Khorns vs La Scalas

[jacksonbart]

As good as they all are, I agree with the above comments.

I think as you step up the line you WILL easily notice a change in sound.

I've owned LaScalas since 1979, Khorns for several years and now the big plug uglies. I think each one sounds better than the previous and anyone who actually HEARS them with good ears and an open mind (oops, sorry Craig [:$]) would be able to distinguish a difference in a heartbeat.

If you are ever in my neck of the woods, you are more than welcome to hear my LaScalas, Jubes, or even "Jube-Scalas" (K-402 on top of LaScalas as a 2-way) and come to your own conclusions.

Dinner on me if you agree with Craig and dinner on Craig if you agree with me! []

[A]

Just don't pet his cat.

[bhendrix]

A little off subject, but after reading this post, I am really wondering what the best center channel is to go with KHORNS?

And if the answer is a La Scala, does anyone know of a single for sale at a reasonable price?

Thanks

Brac .............Proud new owner of 77 Khorns........

Here you go. No affiliation, yada, yada, yada . . .

http://cgi.ebay.com/1-Klipsch-La-Scala-Speaker_W0QQitemZ290173607865QQihZ019QQcategoryZ14993QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Arkytype]

I'm five foot thirteeen and my ears at the listening position are about 48 inches above the floor. Guess you could pretend the artists were seated when they were recording. :>)

[Islander]

For a gentleman of your stature, I would recommend either Klipschorns or Jubilees, assuming your room has a ceiling height of at least 8 1/2 feet. One could put together a chart showing which speakers go with which height of listeners. Simple, isn't it? (As if...)

BTW, Klipsch recommends that minimum ceiling height for Klipschorns. Does anyone know if there is a similar suggestion for Jubilees, considering that they're taller than Khorns?

[Bill W.]

Rooms with higher ceilings often tend to sound better due to the reduction of early reflections from the speakers. The better a speaker controls its coverage pattern, the less energy spills out to create early reflections. The Jubilee excells in its control of the dispersion pattern and provides outstanding coverage throughout the room with minimal energy available for early reflections. The result is a system which is less sensitive to a room with low ceilings or other less than optimum conditions.

[Coytee]

Bill.......... Dudeeeeeeeeeeeeee....

Where's the PICTURESSSSSSSSSSS

(and I don't mean pictures of refilled glasses of Rocky Mountain Tea!)

We need to get a good, juicy JubeChat going on... not had one in a while. I'm hankering to break some knuckles....

[6]

[]

[Bill W.]

Hey there Coytee,

We've been soooo busy! I haven't had time to do anything but work 16-18 hours a day since I saw you. Our competitors hate us....Guess why???

Talk to you soon

Bill W.

[jacksonbart]

Khorn wins with a TKO in the 11th round.

[NewMount]

Now that I've had Khorns, every time I'm in someone's living room, I look at their corners.

I have the same disease. One could call it "cornerspotting". I wonder of it's common among Khorn owners....

[IndyKlipschFan]

I have them both, so I can comment too. A K horn, without question, needs a ok to a great room size wise, position wise, to get great results... You just cant fake that.

I will say those of us with split La Scalas have tinkered some with putting the tops on Milk Cartons...(I know crazy)

BTW, it DOES make them sound better...

I am sure at some height from the lower doghouse..... it is too much, but my hunch why the mighty K horn sounds better is indeed the height issue, and that it goes a tadd bit lower was confirmed!

For those that can with their La Scalas, I suggest you do this too.

If you have a lot of distance from you and the La Scala.... you might not notice it.. In the real world where your 12- 20 feet back... You would benefit greatly, and I suspect those with the Altec horns where they flare up some this is where they feel they hear a huge difference and they do! If you use subs with your La Scala's, you may even check and see if you can tilt the front whole speaker cabinet up a bit to your seating position, you might be surprised? I feel this is even more important for those of us with compression driver/ horns too. ( e.g. the 401) Not so dramatic with Tractrix.

Look as a "old rule" of PA Speakers.....(I know, the lead singer in a rock band in his youth giving you advice... LOL) But if you can see all the way down the horn to that screen where the hole is... Your in the sweet spot. If your not... You missing something.. A La Scala top, tilted up a little in height, and pointed toward you... this will be a dramatic change for the good! Get crazy and use a laser pointer to re check where you are... Just trust me, it will be dramatic!

[IndyKlipschFan]

In a perfect sized room with good corner placement... And your in the right sweet spot!

The K horn will (should) win.. Most of the time it will... with most material...

==================================================

That said... for me.... Give me a great New Age or Jazz recording in wonderful stereo.. vocalist or lead instrument in the middle... clean recording.. hate to say it.... but the La Scala wins...

It should not.... on paper... But those with La Scala's know it (this) to be true too.

I never thought this could be reality ... And in my situation my K horns upstairs do have that wow factor....but placement is not ideal..

Now in my theater... where I never thought I would "listen" to music.. seated, and sometimes close my eyes... just listening.... The La Scala's are better than the K horns image wise.

OK, Have I confused you yet enough?

Put it this way.... People say, "Roger, do you have the center channel on??? And they SWEAR IT IS... in 2 channel... They walk up to check and hear it ( I do it too sometimes it is really nuts!!) but it is not.. Go back to sit down and scratch their heads... It is just perfect and sure sounds like it is! Placement in that room is just amazing, you can close your eyes and know exactly where people are on that imaginary stage before you..

[gaspr]

Roger, I suspect that you have acoustical treatments in the

Lascala room and that is why the imaging is so much better...no

refections to confuse the image.

[IndyKlipschFan]

Gaspar... I do..and it shows..

But the effect... if you ever get to this point.. And I mean it too.... is AMAZING!!

[Islander]

La Scalas can image surprising well. My mom was in town for a visit last month and I told her that I could tell whether a piano player was facing toward or away from me, depending on whether the bass keys were toward the left or the right side of the soundstage. She thought I was imagining things, but when some music was playing a couple of days later, she said to me, "That piano player is facing us. You weren't kidding!"

Of course, not all music is recorded so that the performers are so clearly located, but with some recordings the effect is very realistic.

[DrWho]

Another consideration is the K-400 horn in the Klipschorn will have fewer cabinet edge diffraction anomalies because it has more "loading" around it compared to the La Scala. Look at the La Scala link and note the amount of wood surrounding the K-400 midrange horn. Now click on the Klipschorn link from that page and note that by looking thru the grill cloth you can see the increased solid surface surrounding the Klipschorn's K-400 horn.

Whether there is a direct correlation between "more" or "fewer" diffraction anomalies and "worse" or "better" sound is a subject for objective measurement and subjective listening.

In addition to the baffle diffraction issues, the K400 also has an undersized mouth and therefore doesn't load as well at the lower frequencies when not in a baffle. I suppose in a way the concept is overlapping with the physics behind diffraction, but the point is that the K400 also loads better on the Khorn than the lascala.

[IndyKlipschFan]

Here is the top sections up a little... before I towed in everything including the bottoms too... Next to the THX subs..

Note this was before the professional insulation job..LOL

This is all behind a black skrim...... so sound passes, but you never see it this way.

Everything is black up front, except for the screen obviously...

[IndyKlipschFan]

so afterwards...

[IndyKlipschFan]

or

[BE36]

Digging up an old post here since I will have a similiar geomtry.

Are the Tops angled more than the Bass Bins?

How many inches are the Bass Bins from the side wall?

[garyrc]

• On "fastness" ... My Khorns were faster in tne bass in our former house, which had rock solid walls and floor, i.e., corners. In the current house with 5/8 sheetrock over 16" O.C. studs, the walls are "floppier" and the Khorns sound not as fast. The front wall -- which passed inspection -- can be felt to move back and forth during heavy bass at high SPL, if you put your hand on it. We are currently re-doing the room, and we will have rock solid walls once again. We shall see ... I'll report back about October/November.
• The Khorns may be "voiced" differently, since there is more lower bass to balance. I suspect that my 1982 Khorns had the treble turned up a bit compared to the AK4 Khorn upgrade I now have. Our Belle, too, seems to have very slightly lower K-77 levels than the 1982 Khorn, but of course the tweeter is lower, and below ear level. Stereophile, in an otherwise rave review of the La Scala II, described the treble as "reticent." Once again, that tweeter is bellow ear level (and the Khorn tweeter very slightly above).