Get RID of the ADC graphic EQ. Really. Send it off to electronics recycling. If your speakers need that to get sound you want, you have the wrong speakers. But then, the Klipsch LaScala was intended as a PA speaker. No decent low end to speak of either and an edgy mid-range to boot. Other than that...
So you unloaded everything and are left with this? The Onkyo gear is OK. If the AR table is serving you adequately, then fine. I hope you’ve changed out the tone arm. A lot of people made that change.
But for speakers, there are so many, many better choices available. Your power amp has enough sheer muscle that it can drive anything. I have no idea what budget you might have, but these Avalon Acoustics Opus loudspeakers would make you happy in a way you haven’t felt in decades.
If "getting your hands dirty" in audio is fun for you, then I’d encourage you to consider the SEAS Thor kit from Madisound. By the end of the project, you’d have dropped about $2500 and would have something similar to the $13,000 Joseph Audio Perspective 2.
One more thing. I'm as old as you are. I built a Heathkit AJ-14 FM tuner back in my junior college days, then Dynaco kits when I went off to UC Berkeley. Built Hafler kits later. When I bought my first record, Lyndon Johnson was president. You really can do a lot better than the La Scala.
So you unloaded everything and are left with this? The Onkyo gear is OK. If the AR table is serving you adequately, then fine. I hope you’ve changed out the tone arm. A lot of people made that change.
But for speakers, there are so many, many better choices available. Your power amp has enough sheer muscle that it can drive anything. I have no idea what budget you might have, but these Avalon Acoustics Opus loudspeakers would make you happy in a way you haven’t felt in decades.
If "getting your hands dirty" in audio is fun for you, then I’d encourage you to consider the SEAS Thor kit from Madisound. By the end of the project, you’d have dropped about $2500 and would have something similar to the $13,000 Joseph Audio Perspective 2.
One more thing. I'm as old as you are. I built a Heathkit AJ-14 FM tuner back in my junior college days, then Dynaco kits when I went off to UC Berkeley. Built Hafler kits later. When I bought my first record, Lyndon Johnson was president. You really can do a lot better than the La Scala.