Newbie with La Scalas

[w30bob]

Great posts guys........I'm learning, which is the primary purpose of forums......so thanks.  The whole discussion about what sounds better, this cap or that cap, seems to be the staple of the whole "Audiophile" hobby (industry).  I was pretty big into it in the 80's and early 90's, although I took most of what I read about this component being better than that component with each monthly audiophile magazine I read with a big grain of salt.  I was buying most of the BS until the Tice Clock came along and everyone started raving about a clock you plug into an outlet over on that side of the room..........making your stereo on this side of the room sound better!  Uh.....yeah.  Ok.  The crazies are now running the asylum......I'm out of here!

 

Right about then the speaker and interconnect cable nonsense really took off.  It was fun to watch the manufacturers keep raising their prices on cables, all the while probably laughing their asses off in their boardrooms making wagers amongst themselves as to when these "audiophiles" would realize the King's really not wearing any clothes.  Are there differences between pure silver multi-strand cross helixed interwoven binary wound $3000 a foot speaker cables and Radio Shack 12 AWG copper stranded speaker wire that sold for $12 for a spool of 50 feet..........man I sure hope so.  But if I couldn't listen to them at the same time in the same place (my place), should I really care? 

 

And then one day I had to get a hearing test for work.  I could hear ok..........but it got me thinking........I'm listening to and taking advice from what were called "Golden Eared Audiophiles" in the magazines.........and how did I know they were "Golden Eared"?  Where was the results of THEIR hearing tests???  I would think they should be on Page 1 of every issue, right?  I mean if you're being touted as having "Golden Ears" you must be able to hear better than me, right......and be able to prove it.....no?  Nah, you just had to be around music and music reproduction for a long time.  Except I got friends who've been doing that forever and they can't hear for shit.  Hmmm.........me smells a rat.  Anyway, it didn't matter.  Because I started to realize I really enjoyed listening to music in my car on my Alpine front end way more than I did listening to it on my He-Man audio rig in the house.  In the car I was jamming and singing and having a blast.  But inside I was listening for separation between the band members and layering of sounds, and soundstage depth, bla, bla, bla..........but I wasn't enjoying the music!  So I said enough was enough......tossed all my Stereophile mags in the dumpster at work, and just LISTENED to my music once again.  I really didn't care if the new Krell monoblocks have more air and extension than my Carver TFMs did.  I really didn't.  

 

Later after college when I had some bucks to spend I wanted to go back and revisit some of the things I lusted after back in the day but couldn't afford.  So I picked up some Apogee Cal Sigs.....and was blown away!  I could turn the lights out and Frank Sinatra was standing about 5 feet in front of me singing his heart out.  I could almost reach out and touch him.  It was spooky real.  So the Polk SDAs had a new permanent home in my closet.......and then a pair of even bigger of Apogee Duetta Sigs followed me home one day.  I'll never sell them......they're going in my coffin with me.  So maybe I was a bit hard on the "audiophile" community. So then I bought a pair of B&W 801s from a recording studio in Philadelphia, as they were the rage in Stereophile for a number of years.  And they ARE nice speakers.  Very nice speakers.  On wheels even.  I can roll them onto the deck for summer parties and they do rock the house!  So I'm putting my new La Scalas right next to them tonight in the living room for a quickie comparo.  Should be interesting. 

 

Which brings me to my La Scalas.  I'd always read about Klipsch speakers when younger, but dismissed them as incredibly overpriced PA speakers.  I was wrong, they were incredibly overpriced stereo speakers!  Well, "overpriced" might raise some heckles........so I'll tread lightly.  I realized there was a huge markup on speakers from way back, when I pried the top cans open on my Ohm Sound Cylinders and found the cheapest speakers and parts in there.......and understood why they didn't want anyone seeing what was in the top hats.  If it cost them more than $15 to build one Sound Cylinder I'd be amazed.  And they sold them for $300-$400 a pair!!!  OMG.  So when I looked at Klipsch I saw some horn speakers and sheet or two of plywood.......maybe $200 bucks if they paid retail..........and they were selling them for THOUSANDS!!!  My bullshit meter was off the charts.  But they've stood the test of time, and I was feeling that maybe I was missing something by not at least checking them out.  And that's what I'm doing now.  We'll see how it goes.........but at the very least I can check off "Klipsch Speakers" from my Bucket List...... Woo-Hoo!

 

Now how did I get here..........oh yeah.......crossover capacitors!  So here's a dumb question.  If people think they hear differences in capacitors made of different material or brands......why doesn't someone just build a switch box with a number of these different capacitors in there and switch between them while listening?  Why in Audiodom do we always have go take someone's word for what sounds better when they're relying on their memory? I know I can't remember shit from day to day, never mind how my system sounded last week with Capacitor A, vice this week with Capacitor B.....I mean really?  Hey, I'm not trying to piss anyone off, but being an engineer if I can't see or hear the difference in real time.........I NEVER rely on my memory for anything.  I would just think that rather than debate what sounds better, why doesn't someone just PROVE IT once and for all, and then move on to the next point of contention?

 

Of course I'm oversimplifying..........I make that mistake a lot.  But it's a forum......where we're supposed to ask questions and learn............so I'm just asking.  And even if my La Scalas don't sound that great..........they do look FANTASTIC sitting there!!!  But I got a feeling they're going to surprise me.  I'm going to go clean my ears now.........just to be fair!!  

 

Great replies guys..........keep 'em coming!!!

 

thanks,

bob

 

 

[dtr20]

29 minutes ago, w30bob said:

Great posts guys........I'm learning, which is the primary purpose of forums......so thanks.  The whole discussion about what sounds better, this cap or that cap, seems to be the staple of the whole "Audiophile" hobby (industry).  I was pretty big into it in the 80's and early 90's, although I took most of what I read about this component being better than that component with each monthly audiophile magazine I read with a big grain of salt.  I was buying most of the BS until the Tice Clock came along and everyone started raving about a clock you plug into an outlet over on that side of the room..........making your stereo on this side of the room sound better!  Uh.....yeah.  Ok.  The crazies are now running the asylum......I'm out of here!

 

Right about then the speaker and interconnect cable nonsense really took off.  It was fun to watch the manufacturers keep raising their prices on cables, all the while probably laughing their asses off in their boardrooms making wagers amongst themselves as to when these "audiophiles" would realize the King's really not wearing any clothes.  Are there differences between pure silver multi-strand cross helixed interwoven binary wound $3000 a foot speaker cables and Radio Shack 12 AWG copper stranded speaker wire that sold for $12 for a spool of 50 feet..........man I sure hope so.  But if I couldn't listen to them at the same time in the same place (my place), should I really care? 

 

And then one day I had to get a hearing test for work.  I could hear ok..........but it got me thinking........I'm listening to and taking advice from what were called "Golden Eared Audiophiles" in the magazines.........and how did I know they were "Golden Eared"?  Where was the results of THEIR hearing tests???  I would think they should be on Page 1 of every issue, right?  I mean if you're being touted as having "Golden Ears" you must be able to hear better than me, right......and be able to prove it.....no?  Nah, you just had to be around music and music reproduction for a long time.  Except I got friends who've been doing that forever and they can't hear for shit.  Hmmm.........me smells a rat.  Anyway, it didn't matter.  Because I started to realize I really enjoyed listening to music in my car on my Alpine front end way more than I did listening to it on my He-Man audio rig in the house.  In the car I was jamming and singing and having a blast.  But inside I was listening for separation between the band members and layering of sounds, and soundstage depth, bla, bla, bla..........but I wasn't enjoying the music!  So I said enough was enough......tossed all my Stereophile mags in the dumpster at work, and just LISTENED to my music once again.  I really didn't care if the new Krell monoblocks have more air and extension than my Carver TFMs did.  I really didn't.  

 

Later after college when I had some bucks to spend I wanted to go back and revisit some of the things I lusted after back in the day but couldn't afford.  So I picked up some Apogee Cal Sigs.....and was blown away!  I could turn the lights out and Frank Sinatra was standing about 5 feet in front of me singing his heart out.  I could almost reach out and touch him.  It was spooky real.  So the Polk SDAs had a new permanent home in my closet.......and then a pair of even bigger of Apogee Duetta Sigs followed me home one day.  I'll never sell them......they're going in my coffin with me.  So maybe I was a bit hard on the "audiophile" community. So then I bought a pair of B&W 801s from a recording studio in Philadelphia, as they were the rage in Stereophile for a number of years.  And they ARE nice speakers.  Very nice speakers.  On wheels even.  I can roll them onto the deck for summer parties and they do rock the house!  So I'm putting my new La Scalas right next to them tonight in the living room for a quickie comparo.  Should be interesting. 

 

Which brings me to my La Scalas.  I'd always read about Klipsch speakers when younger, but dismissed them as incredibly overpriced PA speakers.  I was wrong, they were incredibly overpriced stereo speakers!  Well, "overpriced" might raise some heckles........so I'll tread lightly.  I realized there was a huge markup on speakers from way back, when I pried the top cans open on my Ohm Sound Cylinders and found the cheapest speakers and parts in there.......and understood why they didn't want anyone seeing what was in the top hats.  If it cost them more than $15 to build one Sound Cylinder I'd be amazed.  And they sold them for $300-$400 a pair!!!  OMG.  So when I looked at Klipsch I saw some horn speakers and sheet or two of plywood.......maybe $200 bucks if they paid retail..........and they were selling them for THOUSANDS!!!  My bullshit meter was off the charts.  But they've stood the test of time, and I was feeling that maybe I was missing something by not at least checking them out.  And that's what I'm doing now.  We'll see how it goes.........but at the very least I can check off "Klipsch Speakers" from my Bucket List...... Woo-Hoo!

 

Now how did I get here..........oh yeah.......crossover capacitors!  So here's a dumb question.  If people think they hear differences in capacitors made of different material or brands......why doesn't someone just build a switch box with a number of these different capacitors in there and switch between them while listening?  Why in Audiodom do we always have go take someone's word for what sounds better when they're relying on their memory? I know I can't remember shit from day to day, never mind how my system sounded last week with Capacitor A, vice this week with Capacitor B.....I mean really?  Hey, I'm not trying to piss anyone off, but being an engineer if I can't see or hear the difference in real time.........I NEVER rely on my memory for anything.  I would just think that rather than debate what sounds better, why doesn't someone just PROVE IT once and for all, and then move on to the next point of contention?

 

Of course I'm oversimplifying..........I make that mistake a lot.  But it's a forum......where we're supposed to ask questions and learn............so I'm just asking.  And even if my La Scalas don't sound that great..........they do look FANTASTIC sitting there!!!  But I got a feeling they're going to surprise me.  I'm going to go clean my ears now.........just to be fair!!  

 

Great replies guys..........keep 'em coming!!!

 

thanks,

bob

 

 

To address your concern with caps, if you have the time, energy, and interest, do an A+B comparison yourself. Compare one la Scala to the other, put the system in mono and shut off one speaker and turn the other at once, go back and forth. Instead of soldering in the caps, just use alligator clips to connect the caps if you want to compare different brands of caps. Or just recap one crossover and leave one stock and do the comparison.

[Subway]

@w30bob said: " Now how did I get here..........oh yeah.......crossover capacitors!  So here's a dumb question.  If people think they hear differences in capacitors made of different material or brands......why doesn't someone just build a switch box with a number of these different capacitors in there and switch between them while listening?  

 

[w30bob]

Great video!!!..........Hey wait a minute.....that guy stole MY idea!!!  How did he read my post and make that video so fast........I was only gone 45 minutes!!  

 

Seriously, that was good.  And when I get to the point of considering changing caps in my crossover.....I'll do that!  

 

thanks,

bob