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I'd like to thank Bob Crites (my warranty department)


Deang

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I was bemoaning the fact that the forum culture had changed so much to a customer, and he responded by saying;

"As far as the forum and heritage, many are now in their 60's, 70's, etc and passing away. With the new focus on Home theater, there does not appear to be many in the younger generations replacing the original demand for Heritage line speakers. More and more, I see parts floating without a home, and lots of Klipschorns and la scala's available for sale at low prices - apparently far in excess of interested buyers, and that is a real shame.

 

I think most of us younger generation just have not experienced true high end audio to get excited about it. When you grow up with cheap ipod ear buds and computer speakers you kind of just accept that that is the bar. They think being an "audiophile" is some kind of foreign concept reserved for stuffy rich people without realizing that their own favorite music, including EDM, Hip Hop etc also sounds absolutely amazing on the right system that costs less than your yearly iphone upgrade. 

 

The generation gap is going to bridge soon enough though, thanks in part to Vinyl becoming a fad which at least makes you THINK about sound reproduction then by that time you already entered the rabbit hole. Vintage is popular as well and the story behind the Heritage line is a classic story of American innovation. Im 27 and actually just picked up my first LaScalas last Saturday and the are the most expensive thing item I have ever bought. I listen to music every day though and would not want to spend it any other way.    

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Will new and better capacitor provide the ends we seek, will it overcome our expectations! Or will our perception continue to draw us down the alley. Don't get me wrong I too am like many other, but this turn of events has made me pause to think, do I want to continue on this path to madness. - Errol

Which "turn of events" are you speaking of?

Something that has always confused me is the time, effort, and willingness to invest in such expensive components (apparently in the pursuit of excellence), to then end by convincing oneself that parts are parts, and that there isn't anything left worthy of investigation. So, "Will a new and better capacitor provide the ends we seek?" As part of a system, I would have to "yes, absolutely". Even alone, they play vital roles in both voicing and distortion. While the latter is often disputed - it's not difficult to hear. I should say "not hear", because it's in its absence that we find the evidence. The human ear will certainly lie and prove itself untrustworthy, but it's also capable of brutal honesty, especially with distortion -- we know when there's more of it and we know when there's less of it. Some of you are cheating yourselves out of the experience you're looking for.

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Okay Cameron, is this one of those projects where you don't want to spend one cent more than you have to? Always spend a little so you can at least get a sound you can live with, right?

Dave once told me that there is no additional gain with the Fastrac LaScala, but I don't know about the Eliptrac. Hopefully Dave is following this thread and will give you some input on that.

If I give a customer a choice, by including the 15 ohm resistor, and making the squawker wire so it can be moved between taps 4 and 3, they prefer the sound with the resistor and the squawker on Tap 3. Always.

When it comes to midrange attenuation, there is almost universal agreement on what sounds "right". Name the driver, horn, and network -- and we seem to have a number that everyone agrees on. I think that's interesting, in light of all this talk regarding how different our hearing curves are.

I'm convinced that the drop in output is preferred because of the application of low loss parts (polypropylene capacitors, Litz inductors). If I build with Jupiters or Jensens, no additional attenuation is needed.

My LaScalas are set up so I can change out networks in a few minutes, and I sit between 8 and 10 feet back. Thanks to Dave Pety, I now have a very nice sounding 75 pound Onix KT-88 based integrated amplifier (with a real preamplifier section). I still use my Luxman r117 as my reference for solid state - it may not be Macintosh, but it probably sounds as good or better than most of the stuff used by the HT folks. Here's my point with all this -- I can recreate a lot of different "sounds" with these LaScalas, and it doesn't matter what I run -- if the networks are built with polypropylene capacitors, whether metallized or film and foil, the loudspeaker sounds better with the midrange knocked back a bit.

So, what exactly do you want to do? Or stated another way, what do you have on hand, and what would you like to do with it.

Wanna build with batteries? :-)

I am confining this discussion to the Type A and AA, and excluding the AK/AL series of networks.

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Hey, you changed your name again... much easier to spell for sure.

 

I think Dave is right about the Lascala Fastrac being OK stock but mids definitely needed attenuation with the Cornwall Fastrac IMO.

 

I have multiple projects in mind but I won't try to list them all here at once.  (I'll put them in an email) 

 

The first thing I'd like to do is experiment on stock LaScalas with a stock AA network that has Sonicaps.  Here is what I'm wanting to try and compare:

1.  Everything back to stock and standard settings.  

2.  Drop the mids 3dB by adding the 15ohm resister and dropping the tap from 4 to 3.

3.  Drop the mids a total of 12dB by dropping the tap to 1 and adding a ??? (what size is needed?) resistor and replace the K400 horn and K55 drivers with the Eliptracs and BMS 4592ND-mid drivers.  I don't intend this as a permanent configuration... I just want to hear it!  The Eliptracs and BMS will stay with the main system.

 

I won't mess with the tweeter for now although I might try this again but with different tweeters and the ALK transformer attenuators.   (any reason I can't use the ALK attenuator on the AA networks?)

 

In the end, I will keep the stock horns and drivers but with new and improved crossovers (what is still to be decided).  Who knows... I might move your Super AA's with the oimp V-Caps to these and do something else for the main system (with Jupiters). Might be a little crazy since the networks are probably worth as much or more than the LaScalas but when I use these it will be for 8-10 hour stretches.  

 

New B2 networks are also on my list... which includes saving for the new round Jupiter caps coming soon.

 

First, I'd like to do my 3 tests on the stock LaScalas.  I can do the first 2 but need help with number 3.

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John just likes to see if anyone's paying attention.

 

Please, I'm really not "that" needy. 

 

That said, I've had time to work an interesting problem to something of a conclusion and will discuss it on the forum page of my site.  I'll provide the link for those that are interested.

 

Regarding network component selections, my preference is to go to the source of the problem.  With regard to the Klipschorn, the issue is the tweeter, the midrange and the networks.  They're weak and, where I sit, an integrated package that incorporates good design still wanting.  A customer of mine (an McIntosh rebuild job) challenged me to provide him with that package BUT without having to spend a bleeding fortune.  I think the solution is a good one.  The system makes very good sound.

 

As a side note, in the process of designing the nets I decided to build the nets with autotransformer attenuation on the mid.  On another job, I actually designed an autotransformer for a customer that has incremental sound pressure level changes around 0.6dB.  Since I own the design and developed the US supplier for it, I decided to purchase a winding lot and use it.  It's to my specs, high permeability core, bifilar windings, heavy and ugly as hell but electrical performance is where I want it and it has a ton on bandwidth.  FWIW, the supplier's been winding transformers for 60+ years and, I think, that little bugger autoformer was a challenge even for them.             

Edited by John Warren
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John just likes to see if anyone's paying attention.

 

Please, I'm really not "that" needy. 

 

That said, I've had time to work an interesting problem to something of a conclusion and will discuss it on the forum page of my site.  I'll provide the link for those that are interested.

 

I registered but can't find anything relevant. The 'Engineering Projects and Discussion' section is empty.

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3. Drop the mids a total of 12dB by dropping the tap to 1 and adding a ??? (what size is needed?) resistor and replace the K400 horn and K55 drivers with the Eliptracs and BMS 4592ND-mid drivers.

 

Cameron, you don't need a resistor to do this, but you will need two 1.5uF capacitors. You will also need to move the tweeter connection from Tap 5, to input positive (right on the other side of where your +speaker wire connects). The resistor is only needed if you want to drop 3dB with the stock components and networks, without changing the primary capacitor (from 13uF to 6.8uF).

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3. Drop the mids a total of 12dB by dropping the tap to 1 and adding a ??? (what size is needed?) resistor and replace the K400 horn and K55 drivers with the Eliptracs and BMS 4592ND-mid drivers.

 

Cameron, you don't need a resistor to do this, but you will need two 1.5uF capacitors. You will also need to move the tweeter connection from Tap 5, to input positive (right on the other side of where your +speaker wire connects). The resistor is only needed if you want to drop 3dB with the stock components and networks, without changing the primary capacitor (from 13uF to 6.8uF).

 

 

I was looking to do this without a cap change if possible since it was only going to be temporary.   I sent you an email, Dean.

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John just likes to see if anyone's paying attention.

 

Please, I'm really not "that" needy. 

 

That said, I've had time to work an interesting problem to something of a conclusion and will discuss it on the forum page of my site.  I'll provide the link for those that are interested.

 

I registered but can't find anything relevant. The 'Engineering Projects and Discussion' section is empty.

 

 

It will not be empty for long and will post soon. 

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John just likes to see if anyone's paying attention.

 

Please, I'm really not "that" needy. 

 

That said, I've had time to work an interesting problem to something of a conclusion and will discuss it on the forum page of my site.  I'll provide the link for those that are interested.

 

I registered but can't find anything relevant. The 'Engineering Projects and Discussion' section is empty.

 

 

Ok, got something going...

 

http://northreadingeng.com/Forum/index.php?topic=22.0

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