Four abused Lascalas need a good home - sold

[DizRotus]

New K33Es. One's already in the dog house.

[DizRotus]

It's not the same to describe it, but I had planned to take a picture of the two LS on the rear deck of my black Miata with the top down. The weather and time conspired against what would have made a great picture.

 

EDIT: 021415

 

Photo added.

Edited February 14, 2015 by DizRotus

[customsteve01]

Yuo did those good, Diz.

Steve

[TommyC]

Great Job! So what did you end up playing for them first?

[colterphoto1]

ohhhhhh, I'm digging the pseudo-industrial look. Very nice, and probably took about the same time as straightening out all the edges and corners. Very smart man, this Disrotus!

So tell us, what was the kids' reaction? How was the low end with them up high on the wall like that?

Michael

[DizRotus]

The kids will not get their first exposure until band class on Friday. The first thing I played was Take Five from Brubeck's Time Out. The band director was blown away. By accident, the new Thelonius Monk & John Coltrane Carnegie Hall concert CD was in the player. The band director wanted to hear that next.

To test the sound level heard in the room above, we played the Beatles' Back In the U.S.S.R at 100+ db. You could hear it all over the school, not just the room above.

Thanks for the kind compliments. They had quite a metamorphosis in only a week. The pseudo-industrial look was a time saver. The corners and edges would have taken forever to square up and make solid. I mitered the aluminum channel and angle and attached it with screws and black silicone sealer to prevent any rattles. They also protect the edges and corners from further damage. The kids who helped hoist them into position really like them.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

One kid asked How many watts are they? I explained that speakers dont have watts, but La Scalas play at 106b with 1 watt, and that they could tolerate hundreds of watts. He was impressed by the SPL.

[DizRotus]

So tell us, what was the kids' reaction? How was the low end with them up high on the wall like that?

Michael

The bass was what you'd expect. Not as low as when in a corner on the floor, but what was there was tight and fast.

We'll experiment with placement, but it's a band room not a home. It'll never be as good as a proper home environment, but it's way better than the Sony boombox they were using.

[colterphoto1]

Now EVERYONE will want to join the band, just to hear those babies! You are the new school hero!

good idea with the black silicone. Did you use a chop saw with metal blade to do the aluminum trim?

btw, how many feet of trim did it take per cabinet? I have a feeling that Jay might do his pair this way after seeing yours.

(ok, I HAD to figure it out- 20' the way you did it.) I like the divider between the mid/lo box- That really looks sharp!

If someone did the back edges too, it'd take 30 feet total to do all edges.

Michael

[DizRotus]

Now EVERYONE will want to join the band, just to hear those babies! You are the new school hero!

good idea with the black silicone. Did you use a chop saw with metal blade to do the aluminum trim?

btw, how many feet of trim did it take per cabinet? I have a feeling that Jay might do his pair this way after seeing yours.

(looks like about 18' of the angle, 2' of the flat bar for the mid/lo section divider.) That really looks sharp!

Michael

I used a manual miter saw that bought at Home Depot for $1.00. It was supposed to sell for $60.00+/-, but the box had been opened and it rang up for $1.00. When I questioned it, the cashier pointed to the tape, which read, "compound miter saw-$1.00." I argued no further.

The bottoms and sides of the bass horns are trimmed with 3/4 channel that fits all of the way around the bottoms and sides. The rest is trimmed in 3/4 angle. I'd have to do the math to figure out the total footage. Home Depot sells it in 4' lengths; I found a place that sells it in 8' lengths, so the cost/foot was more reasonable. For both speakers it cost about $35 for the aluminum.

[DizRotus]

If someone did the back edges too, it'd take 30 feet total to do all edges.

Michael

I thought about doing the back edges, but the budget and time were exhausted. If they weren't going to spend the rest of their lives up and out of sight, I'd have done the backs and sides too.

[colterphoto1]

Now EVERYONE will want to join the band, just to hear those babies! You are the new school hero!

good idea with the black silicone. Did you use a chop saw with metal blade to do the aluminum trim?

btw, how many feet of trim did it take per cabinet? I have a feeling that Jay might do his pair this way after seeing yours.

(looks like about 18' of the angle, 2' of the flat bar for the mid/lo section divider.) That really looks sharp!

Michael

I used a manual miter saw that bought at Home Depot for $1.00. It was supposed to sell for $60.00+/-, but the box had been opened and it rang up for $1.00. When I questioned it, the cashier pointed to the tape, which read, "compound miter saw-$1.00." I argued no further.

The bottoms and sides of the bass horns are trimmed with 3/4 channel that fits all of the way around the bottoms and sides. The rest is trimmed in 3/4 angle. I'd have to do the math to figure out the total footage. Home Depot sells it in 4" lengths; I found a place that sells it in 8" lengths, so the cost/foot was more reasonable. For both speakers it cost about $35 for the aluminum.

Okay, so you've got 6' of the U channel for the bass bin and 14' of L angle to do what you did. Another 8' of L would have done the rest of back edges. You did that pretty inexpensively- with a MANUAL mitre box, must have taken forever?

Did you know that that channel stiffens the side walls of the bass bin pretty effectively? Helps keep some of that famous LS low end from vibrating the sides of the horn and keeps it as sound energy!

Michael

[DizRotus]

Michael,

I didn't know that " . . .channel stiffens the side walls of the bass bin pretty effectively? Helps keep some of that famous LS low end from vibrating the sides of the horn and keeps it as sound energy!"

Makes sense though and sure beats this.

[Jay L]

ooh, me likey

i haven't even touched mine yet. i want to get them done so bad. []

[colterphoto1]

Are you guys gonna make me sorry that I sold them to you?

Nope, I'm glad that someone took them home and loved them and took care of them.

Sorry they're so beat, I hope you both think that the work was worth it in the end.

I just want everyone to have Klipsch and be happy and LOUD!

Michael

[DizRotus]

I always knew that no good deed goes unpunished. After repeated gushing praise for the sound of the La Scalas from the band director, I got an email stating that something is rattling in the left speaker.

Naturally, he isn't available to demonstrate the problem, so I arranged to get the band room unlocked by a night custodian. My 15-year-old son and I took every possible tool to address every possible problem.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

We fired em up . . . . . and they sounded fantastic. The Doobie Brothers at 100+db and no rattles. The drum solo from Diana Kralls, Live in Paris, track 7, Devil May Care also at 100+db; nothing but tight solid percussion. Neither my son nor I could hear a problem.

The aluminum trim was the first suspect. It was all still tightly secured by the silicone and screws; no rattles there. I opened the bass bin; everything tight as expected. Nothing was loose. Nothing was rattling.

Today I went back while the director was there. He put in this Paul Simon CD that looked like it came in a cereal box, cranked it way up and said, Hear that? Yeah, I hear that. The drum on that CD sounded like crap at low volume and now it sounds like REALLY LOUD CRAP. Garbage in and garbage out.

He didnt seem to be buying it. The fact that everything sounded perfect on good recordings, irrespective of the volume level, hadnt persuaded him that the problem was the CD, not the speakers. In an attempt to demonstrate what I was explaining, I pulled out Paul Simon and put in the Live In Paris CD, without touching the volume. With the volume at <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />12:00 Oclock, Paul Simon was loud and bad. At the same setting Diana Krall was extremely loud and still good.

Im temped to take my single driver rear horn project speakers over there to demonstrate that the crappy CD will sound bad on them too. I tried to explain that he will hear a lot of things that hes never heard before. Some good and some bad. Hes still loves the way they sound, except when they rattle when he plays that Paul Simon CD.

Patient: Doctor, it hurts when I do this (raising his arm).

Doctor: Dont do that.

[colterphoto1]

Sounds like the educator needs some eduacating. Patience there Neil.

Take that Paul Simon CD and smash it into tiny pieces for him. Do the kids a favor.

Michael

[colterphoto1]

any word yet on the kids' reaction? Or did I miss it?

M

[DizRotus]

The kids and the instructor think the speakers are awesome. They've enjoyed eveything from The 1812 Overture's cannon shots, Dark Side of The Moon and Take Five.

Now that he let me position them so the they are angled down toward the listening area, they sound fantastic. Even in that large space they are loud and clear. The kids are impressed more by LOUD than clear.

[DizRotus]

Bump, plus some text to avoid "Duplicate Post" slap on the hand.

[DizRotus]

The school uses and "loves" these daily. At my annual tweeter check I found the speakers to be great; the 70s vintage h/k 730 not so great. Soon it will be off to the forum's own dale_s for a total refurbishment. Fortunately, I just happen to have a spare h/k 630 for the school to use as a loaner.

Edited July 16, 2014 by DizRotus