LaScala playing it's heart out, outside

[Coytee]

Couple weeks ago, I wondered out loud here about setting up my LaScala(s) outdoors during a visit by my father so we could crank up Ohio State marching band cds.

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Saturday, my wifes uncle (next door) was out of town, wife was at work and I was the only one around, soooooooooo, I took the opportunity to play a bit.

I lugged just one of them out. It was connected to my dbx BX-3/Peach, bridged to something like 350x2. It is connected to that amp via a 100 foot 12 gauge line (stereo stuff is upstairs and this speaker hangs out in basement so I ran long line so I could connect it all).

Set speaker outside as seen, switched the Peach to MONO and cut the other channel out. I then put cd into player and hit play. I cranked volume to about 1:00 (my guess is it was peaking at 150 or so but I dont have any REAL idea since I wasnt watching it that closely...it DID make the cooling fan on the backside of the amp turn on)

Ive got several different angles of this field to help show the space but let me tell you, I was AMAZED at what a single LaScala can do when its asked to sing.

If youve been to a stadium and heard the bands, the sound changes as the band marches around facing you then facing away from you. As the band stops playing, the sound still reverberates a bit longer in the stadium. This had all of those nuances. I walked around to various parts of the field and ended up listening to the entire cd, not just a couple tracks. The entire cd sounded great with one exception. Seems to me when you are in the stadium, the snap of the drums is more prominent than this put out.

I might want to point out that Ive got bone stock AA networks in there (circa 1980 or so) so if thats a factor then fresh ones can only make it sound better.

Ohio States band is all brass and might by irony, work better with the LaScalas since theyre horn loaded??

The sound was a bit lacking in punch in the bass, or, it might be more correctly said that the midrange was perhaps overpowering the bass a bit? Those trumpets & stuff were just singing their hearts out.

When I first thought about doing this, I was envisioning putting the speakers perhaps 20 feet apart (keeping them at house and not bringing them down to the field). With what I experienced the other day and just how WIDE and FAR this one speaker projected, I now wonder if I could have them one HUNDRED feet apart and still have it work in stereo mode. Every place I took a picture, the sound was great.

I sure dont know all the answers, this in part, created some more questions. However, it DID put to rest how will it sound and will it work. The answers are a resounding yes it will work and WOW, it sounds fantastic.... and this was with a single speaker.

I should have tried it with some rock/roll, or something else that has some more punch to it than the band did... been interesting to hear it.

Im sure my neighbors across the lake were loving it (those from Ohio) and others were hating it (those from Michigan) [6]

I am DEFINATELY looking forward to the next time I do this....

[Coytee]

all electronics are upstairs on the far side of house

[Coytee]

even at a far angle like this, it sounded great

[Coytee]

I sort of circled the field with camera to give idea of angles

[Coytee]

And from all these angles/distances, it still sounded great. Even places where there were clearly brances/leaves between speaker & myself it sounded great, the folaige didn't make as big difference as I expected

[colterphoto1]

That's a beautiful lot! I have all this traffic noise.

But yeah, I've found that the sound melds together at around 30 feet.

'The Hills are Alive......'

Next time take em BOTH out there, or better yet, buy a second set for the garage.!

Michael

[Coytee]

The field is sort of bowl shaped, perhaps that helped the sound a bit ?

[Coytee]

Thanks Michael..

I sort of got lucky. Wifes father bought 1,200 acres years ago (decades) and had a working farm that he piddled with when he wasn't doing dentistry.

TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) came along and "stole"everything but for 250 acres. So now, there are the three houses in the middle of a 250 acre (non working) "farm". Since TVA did the dams, we now have a lake surrounding the farm on 3 sides (yes, we are essentially, a peninsula.

Seems it is some prime development area now. Indeed, just 2 parcels away is http://www.raritypointe.com/ and they've been (buggin) my father in law for 10 years now about him selling them the farm AND our 3 houses (father in law, Uncle in law and us).

I'm mixed on him selling as I think he's talking too low price wise...then again, it's his land. Fortunatley for me, they won't deal with HIM on my house...they have to deal with ME and I can be a MUCH larger pain in the hiney than he can [6]

It's kind of strange, the typical home owner here has their life in their home mapped out, absent them deciding to move.

Me? I KNOW my lifes reality is going to change, it HAS to change because this land is simply becoming too valuable... indeed, even if my father in law decides to NOT sell it, I'm not sure we can keep it together when he passes and his estate taxes are due. This will surely be developed within my lifetime and quite easily, over the next 10 years.

Wife & family all have head buried in ground about this (including father in law) or perhaps I'm just a doomsayer... but just seems to me that there are big changes coming our way no matter how we slice the pie.

They all love the solitude about where we live, yet can not, or won't try to figure out a way so they can KEEP it that way until such time, they choose to sell/develop.

Sigh... lot of issues out here []

[3dzapper]

That is beautiful country. Looks like your dog found the sweet spot.[8]

Too bad about the prospect for developement. Is there a preservation society nearby that might "buy" the developement rights leaving the family in possession of the farm zoned as open space sans the three houses? That would be awin/win scenerio.

Rick

[colterphoto1]

Remember, once quiet is lost, it is lost forever. It is a treasure- you should consider yourself very lucky to have peace and solitude.

I can't find it anywhere. Lived on 130 acre farm previously owned by my great-grandparents. Life was grand for a few years until the Amish across the road decided to put in a buggy shop, then there were diesel motors, traffic, burning vinyl scrap, then the legal battles and abuse.

Went to vacation in the woods in Wisconsin, a 9 hour drive from Indy, Beautiful little cabin in a tiny family-run resort. Problem was a neighbor was violating building codes by putting up a 2 story home. Spent the whole week listening to construction work.

Even now on two acres in the city, noise interrupts my music listening inside my stone home.

I can't get away from it. Sometimes peace and quiet are all I want. Now I'm fighting it out with the leaf blowers- someone has to be running one of these noisemakers every evening of the week. Can't cook out without their infernal whine!

Three generations of my family went deaf by my age, maybe it was a blessing, sometimes I think I"m going mad.

M

[mark1101]

Coytee,

Nice space you've got there. The Heritage all sound great outside. I bring my speakers out doors every chance I get. You have the house as a rear sound deflector that really helps a lot. Two would sound killer. []

[kaiser SET say]

Exactly the reason mine say for the annual block party[<)]

Beautiful place by the way[]

I just came back from beautiful GREEN Tn[]

[meagain]

Coytee - I didn't read this yet but...

1. Did you check for nesting songbirds, hawks, etc? The sound might really screw them up.

2. Is that "lawn" I see everywhere? Have you considered making chunks of it more critter friendly for wildlife, butterflies, etc. with native plantings, or native shrubs? There are really cheap methods to do this if you have patience. Less maintence for the 'mower' person and you can still retain much of the lawn to keep that 'zen' look. What a raw empty palette you have there. Gosh - I wish I had a crack at that! Or - hell... hire a bulldozer and scoop out a pond. Slap a pump on it for circulation (no 'skeeters). I'm seeing egrets, herons, etc coming in for a landing. Toss in some waterlilies, lotus - boom.

3. I do not see one birdhouse or bird feeder. []

4. Don't sell.

[scott0527]

This should be posted in 1-Channel.

[Coytee]

Coytee - I didn't read this yet but...

1. Did you check for nesting songbirds, hawks, etc? The sound might really screw them up.

huh? lol, oh, you don't mean like stuffed inside the speaker cabinet, but nesting in tree such that the music might bug them... I admit, I did not.

2. Is that "lawn" I see everywhere? Have you considered making chunks of it more critter friendly for wildlife, butterflies, etc. with native plantings, or native shrubs? There are really cheap methods to do this if you have patience. Less maintence for the 'mower' person and you can still retain much of the lawn to keep that 'zen' look. What a raw empty palette you have there. Gosh - I wish I had a crack at that! Or - hell... hire a bulldozer and scoop out a pond. Slap a pump on it for circulation (no 'skeeters). I'm seeing egrets, herons, etc coming in for a landing. Toss in some waterlilies, lotus - boom.

It's an old pasture. Pond is located on other side of grapes, AND we have just on other side of hill, probably 1/4-1/2 mile of lake access. I mow field with my rider, looks a lot nicer when the field is cut. I'd LIKE to get a 15' finish mower and a 15' rotary mower (like they use to cut along highways) but do I want to spend $40,000 so I can cut someone ELSES property? As for hire a bulldozer, you can't see hidden in the woods, I already own a full sized industrial backhoe []

3. I do not see one birdhouse or bird feeder. [] You didn't look behind my house, we have couple birdhouses next to our recirculating pond/waterfall.

4. Don't sell. If it were up to me, I'd buy entire place...indeed, talked to wife just other day about trying to take a third of it down.

[IndyKlipschFan]

I sort of got lucky.

Understated line of the year!!!! "sort of" LOL>

Get the Klipsch KA 1000 amp and KW 120 subs... with those La Scalas... And be in heaven!!

Ask Colterphoto1 what he thinks, or look under subwoofers...

Colter finds bass! (not the fish!!)

[Tony Reed]

Next time, stick that LaScala in the "outside corner" of your house. It might make an improvement.

Tony

[meagain]

More pictures?

[colterphoto1]

Next time, stick that LaScala in the "outside corner" of your house. It might make an improvement.

Tony

Hey Tony, here's an idea- Take it all out in the driveway, pile it up, and TAKE A PHOTO!

It's really good back excersize (not)

Michael

[Cal Blacksmith]

Really cool setup! Hang on to as much of the property as you

can. The fact that it is all in the family helps; work out a deal with the

family to keep it together. With your setup, even if it develops all around

you, it will still be a really nice place, not to mention worth much much more

with all the surrounding development.

Ellen, there is enough un-developed land there for the wildlife that developing

the pasture to give to them is a lot of un-necessary work. After all, it took a

lot of work to get it to be a pasture in the first place!

City folk and country folk tend to think a little

differently about "open spaces"[] we live on over 3 acres and the wifes

brothers and sister are mostly all farmers.