whats the best amp for klipsch lascala 2?

Back in their day , Mac and Klipsch were a classic pairing .

Alnico, you certainly dug deep-- back 6 years ago. I think you are right re McIntosh, but really low wattage never gets the woofer moving. Without the power the sound is all midrange from that huge squawker.

Hello,
I have a pair of 1977-78 Klipsch La Scala's and currently using them with a pair of McIntosh mc40 mono blocks.

I've had many vintage Klipsch speakers especially back in the 90's and nothing has sounded so awesome other then the McIntosh mc40 amps.

The detail, sweetness, dynamics and sound stage is absolutely stunning.

I honestly believe I have a great combination....really incredible sound.

Tubes and minimal wattage is one way to go.....hopefully you can audition a vintage McIntosh mauditions

Thanks audio lovers !!!

Mosfet amps have worked best for me with classic Klipsh.
Luxman M4000A was the best but imposible to find anymore.

CJ also offers mosfets; I tried one long ago but was unaware I had some other problems with setup so I didn't keep it. Might be worth trying again.

There are many others; Perreaux for example, mega powerful, a little cold though. McCormack DNA's work quite well. Ayre V3 is really good. Belles was not. Some Macs are mosfet. Nothing else like a Big Mac!

I settled on a big Accuphase P450 which I am very satisfied. The K's are high efficiency; rated at 100 w/ch but they work better with around 200 w/ch due to headroom.

I tried some various tube equipment but couldn't stand the rushing-noises, microphonics, heat. Others love them, though I never understood why?

Mcphile, the Klipsch really do prefer an amplifier with a high impedance output, if you want detail, smoothness, extension and impact all at the same time. Tubes are usually the answer for this.

If you just can't handle that, try putting a high power 4-5 ohm resistor in series with the transistor amplifier. That will simulate a high output impedance. A fair amount of power will be absorbed by the resistor, but you should find that the speaker is sounding better otherwise.

try coincident m300b frankenstein monoblocks. i've had manley retro 300B monoblocks with my klipschorns, and they sounded amazing. i did not have the opportunity to use my coincidents with the klipschorns (sold them) but probably a great match, as i like the ooincidents more than my manleys. good luck in your search.

sounds like paul klipsch and the guys over at mac had a thing going on back in the days . like krell , wilson and transparent the gang of today. thanks all . think i will stay with my macs.

All I can tell you is that I own the La Scala 1 dated 1978 no mods. I auditioned them with a kit built 2A# and the sound while not my style was quite good. I had a variety of amps to try butheard there was a obvious synergy between a SS Mac and the vKlipsch. All I have for Macs is a 50 watt old 2505. Well the majority opinion for true They sounded great. I keep both the speakers which you know are tidy little thing and even had the cheapy Mac because they sound good. Whatever you do -do not underpower them. My 1s are 104 db/4feet/watt and really can make a lot of sound with as weak an amp as there is for audio use anyway. But they have a 15" woofer complete with a fabric surround doped up to boot. You will only hear it if you use a bare naked mininum of 50 watts. I did have some "decent" 400wpc monos at the time which never sounded as good as the mac with klipsch despite the bigger and amps sounding better with my other speakers.
In case you missed the message try a Mac.As big as you want but even the Mac light is now 250 wpc I think. It will get the woofer moving and the insane conception that some engineers thought was tonal balance will be corrected to the extent it can.
Nothing turns a Giant Sqwaucker horn Klpsch into a (insert name of high priced fabric/ceramic or diamond dusted imnverted or outverted dome midrange,top of the line floorstander). (they had a huge problem on their hands when the production cheif thought he saw 3 inch tweeter which was 3 Cm after breaking their necks trying to find way to make the crossover diirect the needed energy at the missing frequency to get the thing to work as tweeter. The only thing that some, thought they heard was a fine pitched whining. They discovered what the result of their labor was when every dog in the county surrounded the building. In desparation they called marketing who were looking for something new expensive and outlandish.
I found the magic that eluded my efforts to hear the incedible Nirvana my 938 JM Focal Electras were capable of. (Inexpensive all tube power amp monoblocks) It's so damned good I rarely if ever even tempted to use any of my other amps or speakers.
I am afraid to use anything else fearing anything else will all sound like a clock radio and I have some great ones. Then I will be upset for at least a day.
OTO I could sell it to those annoying people's teenage son. The one who loves the old Metal and Acidic Rock. I just hope the 1/2 mile will be far enough away.

I like tubes with Scalas, but from your list I'm guessing you're avoiding them(?). I've tried them with an Aleph 5 and preferred various tube options to that combination, but the Aleph 30 and 3 are reportedly better than the 5. Best thing to improve the Scala's is to get rid of that mediocre tweeter and put in something better like a Beyma or Fane: My experience is with vintage Scalas and not with the Scala 2, but I don't think the tweeter's changed much. Of the SS options to go with the big Klipsch Heritage, the best I've heard is McIntosh - but you're already doing that. Haven't heard the others you are asking about. I always came back to SET amps, but they're not for everyone, and not optimal for all types of music.

you can not beat the pass amps, well built, very detailed and tube like....dwhitt