My "new" Lascalas

[Ray_pierrewit]

I posted here for the first time a few weeks ago asking what to
look(out) for in a used pair of Lascalas. Thanks for the advice, I went
and checked them out today and am now the owner of a pair of fine
looking (albeit huge) speakers in my living/listening room! I was
surprised to see that they were in really good shape, given the
presumed age of the units. The black cabinets have a few white scuffs
and a few minor (<1/2") dings. The corners are all nice and sqare,
if only I could convince my live-in girlfriend that they are a beutiful
piece of audio design history... she insists that the only thing
missing is a naked lady dancing around a pole to make them look natural
in our home (I offered to buy her a pole, apparently that wasn't funny)

I've got a few questions to ask you all...

First,
if someone would be kind enough to estimate their age or model(?). The
serial numbers are sequential, LS-BB 4N891(892) and the tweeters are K
77 and the squawkers are K 55V (round magnets), I haven't looked at the
woofers but they seem to both be working fine, the horns are metallic
and the cabinet finish is matte black, the crossovers are AA.

Secondly,
the floors in my house are parquet wood, and the people who installed
them weren't the best... they wobble (aren't perfectly level and flat).
Should I consider placing a piece of rug or something underneath the
cabinets; spikes, bricks, innertubes (I'm joking) or anything?

Third,
is it possible (or reasonably easy) to retrofit a grill (much like the
newer Lascala IIs) over the top 1/3 of the speakers? Does anyone have
instructions or advice for someone who wants to undertake that mod?

Forth,
as far as long-term modifications go (over several months/years), what
should be the order of things (upgrading crossovers, changing woofer
drivers, changing internal wiring etc...)?

That's it for now, I'm looking foward to following this forum and hopefully one day helping others like me out!

dna

[stormin]

she insists that the only thing missing is a naked lady dancing around a pole to make them look natural in our home (I offered to buy her a pole, apparently that wasn't funny)

LMAO!

Congrats!

[nomad02rider]

Congrats on the new speakers, you are going to love them. The N in the serial number indicates that they are 1975. Listen to them for awhile before any mods. After you know how they sound you will probably want to freshen up the capacitors. Some change tweeters and or M.F. horns. Many options to chose from. My Belles have a small piece of carpet under them to facilatate moving them. Recently I aquired a Scott tube amp rebuilt and upgraded by Craig at NosValves and I couldn't be happier with it. I thought it brought out the best in my Klipsch. Some prefer tubes others SS, it's all good. Good luck and enjoy!

[dtel]

LaScalas and a pole, ahh I can see it now [Y] what more could you want ? 2 poles ! []

Nice speakers, girlfriends come and go, speakers are forever !

[Islander]

First, your speakers are 1975 models. LS-BB indicates La Scala, Black Birch. If they wobble on your floor, definitely find something to level them with. You wouldn't want the cabinets to begin to warp. As well, they won't sound their best if they're unstable.

As for grille cloth, there are a couple of ways to go. You can make up a frame and attach cloth to it for a late-model stock appearance, or remove the midrange horns and attach grille cloth from the back and then re-install the horns. Putting grille cloth over the tweeters can give a muffled sound. Lots of owners change the appearance of their speakers and are happy with the results.

As for your girlfriend's grumbles, La Scalas, especially black ones, seem to get smaller over time. They continue to sound great, but become less obtrusive. It's not just me, other forum members have said the same thing. When watching a movie with the lights dimmed, they almost disappear.

As for updates and mods, replacing the old (and no longer top-performing) capacitors is a fairly simple soldering job and is not too expensive. Replacing the tweeters with BEC's CT125s will improve clarity as well, but if they sound fine to you now, there's no need to rush out and buy new parts. Enjoy the music!

[G.Kennedy]

I have only had mine for a few months and let me tell you ..... the sound that comes out of them is so sweet, the size becomes irrelevant.  As far as mods go ... just listen to them for a bit.  The AA crossovers are great, if you are handy with a soldering iron, get some replacemen caps from BEC on this forum.  Yours are old and probably not working at 100%.  Your drivers are perfect, if they are working, keep 'em. No need to upgrade those.

What kind of amp are you running ... what kind of tunes do you play????

Here's my "small" LSI's:

[BLSamuel]

Those don't look so large. They're considerably smaller than the equipment rack and the TV on the stand. [:^)]

Pull up a pic of some Jubilees or HUGE theater speakers and show here what you want to get next and the La Scalas will appear small by comparison. [^o)]

[lwhaples]

Congrats on the new to you speakers! Looks like you already have good advise,so enjoy.

Larry

[Ray_pierrewit]

Yeah, thanks for the advice everyone. The chap from whom I purchased
them is a used audio gear seller, so he accepted two pairs of speakers
that I owned (1980s B&W DM220 and some 1980s Rega) as well as a
Denon intergrated amp (also from the 80s) plus 440$. So all in all they
cost me around 900$, but I can't quantify the hassle-free aspect of
finding someone to take all my old gear off of my hands at the same
time.

Like I said, I sold my integrated amp and am impatiently
waiting for the little Trends TA-10.1 to arrive. It should be
sufficient to give me a taste of the Lascala magic. For the time being
I have them connected to an old Sherwood receiver, obviously the
bottleneck in my current setup, yet something still sounds "right".

What's especially funny is when my girfriend, still clearly
uncertain as to whether or not she could live with them, sat in the
listening chair and claimed "They sound worse than your old speakers.
The music sounds like it's coming from there (as she pointed directly
to the center), I can't even HEAR the speakers!".That felt good.

dna

[Ray_pierrewit]

Thanks for the reply and picture, especially the picture. Now I
don't want to go on and on about my girlfriend, but as we were
discussing how to manage the Lascalas she suggested we build a type of
wall unit to integrate them to the space. We started making sketches of
what we both wanted and lo and behold, it looks exactly like what
you've got there. In fact, I even said that it would be the perfect
place to store my vinyl and gear. I'll be sure to show her your setup.

As
far as music, a lot of everything. I like discovering new music on
vinyl that I would never otherwise purchase. But my real preferences
are: Brel, Brassens, Wilco, Shellac, Sufjan Stevens, Ryan Adams, Will
Oldham, Willy Nelson, MF Doom... you get the picture. I like jazz but
haven't really started buying any. My girlfriends uncle/godfather
apparently has the most incredible vinyl collection that he no longer
listens to and might be willing to part with sometime. He was youngish
in the 50/60s and is a cultured jazz fanatic. I can only imagine what
he's got (I only hope they're stored properly!!!).

[Myhamish]

Congratulations, I've got a pair of those puppies too. What I read here on the forum years ago is worth a try. Roll a towel around a scrap of 2 x 4 the width of each LaScala and put it under the front to just aim the cabinets up a little. This helps eliminate the standing waves with the floor and aims up the tweeters a little more to ear level rather than the navel (pole dancer humour here). My LaScalas are in from the outside walls about half the distance that is between them (1-2-1 ratio) so the horns have room to spread without hitting side walls too soon. Slainte. Hamish

[G.Kennedy]

................... am impatiently

waiting for the little Trends TA-10.1 to arrive. It should be

sufficient to give me a taste of the Lascala magic. 

Yes I believe it will, I have run mine off a modified Sonic Impact (same Tripath chip) a good bit and they do sound nice that way.

[colterphoto1]

Nice score! My LSBR's have a nice screen stock moulding around the front edges and a linen fabric grille. I've added glass tops for a more 'furniture like' appearance. I hardly notice them now although visitors to the home sure do.

Hide the horns with grilles, get some rubber feet from Parts Express and add to the woofer door on the bottom and you'll be set.

[G.Kennedy]

Well That Certainly is Impressive.

[Islander]

Thanks for the reply and picture, especially the picture. Now I don't want to go on and on about my girlfriend, but as we were discussing how to manage the Lascalas she suggested we build a type of wall unit to integrate them to the space. We started making sketches of what we both wanted and lo and behold, it looks exactly like what you've got there. In fact, I even said that it would be the perfect place to store my vinyl and gear. I'll be sure to show her your setup.

When you're designing your wall unit, you may want to keep in mind that the speakers will sound best if they're toed in towards the listening position. At least a few inches out from the wall is good, too. Depending on the space you have available, it would be ideal to have them as far apart as you are away from them, like if you're ten feet away, they should be around ten feet apart, measured center-to-center.

Those are just starting points, of course. It can be fun experimenting with speaker placement and hearing the changes in sound, better and worse, subtle and obvious.

[IndyKlipschFan]

Try 7 scalas in a HT too... heheheh It is fun!

If your in Indy let me know.. As a La Scala lover, you need to experience it.

Wait, this might be fun!!

[IndyKlipschFan]

And no.. Not in my house..

Where was this stuff when I was single and in college?

[Ray_pierrewit]

Pretty classy, though I think it'd be better with a few mirrors in the back... you know, to make sure you don't miss anything.

[ricktate]

I ordered my 1980 Scalas with top grill they soon changed to the better looking trim around the grill.Mine had the flat screen type i made the new type using oak base shoe moulding and ordered grills from klipsch which were perfect with a badge to.Dont use corner moulding it wont look right.Get the grills first and then make the trim i just mitered the corners and glued it together.Rick ps not sure you can still get the old grill from Klipsch call them to see

[psg]

Thanks for the reply and picture, especially the picture. Now I don't want to go on and on about my girlfriend, but as we were discussing how to manage the Lascalas she suggested we build a type of wall unit to integrate them to the space. We started making sketches of what we both wanted and lo and behold, it looks exactly like what you've got there. In fact, I even said that it would be the perfect place to store my vinyl and gear. I'll be sure to show her your setup.

When you're designing your wall unit, you may want to keep in mind that the speakers will sound best if they're toed in towards the listening position. At least a few inches out from the wall is good, too. Depending on the space you have available, it would be ideal to have them as far apart as you are away from them, like if you're ten feet away, they should be around ten feet apart, measured center-to-center.

Those are just starting points, of course. It can be fun experimenting with speaker placement and hearing the changes in sound, better and worse, subtle and obvious.

I'll go further and say you can go as far apart as twice the seating distance to the front wall, e.g. the La Scala toed-in at 45 degrees like Klipschorns. Therefore a cabinet might not be a good idea. Give them some space!

Love the story about the girlfriend and the phantom image! If they image so well now, how far apart are they now?

(Nice to see your current layout Pat! )