DwK Posted June 12, 2001 Share Posted June 12, 2001 Whats the differences between the K-Horn Belle and La Scala? They seem to all have the same drivers. Could someone explain please? ------------------ Living Room: Yamaha Natural Sound A-500 Stereo Amplifier 2 Klipsch Heresys on A switch 2 Fisher STV-873 on B switch My Room: Klipsch Pro Medias 2 Fisher Surrounds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted June 12, 2001 Share Posted June 12, 2001 Boy, that's a question that begs for a long answer full of historical perspective, thoughtful reflection and a solid grasp of acoustic engineering principles. Having none of the above, here's a short answer. KHorn was Paul Klipsch's original claim to fame product (circa 1947ish). Fully horn loaded tweeter, midrange and bass drivers required miniscule amounts of power to make BIG! BOLD! ACCURATE! DYNAMIC! sound. The bass horn is a cleverly constructed, very complex assembly where an exponential horn is folded into an enclosure. It is designed to use the walls in the corner of a room as the final mouth flare of the horn, so it MUST be placed in a corner. During next few years Klipsch makes variety of products (several speakers , other audio products). 1963 the La Scala arrives. It uses the same tweeter driver, tweeter horn, midrange driver, midrange horn and woofer driver as the KHorn, but the bass horn is different. It isn't as complex, has only a single fold, doesn't extend as low in frequency, but doesn't require placement in a corner. It was originally designed for commercial PA applications, so is a bit, uh, utilitarian looking. 1971 and Belle is released. Belle uses the same tweeter driver and tweeter horn as the KHorn and La Scala, the same midrange driver as the KHorn and La Scala, a slightly different (shorter and wider) midrange horn, and the same woofer driver as KHorn and La Scala. Belle is the spousal-friendly version of La Scala. By using a different geometry on the bass horn folds, the cabinet is made a bit wider, but less deep than the La Scala (that's why the midrange horn is different - horn used in La Scala and KHorn wouldn't fit in Belle, is too long). Belle is finished to furniture grade and looks much prettier ( ) than La Scala. All have the same efficiency (VERY VERY HIGH). All sound a bit different: KHorn has WAY more bass than Belle or Scala; KHorn and Scala midrange and treble is as close to identical as you can get, while Belle sounds a touch different through those frequencies; all sound more like each other than either sounds like any other speaker. For more info check http://www.klipsch.com/helpcenter/history.asp and other related pages on this site. Ray ------------------ Music is art Audio is engineering Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DwK Posted June 12, 2001 Author Share Posted June 12, 2001 Very cool thank you. Learn something new every hour here ------------------ Living Room: Yamaha Natural Sound A-500 Stereo Amplifier 2 Klipsch Heresys on A switch 2 Fisher STV-873 on B switch My Room: Klipsch Pro Medias 2 Fisher Surrounds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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