La Scala Owners: What Kind of Music Sounds Best?

[Cathedral Guitar]

So I currently drive my La Scalas with a Boyuurange A50 MKIII, and I love the sound, but have gravitated to the genres of music that sounds best with this system, and I had previously thought this is what the La Scalas did best. However, I recently listened to A British Audiophile's review of the amp, and he said this exact same genre was what the A50 amp did best!! This being singer/songwriter, folk + folk/rock, acoustic music, sparse jazz. So my question is, givin the assumption that not all speakers are universal, and will do their absolute best work when focused on specific genres of music: which genres do you think the La Scalas do best? 

 

 

[Tony Whitlow]

So I currently drive my La Scalas with a Boyuurange A50 MKIII, and I love the sound, but have gravitated to the genres of music that sounds best with this system, and I had previously thought this is what the La Scalas did best. However, I recently listened to A British Audiophile's review of the amp, and he said this exact same genre was what the A50 amp did best!! This being singer/songwriter, folk + folk/rock, acoustic music, sparse jazz. So my question is, givin the assumption that not all speakers are universal, and will do their absolute best work when focused on specific genres of music: which genres do you think the La Scalas do best? 
 
 

LaScalas will faithfully reproduce any genre of music. Low distortion, low coloration, and high dynamics. They don’t know what genre you’re playing through them. If it’s well recorded they will sound good.


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[KT88]

3 hours ago, Cathedral Guitar said:

So I currently drive my La Scalas with a Boyuurange A50 MKIII, and I love the sound, but have gravitated to the genres of music that sounds best with this system, and I had previously thought this is what the La Scalas did best. However, I recently listened to A British Audiophile's review of the amp, and he said this exact same genre was what the A50 amp did best!! This being singer/songwriter, folk + folk/rock, acoustic music, sparse jazz. So my question is, givin the assumption that not all speakers are universal, and will do their absolute best work when focused on specific genres of music: which genres do you think the La Scalas do best? 

 

I think that the question of what music sounds best through the Lascala is also somewhat related to the choice of amplifier. I can understand that your choice of favorite music sounds very good with single ended tubes.
I also listen to my Lascala e.g. besides the kind of music you describe also very much like classical orchestral music, Piano solo, but also light rock sounds so e.g. old Steely Dan recordings. I have a KT88 pushpull amplifier. It may be less holographic than SET but it makes the Lascala sound very physical (also at moderate sound levels).

This is also one side of the versatility of the Lascala. There are speakers that do not work at all with certain amplifiers. But a Lascala can sound very good but different with different amplifier concepts.

[Cathedral Guitar]

I always thought that amps were more universal, and that speakers were more the character components, but the above mentioned review made me question that assumption. Reference CD of Steely Dan / Two Against Nature does sound great with the A50 / La Scala combo, but it is not really a dense mix, either. Solo church organ CDs are not as impressive. Difficult to tell when something doesn't sound great on the system if it is due to the speaker, amp or the recording itself.

[Zen Traveler]

9 minutes ago, Cathedral Guitar said:

I always thought that amps were more universal, and that speakers were more the character components,

Fwiw, I think that is true with Solid State  but tubes actually have more variance on the sound than than SS amps (if they are being driven within spec).

[yamahaSHO]

With a good sub, everything sounds good. 

[nickyboy6100]

I love La Scala’s with live music. Doesn’t really matter the genre. 

[Peter P.]

1 hour ago, Zen Traveler said:

Fwiw, I think that is true with Solid State  but tubes actually have more variance on the sound than than SS amps (if they are being driven within spec).

I personally don't subscribe to the belief that certain amps pair better/worse with certain speakers. If it were so, manufacturers would recommend such pairings in their factory literature as "highly recommended" or imperative.

 

Probably the biggest factors affecting speaker pairing with the music being played through them are the room's acoustics, the volume being listened at, and the frequency content.

 

If your system can't reproduce the volume and low end of rap, electronic dance music, or rock, you may have a problem. You'll need a speaker that plays lower or have to add a subwoofer, for example.

 

Personally, I think the LaScala's can handle anything but the low end just because that's their frequency limit. If your music doesn't frequently reach below them, you won't be missing anything, regardless of what type of amp you pair it with.

 

Now give me a minute to put on my Nomex suit...

[Marvel]

I've driven my LaScalas with a 300wpc amp for a huge dance party and they kicked butt, and used 3.5 watt SET amps at home and still excellent. Currently driving them with a 20-25 wpc crown SS amp and still sweet with rock and also superberb on orchestral music, bluegrass, jazz.

[Zen Traveler]

8 minutes ago, Peter P. said:

I personally don't subscribe to the belief that certain amps pair better/worse with certain speakers.

My point was that SS amps running within their specs don't color the sound as much as tubes regardless of speaker.

[Marvel]

Synergy can seem like a snake oil definition, but some gear just doesn't work well together. I've had things that work well together and things that don't. I probably tend to not be as critial as some and just like to enjoy the music. When it's good, I'm happy. When it's great... all the better.

[tromprof]

If your speakers sound better on certain kinds of music than others you are discovering the deficiencies of your system.

Every system has them but having been playing around a lot with big horns over the last few years I would suggest time aligning the drivers and getting a good sub (preferably a horn too).

Then it will sound good on all music. At that point it is easy to hear what an amp is doing/not doing to the sound.

[Cathedral Guitar]

For me, it is very difficult to distinguish between 'deficiencies in the system' and deficiencies in the recording, or even deficiencies in the original performance, in addition to knowing what the amp is doing really well, and what the speakers do really well. I will switch out the A50 for a SS amp and see if anything changes. I'm actually looking to be thrilled and enthralled by the sound, and not just ok. I'm not inherently a James Taylor fan, but his CD "October Road" is one that sounds phenomenal with the A50 / La Scala combo. Also, several other things in the same genre, like Suzanne Vega, "Songs in Red and Gray" and Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Mayer, Mark O'Connor "Appalachian Journey." What threw me is the British A50 review specifically called out this genre as a great strength of the A50, when I was always under the assumption that it was what the La Scalas did best.

 

Aside from this, I'm still wondering if anybody here has any thoughts on what music the La Scalas do best? Not just good, but what kind of music brings out the absolute pinnacle of the very best in them, bringing you to the Wow! state of euphoria. I agree with live music recordings, as something they really excel at, bringing the concert performance into your space in a powerfully convincing manner. So for me, it is not so much about the bass or lack of it. I think you can even generalize my question to 'what kinds of music do horn speakers do best,' as I really don't think they are universal.

Edited July 6, 2021 by Cathedral Guitar

[Shakeydeal]

personally don't subscribe to the belief that certain amps pair better/worse with certain speakers. 
 

Seriously? So you’d put a 3.5 watt 2A3 amp with a pair of Magnepan 3.7s?

 

How about a 50 watt SS amp with a pair of speakers that are 85 dB efficient with a minimum impedance of 2 ohms?

 

I could poke holes in that statement all day……..

[Zen Traveler]

I've come to find that horns in music sound better coming from a quality horn in upper-end Klipsch speakers, while otoh quite bright in lesser ones or overly reflective environments...That said, I feel more depends on musical tastes than what sounds best to everyone from a particular speaker. That's my take. 

[Zen Traveler]

10 minutes ago, Shakeydeal said:

personally don't subscribe to the belief that certain amps pair better/worse with certain speakers. 
 

How about a 50 watt SS amp with a pair of speakers that are 85 dB efficient with a minimum impedance of 2 ohms?

 

I could poke holes in that statement all day……..

Fwiw, I feel below is the most important factor in your analogy.

14 hours ago, Zen Traveler said:

My point was that SS amps running within their specs don't color the sound as much as tubes regardless of speaker.

I learned that the RF-7, which had a Sensitivity of 101 dB/ 1 meter isn't as efficient as the spec suggests because of the jagged Frequency Response Curve that dips to either 3.7 or 2.7 in impedance at a couple of frequencies above what you would normally send to the subwoofer. 

[CWOReilly]

It all sounds good to me. Well except maybe hip hop. That's what subs are for. I'm powering mine with an Onkyo M-504.

[Zen Traveler]

6 minutes ago, CWOReilly said:

It all sounds good to me. Well except maybe hip hop. That's what subs are for. I'm powering mine with an Onkyo M-504.

I remember getting in a debate on the AVS Forum about power requirements for driving a Klipsch system  with a few folks that was giving an OP advice if he needed an external amp...I ended up being amused in the end because I thought I gave good advice only to find he wanted it loud enough to be heard outside while he was gardening and listening to hip hop and had to agree an external amp probably would be good in that situation. 😎 Lol!

[CWOReilly]

6 minutes ago, Zen Traveler said:

I remember getting in a debate on the AVS Forum about power requirements for driving a Klipsch system  with a few folks that was giving an OP advice if he needed an external amp...I ended up being amused in the end because I thought I gave good advice only to find he wanted it loud enough to be heard outside while he was gardening and listening to hip hop and had to agree an external amp probably would be good in that situation. 😎 Lol!

Sounds like he needed and outdoor system. Why would you want to rattle everything in your house to hear it outside?

[ClaudeJ1]

18 hours ago, Tony Whitlow said:

LaScalas will faithfully reproduce any genre of music. Low distortion, low coloration, and high dynamics. They don’t know what genre you’re playing through them. If it’s well recorded they will sound good.


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Anything that doesn't have bass below about 80 Hz., which is most music.