even at blistering levels I think it is your head that buzzes! You don't even own a pair.

Just seen this, through its only one I still own it and have heard a buzz. Yes when I put my hands on the side walls I can feel it and even control it by squeezing hard enough.

[The Dude]

But your right I don't own a pair. [emoji6]

[seti]

According to Klipsch engineers there were some  resonances in the La Scala I sidewalls. Hence the triangle wedges klipsch tested but without today's computer cutting methods it would have been a PITA to sell them with the wedges. In 2006 Klipsch addressed this with the La Scala II being made out of 1 inch veneered MDF. It worked. The Belle is not as deep as La Scala so it never had this issue. I had Belle's for may years and is the one Klipsch speaker I miss most.

[The Dude]

Wow I just realized how big that picture is, I didn't think my phone was set for pics that large.

 

In 2006 Klipsch addressed this with the La Scala II being made out of 1 inch veneered MDF. It worked. The Belle is not as deep as La Scala so it never had this issue

 

Good points, one reason I would like to get my hands on a pair of Belles for my living room.  They are not as deep as LaScalas, so they wouldn't stick out into my room to far for my wife to notice.   I would just have to sneak 3 of them in there with out her noticing them.

[eth2]

I haven't heard these, but here is an example of bolstering the sidewalls from a current craigslist ad.

 

http://albany.craigslist.org/ele/4759586935.html

[dtel]

My klipsch do not sound like that (honky in your face), Heritage or otherwise.

 

Darn I think he called you a honky  

[garyrc]

 

So if I'm a big fan of the very "forward" sound typical of klipsch, I may prefer the La Scala?

If the Belle has a shorter midrange horn, that should mean that it has a more laidback sound, right?

I just love the big, "horny", in-your-face sound. That's why I kept my RF-35s and sold my RF-82s.

 

My klipsch do not sound like that (honky in your face), Heritage or otherwise. 

 

 

I see that word "honky" all over the place.  I have never thought that any horn loaded driver sounded anything like "honky."  I have heard a few sound harsh with some program material.  Cheap ones, like some Magnavox used to use, were very harsh.  I think someone, somewhere, named the sound of midrange horns "honky" because automobile horns are said to honk, and if you push on one, you are said to be "honking."

 

My Klipshorns, modified Belle, and Heresy IIs do not "honk."  Neither did the JBLs of the past, nor do the JBLs of the present. 

 

When the High End "Golden Ears" showrooms first started in about 1970, none of the ones I visited had even one horn speaker, and the sales people started using "honky" to describethe absent horn speakers.  I wonder if they had heard many.  Then and now, there are diffcult recordings out there, and I suspect that the "Golden Ears" preferred cone and dome speakers because they sometimes contributed some "rich sounding" distortion (sidebands) that helped veil the problems of bad recordings, or at least dulled the sharp transients.  The very best recordings I've heard sound great on good horns, and blander on many direct radiators.

[twk123]

 

 

So if I'm a big fan of the very "forward" sound typical of klipsch, I may prefer the La Scala?

If the Belle has a shorter midrange horn, that should mean that it has a more laidback sound, right?

I just love the big, "horny", in-your-face sound. That's why I kept my RF-35s and sold my RF-82s.

 

My klipsch do not sound like that (honky in your face), Heritage or otherwise. 

 

 

I see that word "honky" all over the place.  I have never thought that any horn loaded driver sounded anything like "honky."  I have heard a few sound harsh with some program material.  Cheap ones, like some Magnavox used to use, were very harsh.  I think someone, somewhere, named the sound of midrange horns "honky" because automobile horns are said to honk, and if you push on one, you are said to be "honking."

 

My Klipshorns, modified Belle, and Heresy IIs do not "honk."  Neither did the JBLs of the past, nor do the JBLs of the present. 

 

When the High End "Golden Ears" showrooms first started in about 1970, none of the ones I visited had even one horn speaker, and the sales people started using "honky" to describethe absent horn speakers.  I wonder if they had heard many.  Then and now, there are diffcult recordings out there, and I suspect that the "Golden Ears" preferred cone and dome speakers because they sometimes contributed some "rich sounding" distortion (sidebands) that helped veil the problems of bad recordings, or at least dulled the sharp transients.  The very best recordings I've heard sound great on good horns, and blander on many direct radiators.

 

 

I agree with you on this one. I have an old pair of cheaper 3 way Kenwood speakers that you can blast crappy ipod music through them all day and they bump pretty loud for casual listening. I then got my KG 5.5's and they are so efficient that they shriek horribly with bad digital source material to the point I only really used them for vinyl. I then got a good DAC and music just effortless spills out of the speakers with such holographic imaging you almost want to cry because you miss Bradley Nowell when listening to Sublime. When I tried the same on the old Kenwoods for comparison it sounded like I was dragging the speakers through the music while they struggled along to reproduce the sounds.