Pondering a pair of Klipsch La Scalas

I owned a pair with McIntosh amps. First, you better have a BIG ROOM. They blew me out of a 18' x 25' room. Secondly, they are bright. These were initially designed as PA speakers. I believe they are more industrial than home use IMHO. I think there are better choices in the Klipsch line for music, those being Chorus or Cornwall for starters. I like Klipsch, but couldn't get the La Scalas out the door fast enough. They now reside in a renovated movie theater where they are better suited.

If you want a smaller Klipsch package, though they are still fairly big at 100 pounds each, I would reccommend listening to a pair of Klipsch Epics CF3's. They have impactful tight bass below 30Hz are 100dB efficient and can hit like a concert monitor if you crank them. They are a lot of fun!

The Klipschorns actually take up less room than any of the smaller models. We're using them in a room approximately 15' square, and we are hardly blown out of the room when running either the 4W SET or 200W SS amps. Yes, these speakers can be heinously bright if you don't do the mods, or pair them up with the wrong amp, use a mediocre source, and don't treat the room acoustically. The worst offender for us in terms of brightness and tonal abrasion (like that term?) was the stock internal wiring. When I went to silver, the high frequencies becaume much cleaner. No more smearing of the piano or sax. Man, that was giving me a headache!

How big is your room, Snakenuckles? And what CD player/TT are you using? Also, are you prepared to follow my lead into the land of $1500 speaker cables and interconnects? Because if you're gonna go this route, you've got to feed your little MacKlipsches only the best nutrition. Only kidding, here. Put your wallet back, Snake. Go on, put it away.

Marco, since attenuating the horn up a couple of notches, I look forward to getting your take on the midrange now. Be prepared to have your ears tickled. Close your eyes, and you won't be able to tell if it's the vocalist, or maybe just a frisky Jack Russell who thinks of his tongue as a Q-tip. And do bring the Sawzall....along with a big dumpster. We must get rid of any evidence.

Interesting follow ups. Still, I believe there are better Klipsch speakers for pure music reproduction. That is unless you want to re-create bar room type sound levels and can tolerate the razor blade highs. Review the history of the LaScala and you'll see why the design isn't home friendly IMHO. Yes, tubes, cables(over rated to me) do have effects. Yes there are tweaks to these too. Still, look into Chorus, Cornwalls, even Fortes(way under rated) for musical balance.

I'll chime in again on the Forte input here. I've had two pairs of Forte II's. Liked em' fine. Very efficient. Go down pretty low (lower than the Scala's). They occured to me as great speakers to rock out too, but would not be my choice for vocals, solo instrumental, and much of the music I do listen to. Much as I did like them I'd have to say they were not nearly as dynamic, fast, refined, and musical as the larger Klipsch Heritage speakers I've own and listened too. Still, yes, damn good little speakers, especially for the money. They didn't grab me the way the LaScalas, Khorns and Belle Klipsch have. Just one more opinion worth what you paid for it.

Marco