La Scala - Love 'em or Hate 'em?

La Scala - Love 'em or Hate 'em?

  • Total voters
    146
JonL

JonL

Lunatic Member
I'm posting this out in the Speakers forum instead of Klipsch Corner to get a wider cross section of responses. A recent (still active) thread was asking about La Scala's on Craig's List for an exceptional price and the OP got a number of responses that were rather critical of the La Scala sound. I realized that the La Scala elicits strong opinions - both positive and negative - and I got curious to see how AKers split on this. So here's a poll. Please only vote if you've actually heard the speakers, and then if you feel like posting some further comments please do so.
 
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Thought the skill saw tweeter replacement joke was rather funny.........if u like them u like them.........:yes:
 
I found them quite hard on the ears, just my experience at a couple friends' houses. With a lot of acoustic treatment they might tame a bit.
 
I owned two pair of them many years ago and then moved on to other speakers when I tired of the sound. However for awhile I loved them. The speakers do have formidable virtues of excellent clarity and dynamics but I dislike the bass shy tonal balance and stridency in the upper mids and highs.

The LaScalas I heard most recently sounded like the ones I owned. And I didn't like the sound at all. Taste changes.

I think the Cornwall is a much better speaker because of it's robust tonal balance which ameliorates the problems in the upper range. I've owned Cornwalls too. And Hereseys. I have some experience with Klipsch speakers.

These are my opinions and not to be taken as objective fact.
 
I'm just listening to an odd recording "Great American Songs" put out by American Heritage Publishing. There's no catalog number on the LP. It's mixed very naturally, very little compression that I can hear, not too much reverb. Sometimes the balance between instruments is a little skewed where one instrument or vocal is too prominent in the mix. Anyway, the La Scala's take full advantage of this and make those "stand out" instruments sound like they are right in the room. I literally got up from my chair to see if someone was banging on the door because of the way the drums were recorded. I happen to think the La Scala's present tremendous realism when fed with the right material. They aren't polite, but neither is real life.
 
I would argue that the poll needs a third option, not love, not hate, but "not for me". I've heard La Scalas, but haven't lived with them, and from the time I've spent they're just not for me. I can see why others with different preferences like them, but I couldn't be happy with them over time.
 
Just for info, here is a snippet from an interview of Paul Klipsch by Bruce Edgar for Speaker Builder magazine. PWK explains here how the LaScala came into being.

Bob Crites
 

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These are great speakers if you listen primarily to accustic,or most
any other music not bass intensive. My only objection to their performance
is the reliance on cabinet resonance to amplify the low end.
I was seriously contemplating LaScallas but has to go with Cerwin Vega S2's
as my compromise speaker. If I could marry the two, it would satisfy all my needs.
 
I had a set for probably 5 years and sold them after I built my Econowave JBL LE14A speakers. They certainly sounded quite nice to me with my HF hearing loss so the Skil Saw references are appropriate in my situation.

More bass would be nice, but my experience with actual live music, the bass was pretty much right there and not really deficient at all.
 
La Scalas sound like "live music" if you don't like La Scalas, you probably don't like the sound of live concerts. They were not meant to be a "polite" speaker... and I've NEVER been to a concert where the sound system was "polite"
 
I love 'em

BUT:

The older model La Scalas (like mine) NEED a subwoofer to fill in the first 100Hz or so that's lost in the cabinet.

Also I HIGHLY recommend upgrading from the K-77 tweeter (I haven't done this yet and I will). Cymbals just sound unnatural.
 
fotno said:
I would argue that the poll needs a third option, not love, not hate, but "not for me".
Click to expand...

Yes, and why I didn't vote. I think you heard the pair I owned before I upgraded them with Crites' tweeters and crossovers. Even after doing that, they just didn't satisfy given my varied musical tastes. I enjoyed my time with them, esp. with acoustic blues and bluegrass, but ultimately sold them given their size and lack of bass output.
 
had a pr and sold to a gent in Manhatton shipping was a bitch for the guy but he had to have a pr. There big and just did not do a thing for me too each there own
 
poll could of used an in between I did not hate them they just did not do it for me
 
I don't know how I can add a selection to a poll once it's been set up. I have to admit though that I'm interested in the polarization these speakers seem to generate and I wanted to see the results of those who have a strong opinion.
 
Urizen said:
Yes, and why I didn't vote. I think you heard the pair I owned before I upgraded them with Crites' tweeters and crossovers. Even after doing that, they just didn't satisfy given my varied musical tastes. I enjoyed my time with them, esp. with acoustic blues and bluegrass, but ultimately sold them given their size and lack of bass output.
Click to expand...

Your La Scalas were the first pair I ever heard Ken. I felt they did some things quite well (namely midrange); but I never felt they did it better than many other speaker systems with a much smaller footprint. Couple that with a lack of bottom end and a top end that tired me out quickly, and (as I said earlier) not for me. It would take different ears than the model I was issued to enjoy them.

In defense of them, I heard them before the modifications so I don't have any idea what they sounded like when you sold them. I have since heard several modified pairs, and they are definitely an improvement over the stock designs. Still... Not for me.
 
For a long time I thought about building a set of K-Horn cabs and outfitting them with my La Scala drivers, but it never happened mainly due to a lack of time, funds and a place to place them when they were done.
 
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