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LaScala vs. Heresy


Peter P.

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What's the appeal of the LaScala vs. the Heresy? I mean, according to the current spec sheet, the LaScala doesn't play much lower (58 vs. 51Hz.). Sure; it's more efficient, but I can turn

up the volume on my Heresy's and get the same result. Does the extra efficiency add a new dimension in sound? Does that 7Hz really make a difference? Does the horn loaded woofer have

a different coloration than the Heresy direct drive woofer?

 

I'm not criticizing the LaScala. I'm actually intrigued by it and wonder what I might be missing, although it would never fit in my room and my neighbors would probably mutiny.

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Please don't take this the wrong way, and I'm not trying to be rude, but honestly, you need to hear for yourself a pair of La Scala's.  There is no comparison whatsoever between the La Scala and Heresy.  Other folks here will try to describe the differences, but you can't really fully understand until you hear them.  There might be someone here on the forum that lives within a reasonable distance to you that has a pair of LS....

 

And I'm not criticizing Heresy's....I have several, and they are great, for what they are, but they ain't no La Scala, or Belle, etc, etc.  Hope you can find a listening session somewhere.

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Yep. Oddly enough I have Khorns, lascalas and heresys in my house currently and I can switch back and forth between them. The lascalas do sound different than heresys. The Khorns and the lascalas sound different from each other too. But that is primarily because of the geometry of the khorn/room and the deeper bass response of the khorn. 

The lascalas and khorns are fully horn loaded and the squawker covers a lot more sonic territory on the big klipsch. Go hear them, you'll see what I mean.  

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I have had the Heresy for 40 years, the La Scala for 11 years. A pair of La Scala presents an almost five times greater driven acoustic interface to the air than a pair of Heresy (La Scala 1318 square inches vs Heresy 282 square inches). This difference is further expanded by the interaction with the room.

 

As others mention, there is no way to really describe it; best way is to listen. I will suggest that if you have liked your Heresy, you would really love the La Scala... :)

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Heresies are brighter/thinner sounding and lack the definition in bass and lower midrange a La Scala has.  The sound of a La Scala is flatter and much more balanced than the treble biased Heresy.  I had to attenuate the squawker and tweeter of my Heresies 3 dB to make them closer to the balance my La Scalas have. 

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You will get a much fuller sound with the la scalas, not to be confused with louder. Typically, the bigger the soaker, the bigger the sound. I have a pair of belles (sister to the la scalas) and they still amaze me when I listen to them. Heresy speakers are great for what they are, but they can't compare, they can only compliment each other.

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9 hours ago, Schu said:

Troll post is trollish.

Sorry pal, I'm not a troll.

 

I AM getting REAL answers to my question and I think they're all doing just fine explaining that there's more to it than just a few hertz in the low end.

 

Thanks for all the responses!

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They are both good.......You really have to hear them together. But a sick Heresy is better than most of wanna be speakers out there. I have powered my Herseys with a battery powered boom box during ice storm power outage. I bet all my neighbors could hear them we did not have power but we had tunes and light and heat from Aladdin Mantle lamps if you  have never seen one of those... they are awesome also.

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My Heresys are such a vast improvement over my previous speakers that I will be content for a while with them. Besides, the bass extension of the K-horns, currently 1.5 times the LaScala's cost, seems to be the main gain - but what a gain. Now, the LaScala vs the Heresy - the LaScala's better be a noticeable improvement. Four times as sensitive (105 vs 99 dB SPL) is good - the horn-loaded LF driver, although larger at 15" vs the 12" acoustic suspension LF driver, will sound different, if rolling off only ~8 Hz lower than the Heresy. I am sure that the LaScala's sound more spacious, too... but is that worth four times the Heresy's cost? If I had the moola and space, I'd go for the gold and just get K-horns.

 

When I bought my VG+ '77 vintage walnut/flat riser Heresys for $375 from a CL seller, he had a pair of nice K-horns for $2k... I wasn't tempted... and that's my story! Of course, in hind sight... I do have a room... Sadly, I have a palate for single malt, but my budget barely supports Pepsi Max.

 

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I don't believe the Heresy was ever meant to replace either the Klipschorn or La Scala or even the Cornwall for that matter. What it does do is provide a sensible option for those with speaker size, space and placement restrictions, not to mention budget factors. That said there's lots of room for improvement in the standard Heresy model that can make them extremely good sounding speakers, like the Heretical Heresy mods or Baby Cornwall. I would imagine just replacing the tweeters with the CT-120's like I just did in my HIP's would make a very nice improvement on a stock Heresy model.

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Size does matter.;)

Acoustic size, the size of a horn or a full fledged direct radiator will transfer itself into an a size that is very addicting.  It can't be replicated by a small speaker, even with a subwoofer.

 

The frequency response is good but you have to remember, at what output and then at what output does each of the drivers just simply, not keep up.  Bigger speakers are less apt to become unbalanced as you turn the dial.

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12 hours ago, jjptkd said:

I don't believe the Heresy was ever meant to replace either the Klipschorn or La Scala or even the Cornwall for that matter. What it does do is provide a sensible option for those with speaker size, space and placement restrictions, not to mention budget factors. That said there's lots of room for improvement in the standard Heresy model that can make them extremely good sounding speakers, like the Heretical Heresy mods or Baby Cornwall. I would imagine just replacing the tweeters with the CT-120's like I just did in my HIP's would make a very nice improvement on a stock Heresy model.

Your comments make me wonder what would be the result if Klipsch built a fully horn loaded speaker with an 8" or 10" woofer.

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7 hours ago, Peter P. said:

Your comments make me wonder what would be the result if Klipsch built a fully horn loaded speaker with an 8" or 10" woofer.

Unless the horn was very long and large enough for producing bass, the horn wouldn't be of practical size for a truly full range reproducer.  If you don't mind 70hz cut off or putting up with some other trade offs in frequency response, the Heresy was a reasonable option for it's size / efficiency.  Something like a JBL Hartsfield with the 8" driver.

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A folded horn for an 8" LF driver wouldn't need the flow area a 15" would and likely would be a shorter path to match the smaller driver's higher free air resonance. The end result would be less MDF or plywood, just as complex as far as the construction is concerned, so a labor-intensive construction (Co$tly!). Now an 8" BR LF driver  and a horn MF/HF driver and you've got my PRC-made Klipsch product, the RB-81ii, which has a lower bass extension than the Heresy. Go up to a pair of 10" and a single horn and you've got the US-made Klipsch RF-7.

 

At 2.2 times the Heresy's price, the Cornwall would seem to be the more appropriate comparison. With the same 15" LF driver as the LaScala in a much larger sealed (?) enclosure, it eeks out a below 40 Hz bass extension and, at 102 dB SPL it will be twice as loud as the Heresy, too. Does anyone have both Heresys and Cornwalls to compare? Of course, a new set would only run $4398... Santa...

 

It's axiomatic... I just found a close decent pair of walnut '71 vintage H-700 Heresys on CL for $400 - may as well be $4k - too many bills this time of year. I am blessed to have what I do have - and I know it! Merry Christmas!

 

John

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Don't judge using frequency response, i hear of this being used way too much.

 

Just because the numbers are similar does not mean it it is going to sound similar.

 

Both the Heresy series and La Scala need a subwoofer that match up well for seamless transition.

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If frequency response stats were the only measure of a speaker, all speakers would sound the same except for extension.

This is most definitely not the case. Although all Heritage Klipsch have a sort of signature sound, they all are different. You really owe it to yourself to hear what a large speaker like the La Scala can do.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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22 hours ago, jason str said:

Don't judge using frequency response, i hear of this being used way too much.

 

Just because the numbers are similar does not mean it it is going to sound similar.

 

Both the Heresy series and La Scala need a subwoofer that match up well for seamless transition.

At 50% more than the La Scala, the K-horns certainly won't need a subwoofer. I've heard them, too... and, if I am going to dream 'big', may as well dream K-horns!

16 hours ago, Grizzog said:

If frequency response stats were the only measure of a speaker, all speakers would sound the same except for extension.

This is most definitely not the case. Although all Heritage Klipsch have a sort of signature sound, they all are different. You really owe it to yourself to hear what a large speaker like the La Scala can do.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It dawned on me while writing the last post That I had never heard the Cornwalls - on paper, they look like Heresys with extended bass - are they that - or more?

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