La Scala I vs. Cornwall III question

[Tom_E]

Is the La Scala I much better than the Cornwall III ?

I guess the answer is "Hell yeah!", but just want to hear your humble review of the 2 speakers.

[cjgeraci]

Wow, as usual, this should be interesting.

Are you sure that you don't mean the LaScala II v. Cornwall III?

Carl.

[Tom_E]

I read that a distributer had a speciall offer on the La Scala I. And i saw that the price of the La Scala I's and the Cornwall III's were the same.

So, i think i mean La Scala I, hehe.

[ClaudeJ1]

Get some standard "test music" IOW, your favorite and let your ears dicide. Otherwise, it's not a valid question.

[Mike Lindsey]

Well I believe they stopped making the I a few years ago, and currently only manufacture the II's. I thought the II's retailed for $5500 and the CW III's for $3500 US. You will get a mixed bag of responses here, but I own modified La Scala's and stock CW II's, and I much prefer the La Scala's in my room, with my equipment. YMMV...

Mike

[Tom_E]

Yeah, i thought it might be a difficult and stupid question. Why i ask, is because the LaScala II's is listed twice as expensive as the cornwall III's, soi thought that LaScalas is a more expensive and better speaker.

But as you say, i'll just take a road trip some day and listen to both the LaScala's and CW's and make up my mind.

[Groomlakearea51]

Get some standard "test music" IOW, your favorite and let your ears dicide. Otherwise, it's not a valid question.

Claude's right, test with music that you know and have heard before. I have preferences for certain types of music for either the LaScala's, or the Cornwalls. Both are "stock" at the moment, but have new caps, etc. Rock & Roll - Cornwall (that's just me), vocals/ classical, I like the LaScalas. It's going to be a compromise at some point. If you have a chance, also listen to the Klipschorns. That may also help out.

How's the weather in your area (Oslo, Stavanger, etc., where are you located; been to Norway a long time ago) Should be cooling off by now!![H]

[pauln]

The last of the USA La Scalas "type I" was 2005, but I think they still make them for export only.

[Tom_E]

Get some standard "test music" IOW, your favorite and let your ears dicide. Otherwise, it's not a valid question.

Claude's right, test with music that you know and have heard before. I have preferences for certain types of music for either the LaScala's, or the Cornwalls. Both are "stock" at the moment, but have new caps, etc. Rock & Roll - Cornwall (that's just me), vocals/ classical, I like the LaScalas. It's going to be a compromise at some point. If you have a chance, also listen to the Klipschorns. That may also help out.

How's the weather in your area (Oslo, Stavanger, etc., where are you located; been to Norway a long time ago) Should be cooling off by now!![H]

Thanks for the tips guys.

Yeah, it's not exactly warm in the evnings/nights(i live 1 hour south of Oslo). Some evnings its down to 5 degreeds ceclius.

But today it was t-shirt weather in the middel of the day.

How's the weather over there?

[Tom_E]

The last of the USA La Scalas "type I" was 2005, but I think they still make them for export only.

Let me ask a new question; what is the differense between La Scalas I and II?

And is it worth the double price tag in the II's?

[Groomlakearea51]

Yeah, it's not exactly warm in the evnings/nights(i live 1 hour south of Oslo). Some evnings its down to 5 degreeds ceclius.

But today it was t-shirt weather in the middel of the day. How's the weather over there?

Well.... It was only 92 degrees (33.3 Celsius). But then I'm in south central Florida (Okeechobee/ Fort Pierce area). But it's cooling off!!![ip]

[Tom_E]

Yeah, it's not exactly warm in the evnings/nights(i live 1 hour south of Oslo). Some evnings its down to 5 degreeds ceclius.

But today it was t-shirt weather in the middel of the day. How's the weather over there?

Well.... It was only 92 degrees (33.3 Celsius). But then I'm in south central Florida (Okeechobee/ Fort Pierce area). But it's cooling off!!![ip]

God... Let me move to Florida! I can work with about anything! Maby open up a Klipsch store.[*-)]

[Daddy Dee]

Tom,

Come on! Florida needs a good Klipsch store.

Regarding LaScala I vs Cornwall III.... The LaScala is a fully horn loaded speaker and sounds VERY good to my ears. The Cornwall has a horn mid and tweeter and a direct radiator 15 inch woofer. The sound of horn loaded bass is actually less distorted than a direct radiator woofer. However, the size of the bass horn in the LaScala cab limits bass extension somewhat. Some folks find the La Scala bass shy. Heavy bass folks are more likely to prefer the Cornwall. When I had LaScalas I loved them and really got happy with them when I supplemented the bass extension with a sub.

The LaScala II has a much heavier and stiffer bass bin and does a better job on bass than the original LaScala. Cosmetically the LaScala II is much more elegant (than the original LaScala) and the HF unit can be lifted off the bass bin. Is the LaScala II worth the difference in price? The answer to that question is completely subjective. I'd say it's worth it, if one has the money. []

[Tom_E]

Tom,

 Come on! Florida needs a good Klipsch store.

Regarding LaScala I vs Cornwall III.... The LaScala is a fully horn loaded speaker and sounds VERY good to my ears. The Cornwall has a horn mid and tweeter and a direct radiator 15 inch woofer. The sound of horn loaded bass is actually less distorted than a direct radiator woofer. However, the size of the bass horn in the LaScala cab limits bass extension somewhat. Some folks find the La Scala bass shy. Heavy bass folks are more likely to prefer the Cornwall. When I had LaScalas I loved them and really got happy with them when I supplemented the bass extension with a sub.

The LaScala II has a much heavier and stiffer bass bin and does a better job on bass than the original LaScala. Cosmetically the LaScala II is much more elegant (than the original LaScala) and the HF unit can be lifted off the bass bin. Is the LaScala II worth the difference in price? The answer to that question is completely subjective. I'd say it's worth it, if one has the money. []

 

Thanks, uhm, Daddy, for your excelent answer!

It was this kind of detailed answer i was looking for. Now i am beginning to understand the difference between theese two speakers.

I'll open a store if the Klipsch forum promise to become regular customers!

[pauln]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

I find it hard to justify making the sides thicker after 40 years of the way they were; sounds like a marketing solution searching for a non existant problem to advertise as "fixed". I'm sure there is no difference in sound until one puts dozens of watts into it - I have never put more than one half watt through mine. Also, the new networks in the big Klipsches are designed to sound right at higher power and don't sound as clear as the old type A network at moderate volumes. Since the contributary cost of the new networks is about one quarter the price of the speaker it is a shame to upgrade it unless you can sell the old networks (I did).

I bought the 2005 La Scalas quickly upon first hearing about the LS II. I was afraid Klipsch would goof up a classic speaker needlessly and was
afraid Klipsch would stop offering the originals after releasing the La Scala
II, which I personally think is a rather homely looking speaker. I know they tried to do what they thought of as prettying up the plain old La Scala, but I have always thought the original La Scalas were the very statement of elegance. The LS II looks butched and clumbsy to my tastes, but that's just my subjective impression. I think most here veiw it as an upgraded appearance and performance.

Don't know a thing about the CW III, but I have heard the original CWs and thought the bass was too loud and the mids no better than the Heresy.

[Coytee]

I think they still make them for export only.

I second that understanding.

I own some regular LaScalas and I pump more than a couple watts through them. My experience would side on the "fact" (opinion?) that they indeed DID have a side wall resonating issue and the LaScala II's greatly tamed it.

When I heard the LaScala II a year ago in Hope, it took me about 4 nano seconds to conclude that they added an entire octave to the bass output (just making a point, I didn't really think they added an entire octave).

For me, it was a dramatic improvement in the bass department. Furthermore, I was talking to one of the bigwigs down there (I belive it was Jim Hunter) and he told me that I could achieve either the same or substantially similar sound if I were able to tame MY sidewalls. His point was the real output of the speakers is about the same but the sidewalls on the II's was the main difference and if I could beefen mine up, I'd have a similar improvement in sound.

[pauln]

There have been many thoughtful discussion of the low end response of the La

Scalas, most agreeing that the geometry of the horn establishes a low end cut

off and frequencies below that cutoff are more produced by the woofer acting

less via the horn and more as a direct radiator - with less volume as the

direct radiator continues to roll off with lowering frequency.

If the assumption is that the vibration of the sidewalls does absorb some of

the energy that would otherwise contribute to the volume, the benefit of

stiffer walls seems that it would act by absorbing less energy than the thinner

walls. But both the thick and thin walls are absorbing energy from the same

initial conditions of the La Scala frequency response and it's innate

limitations in the low end.

Therefore, I don't think that the thicker walls can actually add deeper

response that is not there in the first place; they can only attenuate less in

comparison to the thinner walls. The way I see it, if the thicker walls make a

difference to the volume, it can only do so for low frequencies that the La

Scala actually produces - the thicker walls cannot actively produce deeper

frequencies than are being generated from the driver. The thicker walls can

only "do less harm" to frequencies that are already present in the

driver response. The thicker walls can only better support the frequencies that

are already there, not adding more low end.

But the question is really how it sounds with thicker walls compared to thinner

walls. If the thicker walls do less harm to the low end the relative balance of

the low and high sounds will shift a bit to the low end and may very well sound

like the speaker has an improved low end. Especially at higher volumes the

thicker walls may allow for the punch and kick of mid bass impact sounds to

have a firmer leading edge and a little more volume, but this is not the same

as claiming a deepening of the frequency response below what the speaker can

produce with thin walls.

I think that for moderate listening levels the difference would be hard to

hear. For SET listening I am convinced there is no need to have thicker walls.

Klipsch has historically make changes in their speakers to accommodate users'

listening levels sometimes at the expense of performance at lower levels. A

modern trend among some Klipsch users is to play much louder than was

considered appropriate in the past when the speakers were originally designed.

Some of the Dope From Hope letters address PWK's recognition that the volumes

and amp powers had increased to absurdly high levels. Perhaps the thicker

walled version of the La Scalas is meant to address higher listening levels, as

is the latest version of the network.

Demonstrations of speakers usually focus on spectacular high volume

performance, often much louder than would be employed in the home for actual

listening to music at natural levels. An important question would be; at what

level of volume does the "less harm" advantage of the thicker walls

begin to emerge and present it's benefits to the listener, and is that level commensurate with home

listening levels? I'm guessing that the thick wall advantage begins to kick in

when the levels get up to at least a dozen or so watts - probably 20dB higher

than I ever go.

Just the rambling thoughts of one who has always thought most speakers have too much bass... and no personal experience with the La Scala II.

[Coytee]

one who has always thought most speakers have too much bass...

Now I know why I like you...opposites attract!

I think you probably nailed it on the head (does less harm) and made the point far more eloquently than I could have.

As for "most speakers have too much bass".... welllllllllllllllllllllll, you're still ok!

[Audio Flynn]

Tom,

Come on! Florida needs a good Klipsch store.

Regarding LaScala I vs Cornwall III.... The LaScala is a fully horn loaded speaker and sounds VERY good to my ears. The Cornwall has a horn mid and tweeter and a direct radiator 15 inch woofer. The sound of horn loaded bass is actually less distorted than a direct radiator woofer. However, the size of the bass horn in the LaScala cab limits bass extension somewhat. Some folks find the La Scala bass shy. Heavy bass folks are more likely to prefer the Cornwall. When I had LaScalas I loved them and really got happy with them when I supplemented the bass extension with a sub.

The LaScala II has a much heavier and stiffer bass bin and does a better job on bass than the original LaScala. Cosmetically the LaScala II is much more elegant (than the original LaScala) and the HF unit can be lifted off the bass bin. Is the LaScala II worth the difference in price? The answer to that question is completely subjective. I'd say it's worth it, if one has the money. []

Yeah what DD said!

It is all too subjective. Worst Klipsch heritage demo I heard was with Cornwall I, other forum memebers are quite pleased with them.

Definitely hard to find a well prepared demo room with "folded horns" in USA let alone in Norway.

[Tom_E]

 

Yeah what DD said!

It is all too subjective. Worst Klipsch heritage demo I heard was with Cornwall I, other forum memebers are quite pleased with them.

Definitely hard to find a well prepared demo room with "folded horns" in USA let alone in Norway.

 

I can tell you that it's hard to find a company who can providfe a demo, period.

No one in a 1000 mile radius can give me a demo of the heritage systems. But the importer of Klipsch in Norway said that i could call them a little later on, and they would give me an "exclusive demo", even though they don't have a shop, just a office. That's what i call a nice importer!