La Scala AL5 What a Painful Experience

[MicroMara]

35 minutes ago, 000 said:

you can build a pair , anytime with your talents Mara --------but the cool speakers to own are Palladium P39's  ------These , you can't replicate -- woofers use different pass bands , and a crossover design that gets better with premium parts ----

We already had this topic in my " RF 7 MK II Moddy Thread " . The P 39's as well as the P 37's do not oblige my listening preferences. Sure I could build a La Scala AL 5 myself, thanks for your compliment, but I can still do that when I go into retirement. 

[glens]

3 hours ago, jimjimbo said:

4 hours ago, GlennyC said:

Well the guys that sell B Stock really try to imply that there is only cosmetic differences between A and B Stock. If there’s more to it, please illuminate. Thanks!

 

Cosmetic differences does not mean scratched, although that's always possible.  The factory may decide that the veneer is slightly different, or there may be shading differences, or there may be excessive grain, or knots in the veneer.  I have seen all of those considered B stock.

 

While the common notion seems to be the "B" refers to cabinetry, it could also refer to componentry, couldn't it?

 

I hope not because I really don't see anything about my B Forte IIIs that would cause them to be so designated.

[Islander]

20 hours ago, MicroMara said:

In Germany the La Scala AL5 pair costs € 14.000 which is currently $15.120 . That's a good $ 3,120 more than in the States.

 

In Canada, the latest price for the AL5 is $15,000 CAD per pair.  Sadly, it would be special order only, since no shops on the Island carry Heritage Series speakers.  Greater Victoria has a population of only about 350,000, so there would not be that many potential buyers, plus they take up a lot of space in the showroom.  My favourite shop used to carry them, but those are the two reasons why they don't anymore.  London Drugs, oddly enough, moves a lot of the lower-end Klipsch speakers, and even has a little listening room in the AV section of the store.  They could special order Heritage Series speakers, but they don't stock them.

 

The Heresy IV is $4400 CAD per pair.

 

And the Klipschorn AK6 is $22,000 CAD per pair.

 

Those were the only ones I asked about.  B stock would be less, of course.  Sometimes it's not clear why a pair of speakers gets the B designation.  Something as simple as the veneer on the bass cabinet not perfectly matching that on the HF cabinet is enough.  It looks like speakers have to be perfect to be A stock.

[Islander]

23 hours ago, DJEditor said:

I received a new pair of Heresy speakers yesterday.  My watch scratched the walnut surface in several places while placing the speakers in my room.  I was a bit surprised by the  ease the surface scratched. I thought I was being gentle with them.

 

Steel is harder than wood, especially lacquered veneer, or painted wood or steel, for that matter, and watch bracelets often have many nearly sharp edges.  Even my rubber dive watch strap has stainless steel bands on it.  Now I always remove my watch before doing anything around my speakers, or anything else in the place that's scratchable.  Saves a lot of swearing if I make the slightest mistake.

 

BTW, congrats on getting your new Heresys!  With a proper name, you just add "s" for plural, so it's "Heresys", not "Heresies".  Grammar factoid I learned not long ago.

[DJEditor]

A rubber strap diving watch it was! Learned a lesson, minor scratches on the sides. 

Boy do the Heresy IVs sing loud, proud and controlled.  They are a lot of fun and I hear a lot more instruments in songs that my Kg-3s couldn't resolve. Driving them with a SS Yamaha receiver so not expensive electronics and they sound sweet, not harsh.

[wstrickland1]

6 minutes ago, Islander said:

 

 

 

BTW, congrats on getting your new Heresys.  With a proper name, you just add "s" for plural, so it's "Heresys", not "Heresies".  Grammar factoid I learned not long ago.

So much misinformation on this forum. Everybody know the plural of Heresy is Heresy's....

[DizRotus]

9 minutes ago, wstrickland1 said:

So much misinformation on this forum. Everybody know the plural of Heresy is Heresy's....

 

 

There are few hard and fast rules in grammar and syntax, but avoiding apostrophes to create plurals is as close to one as you can get.  After more than 30 years we still can’t agree on how to designate possessive with our son’s name Ross.  Is it Ross’s or Ross’?  I prefer the latter, as it looks neater, but I think either is acceptable.

 

OBTW, I agree regarding the plural of proper names, which Herersy, as used by Klipsch, is.  

[jimjimbo]

14 hours ago, glens said:

While the common notion seems to be the "B" refers to cabinetry, it could also refer to componentry, couldn't it?

 

Highly doubtful.  I can not imagine Klipsch letting a unit out of the factory with a known driver/component issue.

 

 

 

Really glad that someone here actually worries about such things as apostrophe's.  Certainly takes a load off my mind.

[Islander]

1 hour ago, wstrickland1 said:

So much misinformation on this forum. Everybody know the plural of Heresy is Heresy's....

 

That used to be called “the greengrocer’s apostrophe”, because at markets in the UK, the greengrocers would make signs showing the prices of their produce, often with the possessive instead of the plural form.  So that mistake has been around a long time.

[Islander]

10 minutes ago, jimjimbo said:

 

Really glad that someone here actually worries about such things as apostrophe's.  Certainly takes a load off my mind.

 

Well, you wouldn’t want to embarrass yourself by not pluralizing apostrophes correctly, would you?  < wink >

[Coytee]

 

When I was building my first system (1978) I was a teenage punk but, always worked during summers (in prior years) and year round (at this point) so had income.  Still, to make purchases easier, I often tried to buy the store display unit.  A "B" anything didn't bother me as it allowed me to stretch my funds.  I did have to buy some things new (LaScalas, Yamaha 2040, RTR...) so anything I could save elsewhere helped.  A rub mark on a 3bx didn't change the sound for me.

 

So by the time I was in college....I had some goodies.  (I'm sure many have seen this before) and again, I'll ask you ignore Animal...there's a story there.  I think I was 22 (?) when this was taken.

 

For me, B stock can be good!!

[Woofers and Tweeters]

47 minutes ago, DizRotus said:

There are few hard and fast rules in grammar and syntax, but avoiding apostrophes to create plurals is as close to one as you can get.  After more than 30 years we still can’t agree on how to designate possessive with our son’s name Ross.  Is it Ross’s or Ross’?  I prefer the latter, as it looks neater, but I think either is acceptable.

 

OBTW, I agree regarding the plural of proper names, which Herersy, as used by Klipsch, is.  

I agree with you on the Ross', but these people don't.

 

"Robert and Lisa Smith have two beautiful children. Amy is nine and Ross is seven. The Smiths' house has two floors. The children's rooms are upstairs, and the parents' bedroom is downstairs. Lisa's room is always clean while Ross's room is always messy. The Smiths' lives are very busy this week. Ross's sports teams all have games. Amy's ballet class has a recital and Robert's car is in the shop. So, the Joneses are trying to get everything done with only Lisa's car. Today, they've been to school, practice, rehearsal, the grocery store, and the veterinarian's office. Mind you, they aren't finished yet. They'll be busy until late tonight and, tomorrow, they'll do it all again."

 

 

What if there is more than one Ross, and they own the same thing? Rosses', or Rosses's? lol

 

[Islander]

Nice setup, Coytee!  What’s the unit at the top with the two meters?

[Coytee]

12 minutes ago, Islander said:

Nice setup, Coytee!  What’s the unit at the top with the two meters?

 

Pioneer CTF 1000 tape deck.

 

I gave that to a friend of my wife's about 20 (?) years ago.  Come to think of it....  of the items in that picture:

 

Pioneer CTF 1000 was given to her friend

Akai RTR was given to my father when I replaced it with the Akai GX 747

 

dbx 100 (subharmonic synthesizer next to Pioneer)

Audio Control C-101 EQ

dbx 3bx

dbx 224

Yamaha CR-2040

EV Interface D's (in room but not seen in picture)

Were all given to my wife's nephew

 

Notice I'm using the word given a lot.....heh.

 

I replaced the RTR with an Akai GX 747 and later gave that (GX 747) along with (unseen in pic) Phase Linear PL 8000 (I think is the number) liner tracking turntable and two crates of LP's to a good pal of mine....AND, I loaded those in my car and personally delivered them to him in Ohio.

 

Some regrets....  mixed with some fond memories.

[Coytee]

Might add that in my beginning 20's, I was pretty tickled with it too.  Oh, and when in college, I think it took about six months before anyone on the floor knew what was in here because I/we simply kept it under control.

 

They did however finally piss me off with all the carrying on until 4:00 in the morning....(I'm an early bird) and had the gall to yell at us in the morning to keep it quiet....

 

So one day, I was heading home for the weekend, about 12 miles away.  Had a timer.  Set timer to turn on about 4:00 A.M.  or something like that...  put Dark Side of Moon on turntable, set needle down on the chimes, placed volume control around 1:00 and had timer set for 5 minutes, then go off.

 

I went home for weekend.

 

I had hell to pay when I returned.  Seems I woke the entire building with the two LaScalas, two EV's being fed/split 120 watts at 4:00 in the morning playing those bells/chimes on DSOTM got my point across.

 

Though the cat was out of the bag, they now realized that I know how to get my point across.

[Islander]

DizRotus, the possessive form of names ending in “s” does seem confusing sometimes, but as far as I know, it’s the same as any other name, like Francis:  “Is that Francis’s car that’s blocking the driveway again?”  “Is this Sis’s iPod?”

 

When it gets to some names, like when you call someone and his friend hosers, it goes ”Is that the hosers’ case of empties?”  Hmm, it looks like plural possessive gets “s apostrophe” (s’), while singular possessive ending in “s” gets “apostrophe s” (‘s), the same as any other name.  So, “Is this Ross’s book?” sounds right.  It is tempting to drop the final “s” in the case of names like Aloysius (Aloysius’s) or Greek names like Stroumboulopoulos (Stroumboulopoulos’s).  There’s a CBC Radio and TV personality called George Stroumboulopoulos, but he’s often called “Strombo” for short.  Compared with them, adding “apostrophe s” to Ross doesn’t seem that tough.

 

Of course, you can use any form at home, including nicknames.  Even outside.  There’s no Grammar Police.  As another member commented, we’ve got more important things to think about these days.

[Panelhead]

13 minutes ago, Coytee said:

Might add that in my beginning 20's, I was pretty tickled with it too.  Oh, and when in college, I think it took about six months before anyone on the floor knew what was in here because I/we simply kept it under control.

 

They did however finally piss me off with all the carrying on until 4:00 in the morning....(I'm an early bird) and had the gall to yell at us in the morning to keep it quiet....

 

So one day, I was heading home for the weekend, about 12 miles away.  Had a timer.  Set timer to turn on about 4:00 A.M.  or something like that...  put Dark Side of Moon on turntable, set needle down on the chimes, placed volume control around 1:00 and had timer set for 5 minutes, then go off.

 

I went home for weekend.

 

I had hell to pay when I returned.  Seems I woke the entire building with the two LaScalas, two EV's being fed/split 120 watts at 4:00 in the morning playing those bells/chimes on DSOTM got my point across.

 

Though the cat was out of the bag, they now realized that I know how to get my point across.

  Went in an audio store in Knoxville late 1973 with some college friends. Saw a pair of big Walsh Ohm speakers. The exact opposite of La Scala’s. We cranked them up. 

  Never got loud. So disappointing to see the much touted speakers in real life. 

[Schu]

The LAST thing I am going to do is put a piece of plastic on my furniture grade veneer... ever.

 

Maybe Acrylic,  but my choice is towards NOT doing it as opposed to doing it and saying it's museum grade acrylic.

[ClaudeJ1]

22 hours ago, jimjimbo said:

Interesting.  I sure would like to know more about this since I have late production LS IIs.

Well, Jimminy Crickets, I thought you only bought used classics! How does the sound compare to the older pro stuff you seem to favor??

[jimjimbo]

50 minutes ago, ClaudeJ1 said:

Well, Jimminy Crickets, I thought you only bought used classics! How does the sound compare to the older pro stuff you seem to favor??

I do have LSI splits which are amazing with Jantzen capped AA networks and a Fisher 500C tube unit.   But also other vintage original La Scalas in addition to the LS IIs.  I find the LS IIs to be tame compared to the "classics"....., meaning, that they sound less engaging and in your face.  However, even given that, they still sound very, very good in their own right, and they are completely stock.  The other LS have some pretty high end networks built by DeanG and myself, so in that regard perhaps direct comparisons are not on the same playing field....