Ekaras Posted February 9, 2001 Share Posted February 9, 2001 Belle Klipsch vs La Scala? What is the difference performance wise? Somebody told me that a Belle is just a dressed up La Scala. Another told me that the Belle Klipsch has smoother mid and high frequency response. How is the bass performance of these to each other and how does it compare to a Forte or a Chorus. Any comments would greatly help me in making a purchase. Does anybody know where I can hear a pair in southeastern Michigan? Incidently how does the older Cornwall II compare with these. I currently own Forte II which I like very much, but looking to improve? Thank you in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm56 Posted February 10, 2001 Share Posted February 10, 2001 Can't help you much as I've never really A/B'd the two speakers, but I do know they use the same drivers and X/O, and have precisely the same performance specs. It does seem logical to me though, that they MIGHT sound a little different through the woofer range due to the slightly different cabinet dimensions. As for the cornwall II comparison, I'd say it would ultimately just be a matter of preference, but I would think most people would like the belle/la scala better due to the higher sensitivity and to the superior midrange unit. ------------------ JDMcCall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted February 10, 2001 Share Posted February 10, 2001 what is it you are trying to improve? do you have tube amps? getting ready for surround sound? sub-woofer (s)? having heard the Khorn, La Scalas (briefly) Heresey and owning the big old Cornwalls I can tell you that the other units are not so much obviously different as they are more of the same, a little deeper on the low end if it was me I would look for the same and bigger versions as front speakers, not switch but add on ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted February 10, 2001 Share Posted February 10, 2001 Belle and La Scala use exactly the same midrange and tweeter drivers and horns. Belle cabinet is different dimensions than La Scala (wider and less deep). Putting the same drivers into cabinets with different frontal areas could result in minor differences, particulary in off axis response, but the similarities will be much more pronounced than the differences. Doubt you would be able to identify which you were listening to by ear. Bass response is determined by woofer and horn. Woofer same. Horn different in construction but same in flare rate / rolloff. The La Scala horn is folded once, the Belle horn is folded twice. On paper, the calculations show identical sensitivity, frequency response, other parameters. However, there might be subtle differences at certain frequencies due to the additional fold in the Belle and the interaction of the horn geometry with the acoustic waves propogating through the horn. Again, though, both Belle and La Scala are going to sound much more like each other than either is going to sound remotely like any other speaker. Uh, think I said that right. Ray ------------------ Music is art Audio is engineering Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stig Posted February 10, 2001 Share Posted February 10, 2001 Da Facts on Belle and LaScala according to Klipsch: Belle uses same mid driver as LaScala but has always used shorter mid horn #K-505(current) and higher cutoff AB-2 network (current) LaScala uses #K-401 mid horn(current) with Al-3 network (current) (older mid horn #K-400 and older A,AA,type networks) That Belle IS a source of mystery, I'd love to see the plans for the folded horn..... anybody???? No flame intended, we all seek the answers. (and I hope I gave the right ones!) Stig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted February 10, 2001 Share Posted February 10, 2001 I have never heard a Belle, yet. I have 4 La Scalas. The Belle and La Scala use the same drivers and for most of their life used the same crossover network. The major difference is the squawker horn in the Belle. It is shorter and therefore has a higher cutoff frequency. Since the crossovers are most often the same, you can expect the Belle to have slightly rougher amplitude response around 400 to 500 Hz since her squawker operates nearer the horn's cutoff frequency. None of this is supposed to be audible, at all. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted February 10, 2001 Share Posted February 10, 2001 I have Belle's and enjoy them for the far more elegant cabinets and very nice sound , I previously had Forte's. I even thought of trading them for Chorus II's at one point thinking the bass response would be considerably better but the Chorus II's roll off at 39Hz vs 45Hz for the Belle so I stuck with them since the difference was not that drastic. I do use a 15" powered sub along with them too. I plan to pick up a La Scala to use as a Center replacing my KV-4 I found a single one in really good shape for $250. I would really like to get a pair of ALK crossovers for them, I have deadend the horns with dynamat and sealed the bass chamber door with butyl rubber strips, replaced all the old wiring on the speakers & crossover and added all gold plated spade lugs. I have also removed the brass screw from the tweeter inductor. They are Oak Clear with the cane grills, very sharp. ------------------ If it's too loud, your too old Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted February 12, 2001 Share Posted February 12, 2001 Ekaras, As noted by Stig, there IS a significant difference in the midrange horn and the crossover design between Belle and La Scala. (Even though I said that La Scala was deeper than Belle, the fact that the La Scala midrange horn simply wouldn't fit in Belle 'cause she's too svelte failed to occur to me... and I knew better, too, having poked around in both... Thanks, Stig!) They will sound very similar, but not identical. Hope you have the cance to listen to both before you have to decide! (And if you do hear both, let us know what you think?) Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm56 Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 This bb is the greatest! I've learned a lot about klipsch speakers on here. Some things I thought I knew turned out to not be so, as with the belle/la scala mid horn. I always thought they were the same. I was just going by the klipsch lit. that says they use the same driver. I never considered that the horn itself might be different. duh. -Homer McCall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q-Man Posted February 14, 2001 Share Posted February 14, 2001 I never listened to both side by side, but in my mind the LaScala has to sound more like the Klipcshorn. Like Ray said , the Lascala uses the same K-400 & K-401 mid, horn that the Klipschorn uses. If I had K-horns (which I do) I would use LaScalas with them instead of Belles. Q. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halfclue Posted February 21, 2001 Share Posted February 21, 2001 Howdy: I got some Belles last summer which replaced La Scalas. So far, the only difference I can hear is a little roughness at high volumes with the tweeter in the Belles. Bass and midrange don't seem much different. I still have the La Scalas sitting in the family room. I am going to be doing some testing with the drivers, etc. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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