Can you live with your current speaker until you die?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by thomaskong, Oct 5, 2018.

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  1. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    I put Crites crossovers in them when I got them. A lovely speaker, mostly due to the fact I can run nearly any tube amp with them. They do tend to smear the detail a bit, not in an unpleasant way but I do think there is some room for improvement but not without spending a good deal.
     
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  2. Pythonman

    Pythonman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
  3. J. R.

    J. R. Cat Herder

    Location:
    Kansas City, MO
    I hope so, but probably not.
     
  4. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    Since you have already replaced you crossover's with Crites, I think you may be best to leave them where they are.

    Yes, you can do upgrades, but at this point forward, they will be at diminishing returns.

    From this point, any "improvements" will be at the expense of changing out major components, like the horn, driver's crossover's (ALK).

    Then you get into what I call unnecessary improvements, turning your Cornwall's into "Corn-Scala's", which involves a "saw".

    I would never do this.

    If someone wants something other than a Cornwall or a La Scala, than they should just built them that way, in the first place.

    I have a pair of legacy La Scala's, that have that "don't smear the detail a bit" quality that the Cornwall's have.

    But they are not a nice balanced speaker for the home, necessarily. They are even more efficient than the Altec A7's and have a beautiful clarity about them.

    AT LOW VOLUMES!

    Turn up the volume, and the "squaker" horn and super tweeter will take the top of your head off.

    Also, they don't have the deep pleasing bass that the Cornwall's have. They do have bass, but is goes down to around 60-Hz., maybe a bit less. It you turn them up, the bass at these frequencies will kick you like a mule.

    However, the top of you head will be missing and will have to be located elsewhere.

    NEVER run La Scala's with SS amplification. Please, tube amps only! The lower the power, the better.

    These are my pair on the day of their arrival, early in 2014, from California.

    [​IMG]

    Close up front view. These have custom made grills on the top and on the bass bin. They are not currently in the system.

    [​IMG]

    Here is the same cabinet, with the top grill off, showing the squaker horn and the super tweeter.

    [​IMG]

    Here is one the one that is currently sitting close to the door. you can see the glass that I have had cut for the tops to protect them.

    [​IMG]

    The other one is currently serving as a pedestal/base for the Rega PR6.

    [​IMG]

    I have two NOS Altec 811B horns, which are a bit smaller than the larger 511B horns, that are in the A7's, that I intend to replace the stock Klipsch horns with. I have NOS Altec legacy driver's, that will be going with them.

    Currently, these are stock commercial cabinets. They are more heavily reinforced than the home cabinet's. They are made of plywood, painted black. These have been covered with a custom Baltic Birch plywood and they have custom grills that were made for them. Other than appearance, they are completely stock.

    I plan on replacing the stock Klipsch crossover's and upgrading them with custom crossover's from ALK, like I have done with the A7's.

    Will still need to get a matching sub for them.

    But, I would never do anything to cut the cabinets, or any modifications, which could not be brought back to stock.
     
    JJ Cahill, Manimal and Dennis0675 like this.
  5. thomaskong

    thomaskong Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Washington State
    I do not discourage upgrading audio.

    But I had lot of bad experience after changing speakers in my 40 years of audio history.

    Thus as one get older, it could be safer to keep the speaker and improve upon the front end.
     
    SandAndGlass likes this.
  6. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    That is an interesting thing you say. Your speakers seem to be superb. If you are more than satisfied with them, then never get rid of them.

    There is no end to uber expensive speaker's and none of them sound the same. Which means, once you find the speakers that work with you, there is no reason to change out something that you derive complete enjoyment from.

    Your speakers sound right to you. Nothing more has to be said.

    I have gone through many stereo/HT tower speakers and have owned many different tower speakers, But now, I have a pair of front main towers which I have a perfect 250-Watt SS amp driving them, that I would never have a reason to change out.

    The same thing goes for my center channel and rear towers.

    My A7's are pretty custom speaker's and a lot of effort went into putting this pair together the way they are. I would never change a thing about them.

    What I have found, is that I have changed my upstream components and the sound quality through the A7's keeps getting better and better.

    There is not another pair of speakers that would make me part with my A7's.

    That doesn't mean that I would never acquire another pair of speakers, as there are many that I would like to own and have the opportunity to listen to, in my own system, but I would never give up my A7's to trade for any other speaker.

    I think your assessment is quite spot on!
     
  7. vinylbuff

    vinylbuff Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Port Florida
    I have a pair of Legacy "Convergence" that look almost like the Focus. I've had them for approx. 22-23 years so their quality exceeds their longevity. There will be a Audio Fest in Tampa, Feb.8-10, 2019 and that will give me a chance to decide whether I want, need, or desire another pair of speakers.
     
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  8. Manimal

    Manimal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern US
    Holy Moses upon the MOUNTAIN!!
    One of my best friends said when I sent these pics to him “ that’s my dream speaker!” To which I said “ dude! No kids, no college fund, get some!”
    They look amazing. When can I pick them up:)
     
    SandAndGlass likes this.
  9. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    If and when I get around to doing my internal upgrades on them it will be a dream speaker.

    Now it just looks like a dream speaker. But, I'll admit, it does do a pretty good job of looking the part.

    Sound wise, the A7's blow them out of the water!

    They do sound nice, when played through a tube amplifier.

    The one in this picture is the same one in the fourth photo in the above post, comes in handy to carve a Christmas turkey on.

    [​IMG]

    It is also sitting directly across from the flat part of the front desk on the right. Sometimes I would run an extra pair of speaker cables from the Klipsch WF-35 on the credenza in the background to this La Scala. With all of the other speakers playing in the room, Sometimes, I would sit with my back against the front desk and listen to it in the near-field at not too loud of a volume. It makes for an interesting listening experience.

    These cabinet's are 24" square and 30" high. The squaker horn and HF driver is at head level, with the bass cabinet below it and the sound is all around you. You really can't get this same effect with floor standing towers. When you are sitting directly in front of it at a distance of about 6' to your head, you hear the sound, full range. It is all mixed together at the distance.

    [​IMG]

    This back left corner, from the HT perspective, is somewhat more difficult for me to pump out sound into the main room, so I had the idea to add the La Scala on the the left rear Klipsch WF-35.

    The Klipsch towers are not the mellowest of speakers either. After a few years of trying different variations of this combination, I finally gave up and disconnected the La Scala and packed the WF-35's away.

    I brought out a pair of Boston Acoustic M-350's to use in the rear's.

    The rear sound is a much nicer, fuller and more of a mellow balanced sound than with the Klipsch speakers back there.

    I had moved the into position to be my front mains and left them there for six months, until I could not take them any more.

    They do look nice though.

    [​IMG]

    The driver's and horn's in the La Scala's are the same ones that Klipsch uses in the huge K-horn's. The midrange "squaker" horn is one of the worst horns ever put in any speaker. It is incredibly harsh and it does not spread out the sound like an Altec horn does.

    The driver's that Klpisch uses for their horns are no where near the quality of those made by Altec, back in the day.

    Al Klappenberger from ALK Engineering had made these comments about the "Corn-Scala" that I had previously mentioned in the prior post.

    Catch his comments about the K400 squaker horn, found in the K-horn's and the La Scala's.

    ** The CornScala **

    This seems to be becoming a very popular project in the DIY community. It is the result of combining the WORST features of the Cornwall and the La Scala speakers into one. The La Scala has the BAD K400 squawker horn from the Klipschorn and the Cornwall has the higher distortion direct radiator from the Cornwall. So, the result is a speaker with the harsh midrange of the Klipschorn and the higher distortion bass of the Cornwall. It will go down to 30 Hz though, and this is probably what it's all about!
    [​IMG]

    HOWEVER: With a few variations on the theme you can come up with a very good speaker. The very first thing to realize is that the K33 woofer as used in the Cornwall will operate higher than the 400 Hz upper limit of the Klipschorn woofer horn. This allows you to move to any of a long list of better mid-range (squawker) horns. Even with a 400 Hz crossover, anyone who uses the K400 horn for anything but a door-stop is crazy! It's a headache maker.

    If I really thought that the La Scala's sounded good either for stereo or HT, they would be in the system right now.

    They do sound real nice, if you play them at very low volume's.

    As it stands, they have not been played together as a pair since the summer of 2014. Believe me, I always wanted to own a pair of La Scala's.

    After being the proud owner for this original pair, my views have shifted a bit.

    About a year or so ago, a good friend of mine come up with the NOS Altec horns and driver's, that I plan on using in the La Scala's.

    Prior to that, I was not sure just what I was going to do with them.

    By comparison, the Altec's sound much better and are not harsh sounding at all.
     
    Manimal likes this.
  10. DaleClark

    DaleClark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    I have a pair of ZU Omen Defs. I simply love them. So in this moment in time I have no reason to think I'll change. I may, however, purchase the ZU Upgrade driver kits in the future.
     
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  11. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    I also have a pair of Omen Definitions. I have moved from a SS amp to a dedicated tube amp, a PrimaLuna Prologue Five, to drive them with a quad of KT88's.

    They are very efficient and dynamic, but they easily can tend to play toward the harsh side.

    They work well with Jazz, acoustic instruments and vocals. Music that does not tend to be on the dynamic side in the first place.

    But with music that does tend to be dynamic, it can play overly so and take on a hard edge. This is especially true for the higher frequencies.

    I am curious about the upgrade. Will it tend to tame these harsh edges on the dynamics or will it make them even more apparent?
     
  12. JMCIII

    JMCIII Music lover first, audiophile second.

    That's why I bought my latest speakers. Me and my Maggie's will live happily ever after.
     
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  13. 911s55

    911s55 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wa state
    Can you live with your current speaker until you die?

    How long do I get? I have some new speakers on order.
     
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  14. 911s55

    911s55 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wa state
    For some of us they are inseparable. I can appreciate the composition or song but if the audio presentation is not engaging I won't be there long.
     
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  15. Hogues

    Hogues Forum Resident

    I have JTR Noeses 228's for my HT setup and I don't see changing them. I'm very happy with them. I'm using Proac Tablette's fro my stereo and, while I love them, they were chosen due to space limitations and I would love to upgrade them eventually.
     
  16. Locutus67

    Locutus67 Forum Resident

    I consider my Celestion SL12si's to be keepers. While they don't sound great with some receivers I've tried, other combinations were surprisingly good.
     
  17. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    I can listen to a table top radio, say when I am in the kitchen working or doing something similar.

    I would not sit and just listen to music with that same radio, as I would do when listening to my stereo.
     
    Walter Koehler likes this.
  18. Timeless Classics

    Timeless Classics Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    What size room do you have the Harbeth 40.2's in and how far from the back wall? Was really interested in this speaker but seems like it could be difficult to place perhaps? Thanks in advance!
     
  19. Wasabi

    Wasabi Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lutz, FL
    I think if KEF re released the 104/2s I could. Mine have been redone...caps, foam, ferro fluid, etc. but I need a pair that will last forever. :D
     
  20. Echoes Myron

    Echoes Myron Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I will never let go of my KEF Reference 1.
     
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  21. efraley

    efraley Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond Va USA
    I have a pair of Ohm towers. With my Oppo 205 McIntosh 4100 newly refurbished I have no intention of getting newer speakers. Of course that may be famous last words!
     
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  22. snorker

    snorker Big Daddy

    The room is about 21’ x 16’ with a 9.5’ ceiling. The system is on the longer wall. The back of the speakers are a little over 3’ from the wall behind them, so they are a bit out into the room. They still sound great closer to the wall, but the soundstage depth is reduced.
     
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  23. dsf

    dsf Well-Known Member

    Location:
    75039
    Infinity Primus P363s with a Rega p3 TT and NAD cd player powered by an HK 3490 receiver. I can probably live with this for a while at least until I get a nice digital streamer.
     
  24. motorstereo

    motorstereo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ct.
    With retirement quickly approaching I'm content with my modded Polk 1.2tl's powered by Mcintosh 1201's.
     
  25. Gaslight

    Gaslight ⎧⚍⎫⚑

    Location:
    Northeast USA
    I can live with them.

    Doesn't mean I won't upgrade anyway.
     
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