Recently Acquired La Scalas and Upgrade Progress

[jimjimbo]

8 hours ago, Islander said:

 

Does the Super Heresy, in any version, sound better than the Heresy III?

I have both the Super V1 and H III.  I will not say that either sounds "better" than the other, just different.  The Supers have something of a placement requirement due to the rear porting, but the H IIIs do not.  I was very impressed with both when I first heard them, the Supers at Claude's home in Indy and the H IIIs in the Hope demo room.

[Don McPhee]

On 9/29/2019 at 11:44 AM, Desert Noises said:

This is my first post and I’m new to the forum. After owning a pair of Heresy 1s for close to 10 years, I decided to take the next leap and bought a pair of La Scalas in raw birch. One manufactured in 1987 and the other in 1988. They came with the infamous AL crossovers, which I switched out immediately with new Bob Crites AA without even listening to the AL. After vacuuming out the cobwebs I hooked these beasts up and played some music. Initial impression was that drums and other percussion instruments sounded more realistic with incredible 3D imaging. However, the mid bass sounded a bit boxy and stuffy at times compared to my Heresys. 

 

Not willing to let well enough alone, I ordered a pair of Allen A-55G drivers and gaskets from Crites to replace the factory K-55M drivers. I noticed quite a difference after this change. That “glare” in the midrange vanished and the soundstage opened up and sounded wider. There is more distance between the instruments, if that makes sense. 
 

Out of curiosity, I swapped out the K-77M tweeters with Crites CT-125s I originally installed in my Heresys. I preferred the K-77 in my Heresys over the CT-125s, but in the La Scalas I didn’t notice much difference, if any at all. In my Heresys the CT-125s sounded less detailed and the high end sparkle I liked  in the K-77 disappeared. Not sure why it makes a less dramatic difference in the La Scalas, but I suspect it is because the midrange and bass on the La Scala are more efficient than those on the Heresy.

 

I read some members’ posts on here regarding excellent results from replacing the stock K-33E woofer with the Eminence Kappa 15C. Initially this sounded like a dubious upgrade because of the thinner gasket issue but Parts Express had a great open box deal on the Kappa 15Cs a couple weeks ago, so I pulled the trigger for a small risk. I installed the new woofers last week. I must say that, besides the A-55G, this is the biggest, most noticeable upgrade thus far. That annoying boxy/stuffy sound in the mid-upper bass is gone and the bass is much more punchy and realistic. These La Scalas sound so much better now. Wide soundstage, accurate depth and texture, and clear detail. It’s hard to describe, but these speakers are leagues better than they were when I first got them. 
 

The only thing I’m itching to try now is Crites CT-120s vs the CT-125s I’m using now. Another curiosity is lowering the crossover point to 4500 Hz. Anyone done that with A—55Gs and noticed any difference in the upper end? 
 

This is a great forum and I really appreciate the knowledge you have shared here

Beautiful cabinets. Very nice play by play on your upgrades, good info to know. Have you tried any type of finishing to the Raw birch, whether it be a tongue oil or one of many different natural sealer’s, oil’s etc.? I asked this as I am looking at a pair of circa 70s/80s la Scala‘s that are brand new in the crate never fired up and the rawness or just natural look of the cabinets are pretty sexy in my opinion however I would think he would want to put some type of finishing oil or something to Preserve the wood. One question I had for you is every panel natural birch plywood or are there any panels that have a veneer on them?

 

Thanks again for the great info got a love this form 

 

Cheers