Marvel Posted November 28, 2008 Share Posted November 28, 2008 Not too long after I purchased my La Scalas, I purchased a set of Bob's CT125 tweeters to replace the Klipsch K77s. The improvement, to me, was rather dramatic. My son had purchased a set of the APT150 driver/horn combos from Eminence, which uses the same driver, but has a 100x 50 degree horn. We were going to use them in a new cabinet, so we weren't limited to the K77 cutout size. Time passed.... and he and I made a trade, where I ended up with the APT150s. Since the driver was the same, just for grins I placed them on their boxes, connected them up and had a listen. I pushed them to the back of the LS cabinet, so they were in approximate time alignment with the k55, sitting right below. Wow! The sound was huge. I put some foam on the tops, figuring I would certainly be getting some reflections off the LS cabinet tops. I couldn't hear a difference either way, so I got rid of the foam (tried some other materials, too) Hmmm... they need to look a little better if I leave them there, thought I. For the bases I used some scrap left over from some shelves I made. It is 13 or 15 ply golden virola, purchased at HD a few years ago. I wish I'd had the money to buy several sheets of this stuff. I've never seen it again, and it was inexpensive. Looks a lot like a smooth grain mahogany, and the plies are almost perfect, not like a lot of the import junk you find these days. But I digress. I have no workshop, workbench or many tools. My kitchen floor and the deck outside are where I am forced to work.I have a drill and a circular saw, sandpaper... So, the bases and support brace are the golden virola, while the fronts are half inch birch from HD. Fronts are 1/2 inch birch, 12 x 12inches. I borrowed a router from a friend at work. I had never used a router, so I am happy to report that I only messed up one piece of wood and didn't hurt myself. Here are some of the pieces on the kitchen floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted November 28, 2008 Author Share Posted November 28, 2008 I routed a groove in the base, for the baffle to sit in. I added the other block to support the front and to be able to put something under the driver if it needed it (the horn supports it quite well, which I thought it would).I used a roundover bit on the front of the base and on the front of the baffle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted November 28, 2008 Author Share Posted November 28, 2008 The router was great, but it would have been nice to have the router table for it since the pieces were so small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted November 28, 2008 Author Share Posted November 28, 2008 The pieces are glued and screwed. I will eventually get a little wooden button to go on the front, where I put a screw into the rear brace... I was winging this as I put them together. I used a walnut stain and some thinned out BLO. As always, in too big a hurry, so I will take the horns off and put on more coats later. Maybe next summer when I can leave them outside to dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted November 28, 2008 Author Share Posted November 28, 2008 From a distance they look ok... Cheap circular saw and lack of patience shows. Here's a shot of the front of one, showing the golden virola plies. I think they have a little more WAF now, since they aren't sitting on the cardboard boxes they came in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 Nicely crafted Bruce. "I had never used a router, so I am happy to report that I only messed up one piece of wood and didn't hurt myself." Good news indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 Looks great -- bigger is better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 Bruce, Nice looking stuff for sure. How much do you want for those immaculate lascalas? Those things are tastey! [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted November 29, 2008 Author Share Posted November 29, 2008 Bruce, Nice looking stuff for sure. How much do you want for those immaculate lascalas? Those things are tastey! Sorry, they are NFS... Although they are nice and have the original lacquer, they do have all the little surface cracks in the finish. I just can't get up the courage to refinish them. It is a lot of surface area. If was going to redo them, I would remove the front trim and put trim around the whole front, though.Why would you want them since you have your MWMs? I'm still planning on building mine, but the price on the wood will have to come down some (and be down when I have the money). Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 You are too hard on your self Bruce....they look great. Following your lead I started changing the position of the top hat of my speakers. My 511 Altec horn and Beyma tweeter are mounted in one baffle (see avatar) so I couldn't move one without the other. The problem I was attempting to remedy was the midrange being a little "in your face" or forward. I moved the baffle back till the horn was in the middle section of the bass bin and noticed a slight improvement. Does that make any sense? Opinions welcomed. Chuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm56 Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Yep, they look good to me! I think we are more or less on the same level, woodworking-wise. I've got no shop other than my garage, only basic hand tools (other than a cheap table saw), and not much experience or patience! So, I applaud your gumption (if that's a word) to "go for it". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted December 1, 2008 Share Posted December 1, 2008 Bruce, I was just kidding about buying your lascalas. Just paying a compliment. They really do look nice. [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CIGARBUM Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Bruce, would it be possibe for you to take some detail pictures of the grill covering the horns. I just got my LaScalas home the other day, with the grill, they just look better. Thanks CB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.Kennedy Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 Here is my rendition .... APT 150 using the 90/90 Bi radial horn and a K55 with an Altec 511B horn....... eventually I will use these tops on Cornscala bases and return my La Scalas to stock configuration. Mine are both on the same baffle so I can not alter front to back placement much. As previously posted: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted December 2, 2008 Author Share Posted December 2, 2008 would it be possibe for you to take some detail pictures of the grill covering the horns CD, not a problem, but I'll have to get my digital camera back from my son. They are pretty straight forward, with velcro on the backs to hold them in place.Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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