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1988 La Scala going to visit Sunday


Orbit

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Hello,

 

Going to audition a pair of black La Scala on Sunday(is it La Scala or La Scala if referring to more than one?) 

They look to be in excellent shape and 30 minutes away.  My question is how much would you pay if you were without speakers at all?  Asking price on these is $2800.  I am in the mid west and do not see many around for sale.

 

Thank you for your time!

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1 hour ago, Orbit said:

Hello,

 

Going to audition a pair of black La Scala on Sunday(is it La Scala or La Scala if referring to more than one?) 

They look to be in excellent shape and 30 minutes away.  My question is how much would you pay if you were without speakers at all?  Asking price on these is $2800.  I am in the mid west and do not see many around for sale.

 

Thank you for your time!

These speakers are in Excellent condition , if not Mint ,  there are grilles covering the front , which were optionally installed ,  so they are an extra  cost item , the asking price is very fair considering the Exceptional condition  , 2800$ -

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I agree with @001, the speakers look to be in very good condition and the $2800 asking price seems reasonable.

 

Have a look at the "Garage sale" and "Alerts" section of this forum. That will let you see what La Scalas --- in a variety of conditions --- have been selling for recently. TLDR, the value of La Scalas has been going up. 

 

Don't discount the fact that the speakers are only 30 minutes from you. Even if you were to find a comparable --- but more distant --- pair for less, any savings could be quickly eaten up in shipping costs.

 

Here are some things that you might want to consider when you discuss price with the seller:

  • Ask the seller if he/she has made any modifications to the La Scalas. From the photos, they appear to be stock.
  • Although I tried zooming in on the photos, I couldn't tell what type of networks they have. If the La Scalas are from 1988, they are likely AL networks although it's possible that they could be AL3s (see https://critesspeakers.com/crossovers.html). The AL and AL3 networks aren't all that well regarded.
  • Ask if the capacitors have been replaced in the networks. Capacitors can degrade over time and it's very likely that 34 year old capacitors could stand to be replaced.
  • The black finish isn't to everyone's taste. If the cabinets were in a different finish (Raw Birch or a nice veneer) they might be worth a bit more.

If the networks are ALs and the capacitors are original, you might want/need to update the networks. This doesn't need to be done immediately; take the time to listen to how the speakers sound before making changes.

  • If you wanted to stay with AL networks, new Klipsch-approved capacitors are available and are easy to install. They would run a couple of hundred dollars. Other brands of capacitors can be had for less.
  • Alternatively, you could replace the networks altogether. New networks --- of many types --- are readily available. In my case, I chose to replace the AL networks in my 1986 La Scalas with new AA networks from Crites since replacement caps were about half the cost of brand new networks.

If I were in your shoes, assuming they check out OK, I'd try to buy them.

 

 

 

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Welcome and best wishes.

 

Offer $1,999, but pay whatever it takes, up to $2,800, to seal the deal.  

 

Make sure the drivers all work, especially the tweeters.  Stuff a towel in the squawker and use a tube from a roll of paper towels to isolate the tweeter output.

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Wow I am a bit taken back by all of the consideration and time put into your replies.  I truly appreciate the support and will be sure to heed the advice.  

This makes me want the cabs even more.

 

Thank you,

Greg

Edited by Orbit
Grammar
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3 hours ago, Orbit said:

 

This makes me want the cabs even more.

 I would go see these ASAP ,  from now until Sunday ,a lot can happen  , if anyone sees these speakers before Sunday  , they're gone  -

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1 hour ago, 001 said:

 I would go see these ASAP ,  from now until Sunday ,a lot can happen  , if anyone sees these speakers before Sunday  , they're gone  -

I agree. Don't wait if you really want them.

 

And if you haven't read up on them, and you've never heard them before,  I'd recommend getting as much info here and other places on them  if you're serious about them. I and many others adore them as is, but just as many if not more don't . And while there's certainly much you can do in an attempt to change how they sound, you should know about that, the effort to do it, and the cost.

 

 

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Sunday is the sellers first available day.  As long as they function properly they will come home with me that day.  I have no experience with La Scala.  I have owned a few decent receivers and tables but always had marginal speakers.

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(in all likeliness)....  get ready for a "WOW" moment....

 

If you're not wow'ed, then something would likely be wrong....(fried driver or something BUT, fret not, that stuff is fixable)

 

My money is on a wow moment for you.  Then bunches of annoyingly large, smiles.

 

Last, pay no heed to any of us, we're all enablers....

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The plural of La Scala is La Scalas.  If they’re La Scala IIs, that’s what more than one are called.  More than one Belle Klipsch are spelled Belle Klipsches.  That’s not official, but it looks and sounds right to me.  With just the first name, they would be a pair (or more) of Belles.  That is actually the name of someone important to Paul Klipsch.  He designed them to please his first wife, the dearly departed Belle Klipsch.  I’ve heard no proof of how she felt about them, but the rest of the story is true.  It was a centre speaker, between a pair of Klipschorns.  Presumably, she was very happy with the Belles, and so are the many owners of them, including me.

 

Whatever you call La Scalas, they sound great.  As for the black colour, there’s an interesting psychological thing that happens with them.  At first, they seem huge, and seem to dominate the room.  However, over time, they seem to shrink a bit, and gradually become just part of the room.  The sound remains as big as it did the first time you heard them, but the physically obtrusive size slowly becomes less obtrusive, and the more you like the sound, the more they become a welcome part of your home.

 

Am I imagining this?  Yes and no.  They’ll always measure the same size, of course, but you (and hopefully your partner) will get used to it.  I started a topic on this phenomenon some years back, and was pleased to have it confirmed by other happy owners of black La Scalas.  Sure, we’re all imagining it, but when it happens to you, you can feel secure in that others feel the same way about their speakers.

 

Of course, to help them blend in, you can put things on top of them, like lamps or pictures, but NO DRINKS OR PLANTS.  Your lovely speakers don’t need any stains, or if they already have some stains, well, they don’t need any more, right?

 

’Nuff said!

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 Oh my . . .  So this is what all the fuss was about.

  I do not have these dialed in.  I don't have the entire signal chain clean either but I am floored.  

I gave the 2800 and another 300 for a Technics SL-1200MK2 with a Shure M44g cart and two thick 30ft Apature accu-flow cables. With speakons.  

Nicest guy I have ever met from a listing.  He is tracking down two Plexi tops he had cut for them.

 

I have no idea what I am doing I just know I want more!

 

Thank you to everyone who nudged along this acquisition.  I have a difficult time coming of my money. This feeling is like the first day of 60 deg weather after a long winter.

 

 

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6 hours ago, Orbit said:

 Oh my . . .  So this is what all the fuss was about.

  I do not have these dialed in.  I don't have the entire signal chain clean either but I am floored.  

I gave the 2800 and another 300 for a Technics SL-1200MK2 with a Shure M44g cart and two thick 30ft Apature accu-flow cables. With speakons.  

Nicest guy I have ever met from a listing.  He is tracking down two Plexi tops he had cut for them.

 

I have no idea what I am doing I just know I want more!

 

Thank you to everyone who nudged along this acquisition.  I have a difficult time coming of my money. This feeling is like the first day of 60 deg weather after a long winter.

 

 

I know exactly how you feel.

 

Enjoy!

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