I own a pair of Klipsch La Scala's. They have been an interesting and enjoyable experience so far. They are *very* revealing. I did the ALK Engineering crossover upgrade, and it helped some things, hindered others. I did a lot of A/B and found that the original cross-overs had a weird fuzz to the high frequencies that the new cross-overs cleaned up well. My main problem is my room is way too small for these puppies. I first started them with an integrated home theatre amp, but now they are on a more purist system: no pre-amp, musical fidelity A3.24 DAC from a computer downstairs is feeding two Antique Sound Lab 845 (golden ear award) amp's (amazing value for money). I used to have a 'passive preamp' (what a dumb name) in the chain, but the coloration was big. I never used to believe in cables, but it is quite apparent to listen to differences in cables with this system. Right now it's Cardas neutral reference. I even heard rather surprising changes when I upgraded power cables, added the power filter, etc... the 'audiophile' experience. What a glorious waste of money.
A friend of mine from China dubbed it 'the best system he's yet heard in Canada' -- no small compliment from this guy).
It's an interesting polarizing speaker (the La Scala). Some really dig it, other's really hate it. I've really mellowed it out to maximize on its good points. Why, just today I added a carpet to my hard-wood floor. I've also mounted the speakers on aluminum cones, with brass pucks. Dozens of tweaks (re-wiring speakers, etc...). It's a lot of fun.
But wow, the sound. I was listening to a 20grand setup (a Musical Fidelity Trivista statement amp, crazy cables, and a sonus faber setup) and just said 'nahhh'. While that system had many good points, it was too laid back and reserved. The La Scala's spray sound -- not the best for imaging, but a wide sound field really makes live performances sound live.
I have augmented them with some Vandersteen subwoofers (2x 2wq) which is actually a very subtle blend. If anyone gets subwoofers, I recommend doing the stereo subwoofer experience. The Vandersteens are pretty nice if you want to have bass, but not hear a sub-woofer. They have some clever filter concepts.
I consider this system to be my 'best tube system', and now I'm building a solid state system to compare it to. I'll play dueling bango's in different rooms ;)
I'll never get rid of the La Scala's (they're too big to move!)
