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Klipsch Belle Speakers with Crites Upgrades


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4 minutes ago, jimjimbo said:

The A/4500 cross and the CT125 tweeters are absolutely an upgrade, and not merely factory "replacements"....And at $1900, I don't think they are trying too hard to recoup the cost.

I agree on both accounts. LaScalas in good shape typically go for around $1300 and Belles are a rare and fairly sought after speaker.

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8 hours ago, jimjimbo said:

The A/4500 cross and the CT125 tweeters are absolutely an upgrade, and not merely factory "replacements"....And at $1900, I don't think they are trying too hard to recoup the cost.

+1 and if they were AB crossovers originally, a hell of an upgrade!  Priced very fair.

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This thread, and others, helped nudge me today to finally call Bob Crites to order the A/4500 crossovers and CT120 tweeters for my LaScalas that I bought last year, and they will replace the original AL crossover network. When speaking with Bob, he recommended the CT120 tweeters over the CT125.

I actually like how the speakers sound with the AL crossovers, but they are over 30 years old, so i figured it was time update to hear what new crossovers and caps will do to improve the sound. I haven’t heard another pair of Lascalas with different crossovers to compare, so i am excited to finally upgrade what I have. I realize that the AL networks are widely criticized for not sounding the best, so I hope to notice some real improvement!

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55 minutes ago, Drewg said:

This thread, and others, helped nudge me today to finally call Bob Crites to order the A/4500 crossovers and CT120 tweeters for my LaScalas that I bought last year, and they will replace the original AL crossover network. When speaking with Bob, he recommended the CT120 tweeters over the CT125.

I actually like how the speakers sound with the AL crossovers, but they are over 30 years old, so i figured it was time update to hear what new crossovers and caps will do to improve the sound. I haven’t heard another pair of Lascalas with different crossovers to compare, so i am excited to finally upgrade what I have. I realize that the AL networks are widely criticized for not sounding the best, so I hope to notice some real improvement!

You should stop by for a listen, I have several pairs La Scalas with AA, AL, and AL-3.  I also have a pair of recapped AA and ALK universals.

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I am very interested in the answer here from opusk2k9.

 

I would also look forward to hearing back from Drewg once he gets his new crossovers and drivers installed.

 

This could really be the start of a new post.

 

A comparison of available LaScala crossovers.

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Not that I could make the drive to Colorado... FROM Toronto, but I had to take a look at what all the fuss was about.

 

I can’t believe these are still for sale. Spring is a great time to be a buyer!

 

You could get a couple or three hundred for the spare parts alone if you didn’t want them.

 

Picture below is for posterity, once the listing vanishes, leaving us all with that empty feeling deep down in the cockles of our hearts. Maybe even the sub-cockle region... lol!

0499FF5D-62EF-4A2C-A1B3-9A8281EB4AD9.png

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4 hours ago, Woofers and Tweeters said:

What's your impression of the lineup that you have?

When I picked up my first pair of La Scala (industrial splits).  I heard a pair with AL and a pair of recently rebuilt AL-3, the AL-3 seemed to have a bit more bass punch.

My nicest looking pair of La Scala have the AL crossovers and sound great to me as do the AA in my other pair.

I haven't really played with the ALK universal crossovers.  To do a real comparison, I should pick one pair of La Scala and swap the AA/AL/AL-3/ALK.

However, with my hearing issues my impressions might be off a bit.

 

I offered to lend @Drewg the AA recapped and the ALK so that he could do a comparison on his La Scala.

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I offered to lend [mention=62385]Drewg[/mention] the AA recapped and the ALK so that he could do a comparison on his La Scala.


Thanks for offering. I don’t mind comparing them. If it would be easier, we can just swap them in and out of your lascalas and compare notes. If you would rather lend them to me to bring home and test on my speakers, that’s fine too. Once I get my crossovers and tweeter from Bob on Tuesday, I’ll PM you and we can figure it out.

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Good to hear you took the plunge. I did that exact upgrade to my first set of Belles and was very pleased. Not sure how much credit goes to the lowering the mid x over point from 6000 to 4500, or how much to replacing the old caps, or how much to the tweeter switch, but the improvement was noticeable. The K77s lived on in a pair of LS's I restored!

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If it ever got down to it, for a potential Belle owner, to either buy a pair in this price range, versus building a pair from scratch, the price posted for these is quite good.  I would have to bounce that price around a lot if they had come up close to me.  But for those interested in what I have in mine in parts, this is a pretty good price out below.  Just remember that I had all of the tools to build a pair so that helped.  It would be hard to put a price on what the cabinets are worth because they would be worth more to me than someone else.

 

  • Klipsch K-33 woofers is what I used but can't say what I gave for them.  So, Crites CW1526C woofers @ $275/pr plus s/h
  • Crites A-55G mids  @ $320/pr plus s/h but these are $350 now.
  • Crites CT120 tweeters  @ $225/pr plus s/h
  • I built a pair of Type AA crossovers from scratch but a person could get a used pair and upgrade the caps for maybe $200 or $310 from Crites.  Or spend more.  I'm using $200 as a reference here.
  • A pair of K-500 horns.  Well, good luck with this part because they never come up except for a rare occasion.  But lets say $250/pr.  I bought a "kit" of sorts from a fellow forum member that included original stock grills, K-55 mids (sold and bought A-55's), Type AA crossovers  (still have but built a new set), and the K-500 horns.
  • 3 sheets of Baltic Birch plywood for $120 because I got a great deal from a good friend.
  • 3 sheets of ribbon Mahogany veneer for $120 again, because a good friend let me know of someone selling it.  Buying this somewhere would get quite pricey
  • Then figure black paint, some silicone, wood screws (had some but got some more), hardware for mounting woofers, feet for bottom of bass bins, Mahogany edge banding, contact cement and rollers, General Finish Seal A Cell & ArmRSeal, and whatever else I can't recall off the top.  Maybe $250.  Could be more.

So you tally all of that up and you get $1,790 plus s/h depending on how you buy, your gas to go get things, etc.  Wood will probably cost you more than that if you can get a hold of BB in your area, ribbon mahogany will cost more shipped typically or you might go with something more exotic, and you could maybe build the Belle look and make a 2-way out of it using Faital driver and horn for extra. 

 

I can't put a price on the enclosures, really, but I have a good idea in my mind what I would charge for a pair if I were to build them for selling.  That's another story, though.  So was it worth it for going through all the trouble?  Yep.  It would be a rarer than rare find to come up with a pair of MHR, MHL, or MHO versions of Belle's out in the world so I consider myself to have something cool.  Although not Klipsch manufactured, they are built like a brick sH1t house, sound awesome, and look quite awesome I believe.   But I definitely didn't spend beyond $5k on a pair.  ;)

 

Bottom line, two grand for a pair of Belle's in good shape, minimal cabinet work, etc., is quite a bargain.  Once you start changing drivers, crossovers, etc., you end up a ways north of what you originally spent although you could recoup some expense from selling off original drivers.  At that point, the cabinets are the only thing original...and the design.  They sure look good, though.

 

Just some rambling.  Nothing more.  YMMV.

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On ‎5‎/‎5‎/‎2018 at 6:39 PM, Drewg said:

I offered to lend [mention=62385]Drewg[/mention] the AA recapped and the ALK so that he could do a comparison on his La Scala.


Thanks for offering. I don’t mind comparing them. If it would be easier, we can just swap them in and out of your lascalas and compare notes. If you would rather lend them to me to bring home and test on my speakers, that’s fine too. Once I get my crossovers and tweeter from Bob on Tuesday, I’ll PM you and we can figure it out.

@Drewg did you get the new parts? Your assessment?

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[mention=62385]Drewg[/mention] did you get the new parts? Your assessment?

I did get the parts, but unfortunately haven’t had a real chance to have any fun yet. It has been an insane week at work, so tomorrow, i plan to post impressions here once I have the new crossovers and tweeters installed. I want to do one speaker at a time so I can compare one with the A/4500 & new tweeters,and one with the old AL crossover and old tweeters.


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[mention=62385]Drewg[/mention] did you get the new parts? Your assessment?

So yesterday I got the parts installed. I started off doing one speaker with upgrades (network and tweeter) and left one with the AL and original tweeter. I called my wife and kids downstairs to choose which they thought sounded better, listening to 24/96 flac Fleetwood Mac, Beatles mono remasters, Radio Paradise flac on my squeezebox touch, and various other songs the kids requested, and we all agreed...the upgraded speaker sounded so much fuller, brighter and livelier, with tightened up bass. It wasn’t even close. I then upgraded the other speaker, and the overall sound was just incredible! The amp I used to test was my newly serviced McIntosh MC250 that i just recently got back from Terry DeWick (and he did a magnificent job getting the unit back to original spec).

The only thing that I was a bit concerned with was how loud and bright the tweeter sounded, compared to the original, but it’s most likely the change in crossover points in combination with new caps. Perhaps I just didn’t have good tweeter sound due to the AL network and old caps. This was my first ever upgrade, so I don’t have anything to compare to other than the original parts.

I still enjoy the sound of the AL network, but with Bob’s network and tweets, i can hear every nuance. I’m very happy with the upgrade. Sorry for the non-technical review, but I promised I would report back after the upgrades.


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