Opportunity to buy 1993 Raw Birch La Sacalas-40 miles away for $1250

[LonestarBlues]

I am going to audition a pair of one owner 1993 unfinished Birch La Scalas Friday at 1:00 pm. They are about 40 miles away in the small town of Rockport where my 82 year old Aunt Reba lives. The guy actually lives very close to my Aunt. Is $1250 a good deal? I am always one to negotiate, cash money talks. The guy says they are in excellent condition, but being

the anal retentive perfectionist that I know I am. I am sure I can point out flaws/imperfections that a mere mortal would not see. Being a perfectionist is a personality

quirk obtained/passed down from my dad. It can sometimes drive my relatives crazy-perfectionist tendencies that I possess. But at least I know I am an anal retententive perfectionist and realize that nothing is perfect & can accept imperfection/flaws. The worst kind of anal retentive perfectionist is someone that does not know they are a anal retententive perfectionist.

What type of crossovers would

1993 La Scala's have? I need these La Scala's like I need a hole in my head and have not heard a pair since 1987. I would like Klipschorns but do not have the prequisite corners or room for false corners. I have read the archives of the difference in sonics between Cornwalls & La Scala's. I have a small harem of speakers-2 pair of Cornwalls-1977 & 1983, 1978 Bose 301's, 1979 walnut Advent 1's-same drivers as the New Large Advent-slightly smaller cabinet, walnut 1980 New

Large Advents 1992 JBL LX 55's-10" woofer, 5" midrange, 1" pure titanium tweeter-same size cabinet as a Large Advent, Opitmus Pro LX5's with Linauem 360 degree dipole tweeter & 2000 Yamaha NS 10

Studio Monitors.

I hooked up my 1980 New Large Advents to my Llano Phoenix mosfet/tube hybrid amp with Mcintosh C 38 SS preamp today. The Llano amp is 300 watts x 2 @ 8ohms & 600 watts x2 @ 4 ohms. Low efficient 89db Advents sound very different than Cornwalls but still sound dadgum good to my ears.

All Ears was the stereo shop back in the 1970's & 80's where I bought my Advent speakers from. All Ears carried Advent, Epicure/ EPI and Klipsch Heritage-the entire line. Chuck Galbraith, the preacher's son at my my church who was also my buddy was a part time salesman there when we were attending Del Mar College in Corpus Christi. All Ears had a main listening room and 2 smaller listening rooms with sliding glass doors. I always smile when I reminisce about Klipsch Heritage demos with K-horns-the big daddy, La Scalas, Belles & Cornwalls. They would make those sliding glass doors vibrate. We were rock n' roll db freaks back then-AC DC,Ted Nugent, Rush, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, Marshall Tucker, Blackfoot, Nazareth, Jethro Tull, Rolling Stones, Legs Diamond, Van Halen, Heart, Cheap

Trick, Aerosmith, Rory Gallagher, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, UFO, Max Webster, Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top & many others. I could not afford

Klipsch back then, even the Hereseys were too expensive for me. The Advents were a good cost/performance ratio speaker and looked good also in the walnut veneer. I am listening to the Advents as I type and still like their sonics. As we say in Texas-these old dogs can still hunt.

Regards, Mike

[joessportster]

yes 1250 is a good price, and i beleive the have al crossovers not sure if it is second or third generation though Joe

[3dzapper]

Most likely the crossovers will be AK-3 a very good vintage. If not at least AK-2s, fine wine if just little less sweet.

[colterphoto1]

just get em if it's a fair price in good shape. Can always resell. I'm picking up a pair of split LS industrials today in Detroit (4.5 hours one way) that I don't need either.

Michael

[marcophile]

Sounds like a fair deal to me. La Scalas on Ebay in good shape command that price or more. New LS today go for around 4k.... besides the crossovers can always be modified . You'll appreciate the open and full sound as well as the efficiency. Best purchase I ever made!

[jbsl]

With your tube gear those La Scalas should sound great!! I bought a pair of 2004 La Scalas ($3550) and I'm using a Caying tube int as just a amp with my Luxman preamp and love the sound but the upgrade bug is always lurking trying to bite me! So later this year I'm going to get a tube pre and monoblocks. Right now I'm going to try and win the single La Scala on ebay for my center channel.

Xman

[Woodog]

Since you are auditioning them on the current owner's equipment, realize they might not sound as good as they can.

When I went to get my khorns I knew they were good speakers, but if I hadn't known their potential and had listened to my ears only I wouldn't have gotten them. They sounded horrible at the time. Harsh, shrill, and too darn loud!

Just make sure all the drivers work without rattles and thumps, and if the cabinets are to your liking then that is certainly a fair price.

Forrest

[Frzninvt]

La Scala's do not use the AK series networks those are strictly for the Klipschorn's.

You must be referring to the AL series and they would most likely have the AL-3's in them in 1993.

[J.4knee]

Not wishing to plagiarize Nike....But . JUST DO IT! It is a good deal.

[Audio Flynn]

I would have to do it if they are pretty and not abused.

[thebes]

The Woo, as always, offers practical, sensible advice. Arf! Arf! He's to be commended. Listen to them, check them out and if not beat, totally abused, heavily modified etc. seriously consider it.

[LonestarBlues]

Well, I went & auditioned the La Scalas and bought them. They are 1989 vintage instead of 1993. They are in excellent condition, I went over them with a fine tooth comb visually inspecting them. I was impressed, Tim took care of these babies, they are one owner speakers and cleaner than Kleenex. They are Industrial La Scalas in unfinished Birch plywood, has black plastic handles on the sides. Black Klipsch badge on the front with white lettering, left side of the badge has the old PWK emblem. Crossover networks are enclosed. Serial #'s are 8997595 & 8997596. Has a 4 amp fuse on the back next to the plastic speaker wire connections. I know the Industrial La Scalas use the K-43E woofer. What crossover does this vintage-1989 use?

Tim was a very cool guy. We had very similar tastes in music-jazz,

blues, rock & country. He had the La Scalas elevated on a pair of unfinished birch cabinets he had built to match the speakers. They were approximately 2-1/2'-3' off the floor. He was running them with an Adcom 555 power amp-200 watts x 2, Adcom 555 preamp & a Sony mega changer cd player. Also had satellite radio hooked up to his system. The La Scalas sounded

good with the Adcom gear. I took pictures of my various systems, brochures and manuals. He was interested in tube gear, never heard any before. We b.s.ed about audio and music for around 4 hours listening to music. He turned me on to some music & I turned him onto some music we were not familiar with.

I went to Walmart and bought 2 king sized padded mattress protectors, a twin sized egg crate foam pad and some nylon rope. Tim

disconnected the speaker wire and we lifted each speaker off the cabinet. We set each speaker on a mattress pad-wrapped the speaker in the pad and tied 2 pieces of rope-one vertically around the top and bottom. Another horizontally around the speaker. Used the egg crate foam to put against & between the bedliner of my truck and the speakers. We loaded the speakers in my truck. Tim was actually a little sad about selling the La Scalas. He & his wife are having a new house built in Rockport Country Club. He is going to move to a home theater system and keep the Adcom gear for

2 channel listening. The La Scalas were too big for the new house. I made the 40 something mile trip home with no problems. Next door neighbor teen age kid helped me unload the speakers and I used a dolly to get them inside.

I have the Lascallas temporarily

set up in front of my 1977 Birch Cornwalls with the fabulous DeanG Auricap crossovers. Thanks Dean. I hooked up the Lascalas to my Welborne Labs Moondogies. They have been playing a little over 2 hours now and I am very impressed.

Me mucho gusto-I like very much. Been listening to the local NPR station. They had a program on Nat King Cole earlier & are now playing Latin Jazz. I am drinkng me a Tecate Mexican beer with lime & salt-good beer-my favorita/ favorite Mexican beer. Fixing to start playing some cd's & sacd's.

The physical size of the midrange horn is much bigger/grande on the

Lascala than the Cornwall. I pulled off the grill of my 1983 Cornwalls to compare. Practicing some of my Spanish words, this gringo is trying to become bilingual. Thanks for the info, help & advice.

Regards, Mike

[J.4knee]

Congrats on you La Scala score. I think 89's should have either AL2 or straight Al crossovers. I would seriously consider upgrading the networks especially if they are AL's. I did that with my 84's, I built ALK Kit A series networks and wow what an improvement. At 16 years old it is likely the caps have drifted off spec. You may also want to look at the squawker horns and if they are metal rope caulk or dynamat them that also makes a subtle yet significant improvement. However the thing you want to do the most is simply enjoy them.