ABLE TO MAKE BLOOD RUN FROM YOUR EARS AND YOU LIKE IT.

CAN CATCH FIRE IF A LOOSELY ROLLED CIGARETTE IS LEFT ON THEM

WE USED LA SCALAS IN A COUNTRY ROCK BAND IN THE 60s AND 70s WITH AMPEX THEATER AMPS. NO OTHER CLUB SYSTEM COULD TOUCH THEM ON CLARITY OR RANGE. THEY BECAME LIKE A PACIFIER, WE WOULDNT GO ON WITHOUT THEM. MOST CLUBS HAD VOICE OF THE THEATER OR SURE VOMIT MASTERS. THESE SYSTEMS WERE NO MATCH FOR THE MIGHTY LA SCALAS. I HAVE TWO OF THE YELLOW BUTTONS THAT PAUL KLIPSCH GAVE OUT AT AUDIO SHOWS, TO OTHER SPEAKER REPS, AFTER THEY TOLD HIM HOW MUCH BETTER THEIRS WERE COMPARED TO HIS. THEY HAVE ONE WORD PRINTED ON THEM......THIS SITE WILL NOT LET THAT WORD APPEAR IN PRINT, IF YOU ARE A LONG TIME FAN(30 YEARS FOR ME)YOU SHOULD KNOW IT.

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ENGINE FROM A F4-PHANTOM

Years of trouble free use, efficient, unique appearance

You won't want to listen to them real loud for extended periods of time.

My brother and I went all over Las Vegas and listened to everything that was out in 1986. The salesman put on the Dreamboat Annie LP by Heart. The hair on our arms stood up and we both took a couple of steps back when we were hit with the base.We told him to pack up two pair. When people come to the house and ask "what are those things", I tell them to have a seat and I'll show you. I've never had anyone tell me they didn't like them. They were in awe like I was the first time I heard them. Today they are hooked up to my Home Theater System, giving my children a real love for music and appreciation for quality equipment.I venture to say that they will still sound good when their children come to grandpa's house. The only thing I'm sad about is the steal of a price some of you paid for your's. I would recomend them to any one who loves a speaker that can reproduce everything the producer or artist wanted you to hear. Clarity is the word.

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NA

The best speaker ever made. I have never heard or experienced anything in my ears which approaches this.

I agree with the reviewer who stated the base was a bit loose (very little bit), but I am going to try the 2X6X12" wrapped in a towel as stated in another review. Very good idea I think because of the box enclosure of the burch wood...thats right people... I actually said wood...lol.

Man, what can you say about a product like this? Something truly of value, one of the few true things you can purchase in a lifetime and say "wow, man I really got something for my money with this decision"; and thus, the reason for the reviews you see posted here. Before I begin though, I want to make one statement.... whoever the moron is that posted the one star, I will say to you the reader that, that post is an absolute waste of time to read. Obviously something more going on there than somone who has actually listened to the classic Lascala. Or maybe just pen*s envy..?? Who knows... LOL.
I purchased my Lascala's in 1987 at a miltary base BX in Hawaii for $1100. Not bad when you see a MSRP of $2798 on Klipsch's homepage today...lol. YEAH BABY!! Like a fine painting or wine... goes up with age huh?
If you ever get a chance to see or hear this speaker... first thing you do... look inside the back of the cabinet at the electronic ciruitry. I mean... REAL electronics... the old way... capacitors the size of an old vacuum tube!!! Discreet components...of an industrial magnitude. WOW. Now... where in the heck will you see that in one of todays's speakers? Horns 24" across that weigh like 80lbs?? Horns today... what are they...... 5"??? Come on... The darn magnets were so powerful I had them like within 3 feet of my Sony XBR TV and they damaged the edge of the picture tube until I noticed what was going on. Still couldnt do much about it though, because my front wall is only like 20 ft. across. You need two people to carry one of these bad boys... they weigh like 130lbs and are like 3 ft wide by 3.5' tall!!! As a military electronics technician, who learned componentry and circuits from the electron level up (the Air Force way) I remember my first impression (first thing that went through my head on looking at this componentry) was... no solid state IC amp will blow these speakers with these humongous capacitors and diodes.... this speaker will eat the amp first.( Note: I am sure you could find one somewhere if that was your sole goal in life, so don't respond to this statement, I am simply referring to your standard high-end home audio gear when I say that.... but the amp would have to be in the 600-700 watt range or higher and it better be manufactured and designed tight because there are some heavy duty discreet componentry in this sucker, alas I drift),
For those of you who who own these (or ever want to demo these speakers).... I want you to do one thing. Get a copy of Phil Collins... "something in the air tonight".... and crank the amp. I mean crank it!!! Start the song off then sit back at dead center of the room between both speakers and wait... start listening as the music builds until the drum roll occurs.... and for all those here who think these suckers don't handle base correctly.... you are about to have your stomach pulled through your throat. I have had people sitting on my couch when I did this and demoed these speakers... whose heart jumped into their throats and they got the look of fear in their eyes. So I now submit that old man Klipsch knows his sound... they do have great base, its just that the speaker is designed with the delay ciruitry through these humongous components, to know when to let it kick in. Not this "boom box" subwooofer vibration crap. I am talking about a punch in your ears... not a vibration in your butt...lol!!! As for highs... put on some Billy Joel... and listen to piano keys plink like you have never heard them before. Now.... for all you out there, go into your local audio store and see if your Infinity's or Polk's or whatever other gear, high end or otherwise, you can find in today's market...will do to you what these speakers will. A truly life-long purchase and something which has given me more hours of enjoyment than my wife.... just kidding honey...LOL.

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??? Have never had to use or switch or change or even attempt a replacement with another product. These are it.

HIGHS, MIDS, BASS, POWER EFFICENT, LOUD AS HELL!

NONE!

If you want loud go with these. if you want quiet go with these, if you want crap and distortion GET SOMETHING ELSE!

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Nothing compares to them

My condolences go out to Milo for having to give up the Fortes for La Scalas....I've been looking for some, still am...
I've been a klipsch fan for years, and have recently come into what I consider some incredible luck I guess. Picked up a pair of original Heresys, reconed at Klipsch for $600 last year. I am a happy man. But wait, it gets better. A friend of mine got a call from a salesman at a high-end audio store on a totally un-related matter and he says, "you're a klipsch kinda guy aren't you? Guess what just came in...a pair of 1978 La Scalas and we want to unload them!" $900 for the pair, do you believe it! I was there in 20 minutes.

Drive all four with a comparably - "aged" Sansui BA-300 solid state amp. Absolutely incredible sound, especially brass horns and tympani. The "slap" of drums when playing a "Kodo" CD, the rich clarity of voice....bass is full but does taper off in the lower frequencies (way low, that is, in sounds created by the movie industry for thundering explosions, etc...) A special treat, and something we use as a test standard for other speakers, is "Copeland's Fanfare for the Common Man", only properly reproduced, we believe, on the Telarc label.

I actually have these in an a/v pro-logic surround system with a powered sub in a very small house (required serious re-arranging of the sound system). Neighbors love me, wonder who they are? Only been here 15 years... Have had a Klipsch KV2 center channel speaker for years, none better. Saving the pennies for the completion of a totally Klipsch a/v speaker system - new KSP-S6 rear channels, and of course, the conversion to AC-3 and DTS, probably with the Sony TA-E9000ES, but that's another page.

The bi-amping is an interesting concept for the La Scalas, I've been told you haven't really "heard" them until you've gone electric valve...well, that'll be a few more pennies. I'll review again when that happens...can you tell I like them?

I recently purchased a pair of 1983 Lascalas here in Canada for approx. $1000USD. I have them in a 34'x35' irregular shaped room with a concrete carpetted floor and a marble topped corner bar, pool table, 52"PTV, etc.
I first wanted Lascalas back in university but could not afford them. At that time I bought a pair of Acoustic Research AR-90 towers (Teledyne) which now require some work (18 years old).

The Lascalas are in raw birch (code LSRB) and are reasonably dark brown with the inside of the woofer section painted black. I assume this was done by a previous owner. I wonder how to refinish these. I tried sanding down one side and the wood colour is still quite dark. Any thoughts on how to refinish this?

I am still trying to position them properly (picking up a SPL meter and test CD #2 tonight) but make have to settle for suboptimal locations due to other objects in the room and the existance of a wife and children!

The Lascalas are being driven by Mitsubishi dual monaural preamps and power amps (150+150 blocks - PA is over 70 lbs). The sound is incredibley clear and powerfull but does drop off in the lower bass compared to my AR-90s which went down to 24hz +/- 1db. For example the low bass roll in the Kinks "Little bit of Emotion" is noticabley missing. I may be able to improve the bass response through positioning, but expect that I will require a SW to achieve satisfactory deep bass response. This will probably be expensive to do for clean sound which fills a 1000 sq. ft. / 7000 cu. ft. room!

I am looking to complete a HT setup and plan to use the Sony ES amp with the Mitsu PAs driving the Lascalas. Any comments on the Sony (30 or 50ES) or recommendations on the center / sat / SW speakers?

I have owned horn speakers before but they were no where near the quality of the Klipsch! These are the most impressive speakers I have ever owned and really do give you the "they are here" experience. Much to my wifes displeasure, I find myself listening to these speakers every chance I get.

I would have to rate them 5 for build quality, 5 for dynamics, 5 for clarity, and 4 for frequency range, so my overall rating rounds to 5.

I would be happy to hear from other Klipsch owners and their experiences with these fantastic speakers.

Great efficiency and very clear mids and highs.

The base response could use some steroid injections and finding a space for these large (24 x 24 x 35") and heavy (110 lbs each) speakers will pose problems for some.

I just acquired a set of Klipsch La Scalas at an auction for a farthing ($350 for a pair) and have had a chance to play with them for about a month now and compare them with my other gear (Celestion SL600s and a Velodyne 12" sub). The speakers are a 1980 vintage with a commercial black finish and handles that came out of a club. My first reaction to these speakers was mixed. They seemed to be very dead on the low end and a bit too much in the mid range. When I lugged them upstairs to my larger (20' X 25') bedroom and placed them near the walls, the base improved considerably, but was still no match for my Velodyne which goes down to about 22 Hz. I still think the mid range is a bit much, but the speakers are wonderfully clear and precise reporducers of sound. Elevating them about 18" off the floor improved the overall listing experience considerably, but La Scalas are very directional and I tinkered with the position, angle, and height parameters for several days to find the sweet spot for my preferred listinging spot which I affectionately refer to as Captain Kirk's chair. My Celestions require a very powerful amp to get good results while the La Scalas are so efficient that I seldom have to let the amp do much more than idle, so running them together is a bit of a problem in a home theater setup without two amps. I think the mid range horns could use some damping and I wish there were a bit more base, but all in all, I am pleased especially for the price I paid. Had I purchased these for typical market value which is somewhere in the $800-$1,500 range depending on condition and location, I think I would have been disappointed.

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Celestion, B&W, AR, Bose, many others.

The LaScalas are superb with quality low powered, single ended amplification. They are not merely impressive on dynamics they rule in that domain. I have never heard a more realistic portraly of female voice and bass guitar than what I've heard on the LaScala, Belle, K-horn. The last reviewer mentioned that we should talk about what was actually produced by the factory. I would remind the gentleman that all the great upgrades including the Vandersteen 3A sigs, The Maggie 3.5s, ProAc monitors were launched by experimenters and tweekers. Klipsch will get around to fixing a few of the problems their speakers have.But even with their faults they still are some of the finest in the world at what they do right.

The LaScalas are superb with quality low powered, single ended amplification. They are not merely impressive on dynamics they rule in that domain. I have never heard a more realistic portraly of female voice and bass guitar than what I've heard on the LaScala, Belle, K-horn. The last reviewer mentioned that we should talk about what was actually produced by the factory. I would remind the gentleman that all the great upgrades including the Vandersteen 3A sigs, The Maggie 3.5s, ProAc monitors were launched by experimenters and tweekers. Klipsch will get around to fixing a few of the problems their speakers have.But even with their faults they still are some of the finest in the world at what they do right.

I have owned my Lascala's since 1992 and in that time I have listened to many "HI END" speakers, Legacy Focus and Whispers, B&W 801, Wilson Watt/puppy etc. Every time when I get home and listen to my scala's I get a big smile on my face. They are extremely revealing, dynamic, effortless and amplfier friendly. Mine are driven with an ADCOM 2535, 60 watts and I must tell you they just scream on this amp. I don't recommend using anything rated over 100 watts these speakers are so efficient that you want to give the amp the opportunity to turn on and strut it's stuff. On another note, alot of manufacturers are coming to the realization that hi directivity, vertically and horizontally, helps resolution, prevent sound from reflecting off the floor and ceiling etc. This is accomplished easily by the use of horns in speaker design. Paul Klipsch got it right the first time when he designed the venerable KLIPSCHORN. If anyone out there owns a pair of LASCALA's be proud. These are one of the speakers that Paul W Klipsch designed himself. As far as I am I am a KLIPSCHAHOLIC and I have my reference standard that I judge all others by.