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subs for 1979 la scalas


kubotadave

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Hi everyone im new to the forum and looking for some good advice from a very knowledgable group. my question is about subwoofer choice.My la scalas are original and sound wonderful,but lack in the bass department for my liking.I like to listen to them at high volume at times.I have a chance to buy a pair of klipsch 480 subs for 500.00 locally.But after browsing your forums i have read alot about  table tubas.Can somebody steer me in the right  direction?Thank you so much for any help and advice in advance.DAVE

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1 hour ago, kubotadave said:

Thanks for all the help

@kubotadave,

 

I am sorry myself and no others responded.  But with that said, a DYI horn loaded sub would most likely blend better with La Scalas.

Let me give a shout out to some of our resident horn sub experts.

@jason str

@Thaddeus Smith

@CECAA850

 

Bill

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Expert, ha!

 

I've had a Lil'Mike cinema f-20 and currently have two danley th-spud clones. I had all three running together and ultimately sold the cinema f-20. It only fit in one place in my room and simply wasn't necessary with the other two.

 

Never had a bfm sub in my space, and likely never will, but plenty around here like those designs as well.

 

A horn loaded sub is definitely the way to go if you've got the room - they just blend so seamlessly with the LS bass bins.

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On 3/24/2020 at 9:21 PM, kubotadave said:

Thank you for your responses.Its nice to have different opinions and ideas to throw around before i decide on which route to go.

Here's another opinion.....change out your stock woofers with Eminence Kappa 15Cs from Parts Express.  No crossover changes needed, and after a few hours of break in, you will notice a significant improvement in mid bass and clarity.  Personally, I don't use,  and have never used subs, and after you hear the Kappas, you might not need them either.....Natural sound, not washed over with low freqs.  Lots of folks here on the forum have had the same experience.  YMMV

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It might be helpful to know the size and layout of your system in the room (in front or the long wall or the short wall, for instance), and how loud you like to listen.

 

The La Scalas are great speakers, but their bass horns are too short to allow them to reproduce deep bass.  Unlike the big Klipsch Pro Theater speakers that were left in one place for most of their lives, the La Scalas  were designed to be “portable size”, so they could go on the road.  This means that for home use, they could use the help of a sub or two.  To be fair, this is true of most speakers.

 

Although many forum members feel that horn speakers should have horn subs with them, which may be true, that doesn’t mean that direct radiating subs are no use.  If you rarely listen at concert levels,  and don’t have a huge room, your choice in subs becomes much larger.  More power is better.  When my regular sub was getting its amp repaired, I used a pair of 90-watt 8-inch subs.  For acoustic music, and rock music at lower levels, they were okay, but for movies or louder music, they didn’t get the job done.  When my 500-watt 10-inch sub came back, it was a welcome treat to hear.  Once again, music sounded full-bodied and right.

 

So my advice is to go for at least 500 watts for music at typical levels, and maybe 1000 watts if you like to listen to listen at very loud levels.  That’s for direct-firing subs.  Horn subs will naturally be more efficient and will not need as much power.

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13 hours ago, jimjimbo said:

Here's another opinion.....change out your stock woofers with Eminence Kappa 15Cs from Parts Express.  No crossover changes needed, and after a few hours of break in, you will notice a significant improvement in mid bass and clarity.  Personally, I don't use,  and have never used subs, and after you hear the Kappas, you might not need them either.....Natural sound, not washed over with low freqs.  Lots of folks here on the forum have had the same experience.  YMMV

 

I will pretty much agree with this. I never used subs with my LS and found them very balanced, however, I lowered the output on the mids a little, so turning up the volume gave me more bass without having headsplitting mids.

 

I love La Scalas!

 

Welcome to the forums, too!

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10 hours ago, Marvel said:

 

I will pretty much agree with this. I never used subs with my LS and found them very balanced, howver, I lowered the outut on the mis a little, so turning up the volume gave me more bass without having headsplitting mids.

 

I love La Scalas!

 

Welcome to the forums, too!

You still won't pick up the last couple octaves though.  Even Roy agrees that these things need a sub.  Once you listen to Lascalas with a sub it's hard to hear them without one.  They sound very thin.

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3 hours ago, CECAA850 said:

You still won't pick up the last couple octaves though.  Even Roy agrees that these things need a sub.  Once you listen to Lascalas with a sub it's hard to hear them without one.  They sound very thin.

 

Perhaps, but listening to how loud or deep a real acoustic bass sounds, La Scalas are still wonderful. How many decades have folks enjoyed them without a sub? They've been around over half a century now. Can a sub get you more low end? Sure thing... but still not required. If they are required. Klipsch needs to sell them as a package.

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23 minutes ago, Randyh said:

say I had 4 LS bass bins , and 2 top hats , would that give enough bass to make Lascala's more enjoyable or would 2 pairs of LS - 2 bass bins - 2 top hats ,  at lower volumes ---give a better bass output --------with or without subs

Lascalas have no  issue with output.  Their issue is extension.  They're not horn loaded under 100Hz so basically you're listening to a direct radiator through a slot below that.  You're missing a couple octaves of music using Lascalas without a sub.  Your mind can fill in the missing information but it's not the same as having something that can actually reproduce those frequencies.

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46 minutes ago, Randyh said:

say I had 4 LS bass bins , and 2 top hats , would that give enough bass to make Lascala's more enjoyable or would 2 pairs of LS - 2 bass bins - 2 top hats ,  at lower volumes ---give a better bass output --------with or without subs

 

 

Randy,

 

As Carl stated, a LaScala is not even working as a horn below 100 Hz and doesn't have output really below 50 Hz where it is working as a direct radiator below 100 Hz. A second pair of LaScala Bass bins will reinforce the Bass, but it still isn't really going to go any Lower. They Need a Sub and I recommend a Horn Sub and Carl is EXACTLY who you need to talk with about getting a F-20 Horn sub from.  :D

 

Roger

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I love my La Scalas. When I first heard a pair nearly forty years ago I was blown away by their clarity, and presence. I’d never heard anything like it. Back in those days I’d never even heard of a “subwoofer”, if they even existed at all. Music was just different back then. A few years back, I finally bought a pair of 1980 La Scalas. They were everything I remembered, from the long, long, ago. Except it’s not 1982 anymore. We hear and expect music to sound differently these days. You’ll need a subwoofer. 
I first started hearing about “Tuba” subs on the forum here. I bought plans and built a T18 which sounded really good, it blended seamlessly with the LS. However, if you like it loud, you’ll probably want more. The little T18 is now in the family room, where it sounds amazing for its size, and really pisses off one of the dogs, especially  during Marvel movies. I’ve been building a Table Tuba for the last few weeks, and have been documenting the progress with a build thread, if you want to check it out.

Good luck with whichever direction you go.  

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Great advice from everybody.I think im going to try and build a table tuba.Sounds like a fun project.Thank you all for your ideas and thank you for welcoming me to your klipsch family.I respect all your ideas.My listening room is my 2000 sqare ft basement,and i have no neighbors so i can go big.I like to feel my music.

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