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La Scala placement within built in cabinet advice


Jerspokin

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I have been reading this forum for a little while and have found so much information. It is truly a great resource for Klipsch owners. I have looked high and low to see if there has been a related post and could not find one so I am posting seeking some advice. I recently acquired a pair of La Scala speakers for what I thought was a good price. I am about to rip out and rebuild a built in "bar" area and a room that has my pool table. My only option to make this fit is to build the LaScala's into the bar. I have attached a photo of them placed where they would go, they would just be set back into the bar against the wall(photo attached).

 

My major concern is that building them in will make them sound muffled or give them an "echo". The fronts would be flush or about 1" in front of the cabinet opening. I am building this so I can build it the way I want or need to. I am hoping LaScala's are a good speaker to do this with since they are not rear ported etc... Has anyone tried this with success? Or have any tips or tricks to make an install like this work? As a side note, I am not looking for the sound to be perfect. This is obviously a rec room and the pool table is right in the middle of the sound field, I am just looking for a somewhat clear sound and reducing "boomy" sound if I can with this type of install. In this photo I placed them right up against the current bar and it sounded pretty good. 

 

...on a side note I included the speaker tag. From info I found on this site, these are from 1980 and are Birch Lacquer with a factory walnut stain? Is that correct? I have a pair of Hersey speakers that are Oiled Walnut and these defiantly look like they have a lacquer finish compared to those. Any regular maintenance that needs to be done to this type of finish?        

 

I greatly appreciate any advice or feedback! 

 

Jereme

 

  

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Those are beauties!  Actually doing what your doing will help reinforce the lower bass frequencies, something that LaScalas can certainly benefit from.

 

My only advice would be to make the area they're in wide enough so that you can toe, or angle in, the speakers toward your main listening position in the middle of the room.  Since they'll be so close to the side walls that will help lessen the sound bouncing off the walls.

 

Have you hooked them up to listen to them yet?  I would love to hear a pair some day.

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Thanks for the feedback and serial number conformation so far. This might have been the first time I showed up to a craigslist purchase and the item was in NICER condition than i thought! :)  I figure I will build the speaker portion of the built-in with at least 3/4 ply or 1" if I can find it easy and line the inside with sound dampening foam. I am also going to try and dismantle the current bar and try a mock up before I get too far down this road. I am tight on depth space, but will certainly try to leave room for toe-in. We are typically playing pool in this room, so listening from a single point likely won't happen much, but reducing reflection on the side walls would be nice! 

 

I did have them set up with a NAD 326 integrated and they sound really good even with the original AA crossovers. My wife came downstairs and said she thought I had somehow got these upstairs by myself they sounded so clear from the opposite corner/different level of the house. They are super clear and super loud! I know they will need to be rebuilt or replaced which is now on the project list. Trying to decide if I should totally replace and keep the originals as is, or just update the original board. I always like when the originals are available, but then again what's the point if they are not good anymore.

 

I also couldn't resisted moving them to try them with my Scott 299A. That NAD impresses me for what it is, but these LaScala's with those tubes... WOW. It's just too bad this room is too small... there are 1986 Heresy II hiding behind the picture below, which are appropriately sized in that room.       

 

  

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Buried worked for me.  Have mine in the closet under stairs where the water heater used to be.  (moved it to Garage)

 

I was suffering from some heath issues at the time so my wife ended up doing 100% of the trim work and created the covers from scratch.

 

Shows the length someone will go to hide what she considers "ugly teenager speakers"

 

:emotion-14:

 

 

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I wouldn't sweat any toe-in or precise speaker location ideas; you're looking just for music-it's not a soundroom.

 

Since the speakers are heavy, it will be a bear to move the speakers into and out of that location. You might want to leave sufficient space to grab the speakers or at least slip a piece of rope around them should you need to pull them out of location. The floor surface will need to be sufficiently frictionless too, for various reasons. Carpet, or maybe casters under the speakers might be worth thinking about. You could hide the casters behind wooden skirts or trim boards.

 

Don't forget to post pictures of the finished product!

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