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Picked these up today


miketyler

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Although I have been pretty happy with the THX Ultra2 setup, I have been dying to hear what all the buzz is about with La Scalas. I'd like to say I picked these up for $200 but it was a bit more than that. Cabinets aren't in great condition but I am told they have little use. Thoughts on cabinet restoration? Value? 

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1 hour ago, miketyler said:

Thoughts on cabinet restoration? Value? 

Value?  You talking to me?  :P

 

I would grade the cabs in C condition.  The good thing about black is that they are easy to clean up to a nice finish.  I have so many examples of LS these days I have sub categories.

 

LS in condition C-D-F averages $908.  I have six examples of $1000 or more.  If you can clean them up into condition A/B the average price jumps to $1285.

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 Congrats on the purchase Mike. I'd say $600 is a fantastic price even if the cabinets are a little rough. Would love to hear your thoughts on them.   The only thing that did not impress me with the La Scala's was the bass.   I was used to the slam from RF83, RF7 and RF7ii and the LaScalas definitely do not compare in that area.  However I will say the bass that they do provide sounds fantastic and super clean

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 Hi Mike -

 

I'll confess your setup was an inspiration to me. I'll bet any lack of bass on the LaScala's part is highly over-shadowed by 4 15" subs you are running. I'm unsure where this is going but I did want to try them out as possible replacements for my THX 650's.

 

Growing up, my older brother had a pair of Altec "Voice of the Theater" speakers in our tiny house and he drove them both with a Pilot tubed amplifier. They were as big as a clothes washing machine with a huge horn stacked on top. The house was peer and beam and the vibrations that they generated would translate throughout the house. Cant believe my parents put up with it. Wish I had a pic of those things.   

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12 minutes ago, miketyler said:

I'll confess your setup was an inspiration to me.

Thanks Mike. 

 

13 minutes ago, miketyler said:

I'll bet any lack of bass on the LaScala's part is highly over-shadowed by 4 15" subs you are running.

Yeah...when the (4) RSW-15's were installed next to the LaScala Trio, I'm pretty sure I heard them say, "Don't worry about the bass....we've gotcha covered."  LOL

 

14 minutes ago, miketyler said:

I'm unsure where this is going but I did want to try them out as possible replacements for my THX 650's.

The THX Ultra2 are one of the few Klipsch speakers I have not heard.  I've only heard they are great for movies, and "ok" for music due to them having a pretty flat sound.  I think you will find the LaScalas are fantastic at both HT and for music.  The amount of detail and dynamics is pretty ridiculous.  I have heard (4) THX Ultra2 subs with a pair of Palladium's and Belle as a center channel (see thread here) and the THX subs sounded fantastic.

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5 hours ago, miketyler said:

Thanks - were gen1 LS all configured internally the same? The data stickers are gone. Was curious if they actually came with the suspension rings as well. Those definitley need to go.

They were similar but not exactly the same.  The XO and the mid drivers were different.

 

My notes say the AL-3 XO was first used in 1989.  The mid driver you have is the K-55-M, an upgrade to the older K-55-V.  Even if you want to flip your speakers making no cosmetic changes you will get your money back out of them, no problem.  I have an example of LS in condition C with an AL-3 XO in black which sold in Cleveland for $1300.

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Congratulations!  I'd say 600 is the perfect price for these... you could have easily paid 800.  I'd be removing the eye bolt rigging and planning to brace the bins before I do much else other than listen.  A little bondo for wood will take care of any holes left.  I can't emphasis enough what a difference bracing did for my 1976 La Scalas.   I assume the improvement could vary depending on the condition of the cabinets and how tight all the joints are.  I injected glue along all the inside bin joints from the inside of the woofer housing and installed braces on the bins.  I glued in stages... using gravity to help I only did the bottom side and the following day I turned the speaker to the next side to apply to the bottom of that side.  Made the bass sound "RIGHT."

 

 

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Yeah, the Frakenbolts haveta go.  Yours are well past 1982, with the AL-3 crossovers.  Look near the crossover in the edge plys for the serial number. 

 

You have the perfect opportunity to brace the mouth of the bass horns before refinishing them.  Use excellent birch plywood. 

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Here is a pic, supplied by HDRBuilder I think, of an experiment Mr. Paul did.  Note that the braces are not centered, to prevent changing the resonance from 1 to 2x.  This is what you should do.  Mine were finished before I discovered the mouth resonance (at high volume) and I am not about to muck them up, now.

 

I covered the front edge plys with a 3/4 x 3/4 strip of solid cherry to frame the grille and make it look nicer, 

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I cant make out any serial numbers stamped in the plys. Odd but this just gets more interesting. I pulled the base plate off of one of the units to expose the woofer chamber. Was surprised to see the woofer actually fires into the rear of the cabinet. I'm new to the La Scalas and didn't have a clue about this configuration. So they fire into a false wall dead space in the rear of the cabinet? It is not obvious to me but where does this space vent out to?

 

 

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