LaScala Questions about Crossovers and Drivers

[Trinity3]

I have a pair of Industrial Lascalas that I am repainting(for now) and filling in the holes from the metal edge protection and corners.  I only undid the back panel on one of the speakers when I was buying them so after I got them home I realized I have mismatched crossovers.  1 AL and 1 AL-3.  I would like to find another AL-3 so I can match them.  The mid and tweeter are all K-77M and K-55M. Would AA crossovers work on these with the M drivers?  I just really would like to keep these all OEM parts or OEM approved parts if possible.  

 

Last time I had a pair they had Crites crossovers in them and a Crites tweeter and they sounded amazing but.  I really would like to just keep it OEM

 

Mods feel free to move to Technical.  I wasn't sure where to place

Edited October 22, 2023 by Trinity3

[billybob]

@Travis In Austin

[nickyboy6100]

The K55m are good drivers. I’ve had all the different K55’s and really couldn’t tell much difference between them. AA crossover’s would work great for your application. 

[henry4841]

Nothing wrong with any of the 3 crossovers IMHO with those drivers. All would work and sound great. I like the AA's myself being simple with few parts. 

[geoff.]

I own a pair of mis-matched LSI Splits, one came with the K-55-M / AL crossover and the other came stock with the soldered lug dual phase K-55-V  / AA crossover.

 

There has been discussion over the years, and still is on an “authorized vendor” site, that you cannot use the K-55-M with the AA crossover as it was not designed for it. 
 

The reasons originally proffered were the K-55-V rolls off sooner and has a dB less output at certain points in the frequency response curve.

 

Well, the Klipsch FACTORY INSTALLED K-55-V dual phase driver in the La Scala Industrials using the AA crossover runs just as high as the K-55-M, and it turns out the frequency response results were based on test samples of the K-55-M that do not reflect final production units. 

 

It appears “the data on the Mig is inaccurate”.

 

 

 

[OO1]

55 minutes ago, Trinity3 said:

  Would AA crossovers work on these with the M drivers?   

  very  similar   , 

[Bacek]

15 hours ago, Trinity3 said:

I just really would like to keep these all OEM parts or OEM approved parts if possible.  

If I'm not wrong 55m where used with AL crossovers and saw lat of opinions that if you don't have any then AL-3 best to pick/build. But for sure it's more expensive to build then AA.

 

[henry4841]

Lots of negative postings on the AL crossover over the years which if I am not mistaken started with Bob Crites, an after market seller of crossovers. I personally had and used the AL crossover on my LaScala's for decades and everyone that heard my speakers loved the sound. The circuits in question in the AL are the notch filters smoothing out the frequency response which was all the rage in the magazines of that period. Notch filters have been around for years and was nothing new at the time. Still used by many speaker systems. As far as K55M vs K55V, I expect nothing more than a supplier change for reasons only known by management. I am almost sure the response is really close to being equal and that it really has no bearing on the sound heard. Sure one will find subtle difference that really do not matter. You may have a dip here and there from the K55V with the K55M but frequency response really is not a big concern with modern electronic music. Someone with a trained ear using acoustic instruments could possible hear a difference in the frequency response from a speaker system vs a real quality violin let's say. Just how many of us fall in that category. From memory the old K-horns vary something like 5 degrees plus or minus from a flat frequency response. That is a lot compared to what other speakers were achieving in the 70's and 80's. Did that make the other speakers sound better. Absolutely not. On paper sure but as soon as one experienced the dynamics and live sound of the K-horn they never knew how music should sound. I have been using AA's replacing my AL's for years now and I love how they sound, not that there was anything wrong with the AL's. In a way I wish I still had them back for comparison. I actually have all the parts other than the old can caps and who knows. I may build them back one day. Not likely being I really see no point. Both can and do sound fantastic. Just different. Lot's of nitpicking of systems and parts on social media forums but let's not forget the big picture. The worse speaker system Klipsch has made will sound just wonderful.

 

For the OP, build the AA's. Why, cheaper and easier are two good reasons. And I guarantee they will sound wonderful. Why AA's vs A's. The delicate tweeter needs the extra protection in the AA's. Other than that I would choose the A's. I like simple circuits with few parts. Many find fewer parts sound better. 

[Deang]

Don’t run the AA with the EV drivers or the Atlas two piece phase plug K-55-V. 
 

AL-3 was the Klipsch upgrade from the AL. So why run the AL?

[henry4841]

Previous post deleted. But I honestly see nothing wrong with running the AA with the other drivers. IMHO the speaker system will still sound great. 

 

 

 

[billybob]

Respectfully, I don't think Dean was saying that. Good morning.

[henry4841]

I probably mistook what he said. Thanks for bringing it up. I agree with him that I would prefer building the AL-3 over the AL. I will delete some of my previous post. 

[billybob]

Thought your post was good. Sure Dean can take it.

I liked the AL also. Maybe he will have time to elaborate on what he briefly has said.

[hanksjim1]

2 hours ago, Deang said:

Don’t run the AA with the EV drivers or the Atlas two piece phase plug K-55-V

@Deang (or others) How about the 55G with the AA?  If not, why not?

[Trinity3]

Thank all of you for the info.  I'm learning a lot about these

[KT88]

5 hours ago, Deang said:

Don’t run the AA with the EV drivers or the Atlas two piece phase plug K-55-V. 
 

AL-3 was the Klipsch upgrade from the AL. So why run the AL?

I am wondering about not using the Atlas two piece phase plug K55V with the AA Type because it was available ca. in 1981 when the Type AA crossover was still in production until 1983?

[Deang]

58 minutes ago, KT88 said:

I am wondering about not using the Atlas two piece phase plug K55V with the AA Type because it was available ca. in 1981 when the Type AA crossover was still in production until 1983?

 

I don't know how to answer that. It was a transition period. Maybe the AL/AK series of filters weren't ready yet so they used what they had available to them. It's a question for @JRH Jim Hunter. 

 

 

[Deang]

4 hours ago, hanksjim1 said:

@Deang (or others) How about the 55G with the AA?  If not, why not?

 

It's a virtual clone of the K-55-M. John Allen told me to build AL-3's and AK-3's for that driver.

[Trinity3]

Are the Al-3's and AK-3's the same, if I found AK-3's for sale?  Or can the AK-3 be converted easily to an AL-3?  

[Deang]

On 10/22/2023 at 3:27 PM, geoff. said:

Well, the Klipsch FACTORY INSTALLED K-55-V dual phase driver in the La Scala Industrials using the AA crossover runs just as high as the K-55-M, and it turns out the frequency response results were based on test samples of the K-55-M that do not reflect final production units. 

Are you the original owner of your La Scalas? Do you know their entire history? A lot of these systems were abused and overdriven. Mismatched drivers and networks are common with them. It doesn’t help that people are being told it doesn’t matter what networks are run with what drivers.

 

I feel like you might be conflating issues on the last part of your post. I’m pretty tired, so I may not be getting what you are saying.