Help pricing 84/85 La Scalas, consecutive serial numbers

[kickedthestairs]

 

Hello all! I'm looking for some info on how to price a pair of 84/85 La Scalas and to see if anyone in the mid-South might be interested in purchasing them. As far as I know, my father-in-law bought these in 1985, and he was the only owner aside from my husband and me. They've got some superficial dings from the years but are otherwise in great shape.

 

-Sarah

[codewritinfool]

Hook 'em up and keep 'em!

 

[jimjimbo]

Hi Sarah, welcome to the forum.  A few more photos of the tops and sides would help, but otherwise I think you are in the neighborhood of $1000 to $1400, but of course it all depends on how much you want to sell them, and how much a buyer is willing to pay.....They look nice.

 

Mid South meaning where?

[Emile]

Hi Sarah ... where are you located?  No real clue on their value ... best guess is $800-1500 depending on condition, etc.

Cheers, Emile

[wvu80]

I agree with @codewritinfool directly upstream, they have the most worth to you or someone in your family.  They have a wonderful sound.

 

I will say those speakers are in good condition.  I have seen speakers in similar condition sell in the range of $800 to around $1200.  If you offered them for $1000 I think you might sell them within a week or so.  I paid $600 for mine two years ago which look very similar to yours.

 

Picky part:  I hate to get technical but in one of your pictures there is a funny looking board with electronic parts and wires attached that is identified with a red "Type AL."  This is bad. 

 

Most people looking for La Scala's know it makes speakers with that particular Type AL crossover sound very muffled and stuffy.  Klipsch has since updated this twenty year-old part with several better versions (AL2, AL3, etc).  The first thing most knowledgeable buyers of the La Scala would ask is for you to lower the price by $125 so they can buy a different crossover.  This is a common and reasonable request.

 

You may of course ask whatever you want for them.  For a quick sale offer them at the lower end of the price range and if you want top dollar it may take a month or more to find the right buyer.  I suggest pricing them somewhere in the middle and be willing to negotiate your price for the Buyer who will be immediately be replacing the Type AL crossover.

 

I am offering this advice as someone who is not in the market to buy them.  Good luck.

[kickedthestairs]

Thanks all for the quick info! It's really helpful.

 

27 minutes ago, jimjimbo said:

Hi Sarah, welcome to the forum.  A few more photos of the tops and sides would help, but otherwise I think you are in the neighborhood of $1000 to $1400, but of course it all depends on how much you want to sell them, and how much a buyer is willing to pay.....They look nice.

 

Mid South meaning where?

 

26 minutes ago, Emile said:

Hi Sarah ... where are you located?  No real clue on their value ... best guess is $800-1500 depending on condition, etc.

Cheers, Emile

 

I'm in Columbus, MS—reachable from Atlanta/Memphis/Nashville/New Orleans/Birmingham/Little Rock in 5 hours or less, but otherwise fairly well in the middle of nowhere.

[OO1]

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[OO1]

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[Drewg]

you say the AL NETWORK is Bad , OK , can you modify a AL to something else - now is an AA MUCH BETTER - yes the AL looks pretty complex -in comparison

I bought my ‘86 LaScalas with the AL network and read the same thing, that they are not generally well liked. I bought the Crites A/4500 crossovers and his CT120 tweeters, and they took the sound to a whole new level. I’m glad I performed the upgrades, and to be quite honest, I enjoyed my AL networks before the change. I just had not heard other networks to compare them to.

[OO1]

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[wvu80]

9 minutes ago, Randyh said:

you say the AL NETWORK is Bad , OK , can you modify a AL to something else - now is an AA MUCH BETTER - yes the AL looks pretty complex -in comparison

I'm sure you know re-capping the old XO's is the first thing most people do with 1972-82 LS and Khorns.  The Type AL is considered so bad and there are so few components that can be re-used it's actually cheaper to buy a new one than to upgrade the old one. 

 

Even Crites specifically says on his website there is no upgrade kit for the AL or the AL2.  Buying a new one or finding an old AA to upgrade is the cheapest way to to get better sound from an AL equipped LS or Khorn.

[kickedthestairs]

 

3 minutes ago, Randyh said:

 my advice is to find a good woodworker who can spiff up the condition of the cabinets - the badges are intact , with a bit of wood filler and a bit o4 f Danish oil , these can look  A LOT BETTER than they are right now , which is a bit on the dull side - 1500$ should be a breeze right now , you spiff them up a bit 2000 $ -

2

Thanks! I also realized that when I compressed the photos so they'd both fit and have decent resolution, I lost some color, which gave them a slightly shoddier appearance than reality, so here's a better look. But they could still definitely stand to be spiffed up!

 

1 hour ago, wvu80 said:

Picky part:  I hate to get technical but in one of your pictures there is a funny looking board with electronic parts and wires attached that is identified with a red "Type AL."  This is bad. 

Thanks for the tip! I'll keep it in mind when pricing/selling.

 

If anyone knows of anyone in the area who might be interested, please send them my way!

 

[wvu80]

2 minutes ago, Randyh said:

1500$ should be a breeze right now , you spiff them up a bit 2000 $ -

The data does not back that up.  You can get Belles in the $1600 range and at $2000 you are easily into Khorn territory. 

 

There is no amount of Danish Oil that can turn a $1000 speaker into a $2000 speaker. 

[OO1]

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[wvu80]

8 minutes ago, Randyh said:

but again if PWK designed it , shouldn't that be proof enough that it works  well ,  if memory serves me well , it was designed to work with the K55M from EV -rather than the K55V from Atlas -

I don't think the AL was designed by PWK.  It should tell you something that the AL was almost immediately replaced by the AL2, another XO Crites doesn't have a kit for because it can't be economically upgraded.  It was also immediately replaced by the highly regarded AL3.

 

Most people like the sweet sound of the Type AA, and the dynamic sound of the Crites A/4500 and CT-125 combination.  I've owned both in my Khorns.

[OO1]

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[USNRET]

and back to the OP whose question is the question; not a debate over AL v AK v AA

[wvu80]

1 minute ago, Randyh said:

would you go for the AL3 , or the AA -and do both work well with the K55M,     if I am not wrong , the A/4500 is close to the AA and the CT 125 is the APT 50 with a Crites horn -do you see a difference with the AP 50 , versus the K77- 

I've read comments from a lot of people who heap praise on the AL3.  I've never heard one but they have a good rep and use more modern capacitors than the old Type AA which used Paper in Oil and had a reputation for leaking and going out of spec after 20 years.

 

The K-55V had a "hole" in that 4500 to 6000 Hz range.  Even though nobody could "hear" that hole it was a technical glitch which was solved by the K-55M which could be crossed at 4500 Hz.  That's why the name Crites A/4500, closer to the Type A (no tweeter protection) crossed at 4500 Hz.

 

The Crites CT-120 has mixed reviews from folks being too dull, the top end loses its sparkle and many go back to their K-77.  I believe the CT-125 is preferred over the CT-120 but I don't think I've ever seen a direct comparison.

[OO1]

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[wvu80]

10 minutes ago, USNRET said:

and back to the OP whose question is the question; not a debate over AL v AK v AA

True.  The discussion is directly related because it goes to the value of La Scalas with Type AL XO's but no doubt it is too technical for a request for sales information.

 

If the OP were to take the information discussed here to heart and upgrade her LS with a Crites A/4500 and CT-125 I would then value the LS's about a third higher, closer to $1300-1400.  As is, about a thousand.