I was reading on the klipsch board a discussion about A-7's vs. klipsch La scala's and was wondering about the accuracy of some of the information. It seems that some of the posters who have heard these units preferred the La scala over the A-7's which I found suprising.... Also one comment that Altecs were used by bands who couldn't afford JBL's. Also A-7's which were designed for theatre use behind screens, are not suitable for hi-fi use. Any truths here??? Thanks
Sometimes, when you arrive at the realization that your life long sweetheart is actually an unscrupulous promiscuous floozy who's quite literally serviced the entire varsity football, baseball, and basketball teams in a single season, your only consolation is to willfully disrespect and rumor horrible lies about the "nice girls"............................................ so to speak.Originally Posted by juniper
Last edited by bowtie427ss; October 11th, 2012 at 05:31 PM.
Not all vegetables make good leaders.
Some truth but it's all heresay for the most part. Lascala speakers have a lot more top-end treble and go a little lower from the few pairs I've heard. But they do NOT have the midrange magic that A7 or any other Altecs had. The Lascala is a 3 way design not a 2 way like Altec A7s. The Klipsch use an Eminence woofer and most an EV T-35 tweeter. I think the only Klipsch made driver is the midrange (maybe?). If you read much on the Klipsch forums; you'll see that a LOT of people change the stock midrange from the Lascalas. Also there's a bunch of people putting Altec 511 and 811 horns in place of the original Klipsch tweets/midranges. Why would they do that if Altecs are not as good??? I don't know about the Altecs being more affordable or being the poor mans choice over JBLs either. Neither one was cheap in their time by any means. They were top dollar and ultra hi-quality; Altec & JBL were at the top of their game. Yes, A7 speakers were meant for theaters behind the screens; how do you think they got the name "voice of the theater"??? What they aren't telling you is that the Klipsch Lascala speakers were also designed for about the same reasons; for PA or vocal reproduction and then later refined somewhat for more hi-fi use. Altec A7 speakers are perfectly suitable for hi-fi with minor adjustments to the original design. One is to make the port smaller to extend the lower bass more. Others brace the cabinets more and also rework the original crossovers. Then there is people like me (I have 2 pairs of A7s) that have only unhooked the original crossover and bi-amp them using 2 amps (1 for tweets and 1 for woofers) and then I use an electronic adjustable crossover. This was a big improvement to me. A lot of people think that stock A7s have way too much midrange and I think so too. That's the way they were designed; for long distance vocal intelligibility. Think movie dialogue, etc. But the midrange extreme can be tamed and they can sound REALLY hi-fi if setup correctly. They like big spaces and sound the best in a bigger room. Hope this helps. This is only my opinion. It's all relative and there's always tradeoffs; just the way it is. What one speaker excels at, another fails at and vice versa. I'm sure others will chime in soon. I love my Altecs and everything about them, including the shorcomings and what they excel at too. The benefits of them FAR outweigh their weaknesses. Have a good one.
Last edited by hemicuda; October 11th, 2012 at 08:49 PM.
I found the sound of La-scala's painful.
And who really cares what the Klipsch crowd thinks?
Ron
Enjoying Altec Speakers since 1972
I agree also; what does it really matter? Especially if you like the sound of Altecs. I know I do!!!
I'd pick up the flag for Altec in that battle, but A7s would not be my first choice unless the only choice was between any Klipsch product and the VOTs.
People who have done their history homework know that Paul Klipsch listened to Western Electric and sold Klipsch gear to the mullets. Think PWK used those cheap-@$$ toy drivers when he had WE713s and WECo field coil gear?
But Klipsch lovers and A7/511/811 lovers are OK with me, as long as they are having a good time. What people do behind closed doors is their business...as long as I don't have to watch!
Whereof we cannot speak, thereof we must remain silent --Wittgenstein
I heard some Lascala's once, Given that Metallica was playing and I was 5 feet from them when they guy cranked them to slightly beyond deafening, They were impressive, But so are my Altecs. And given that there is no way to tell what the settings were where they listened to the A7's It's pretty much a wash. Could have been in some friends 10 x 12 bedroom for all we know.
Giving credit where it's due, PWK was an excellent businessman. He obviously put a high priority on high sensitivity, and this seems to be the chief design goal of his heritage creations with high profitability bringing up a close 2nd place. He used fairly mediocre drivers in cheaply finished enclosures and has been met with fairly continuous success for over half a century.
For me personally, i find the "cupped hands" sound of the midrange and "cheese grater" harshness of the T-35/k-77 nearly offensive across all the heritage models. However, some folks have found amplifiers whose weaknesses and shortcomings seem to offset the caveats of the heritage systems. Matching complimentary caveats is a path i choose not to follow in audio. YMMV.
Not all vegetables make good leaders.
Hah!
The K-55 is an Atlas driver, 1 3/8" threaded connection.
The LS midrange horn is designed/used for 400hz cutoff.
And of course the LF is a folded horn.
I've had both, kind of apples and oranges IMO. You can actually transport an LS, or LS split, in many cases where you can't an 828 cab.
Of all the PA/SR/whatever boxes I've had, (not in the business, but I've had a few), the Klipsch units had the best fit+finish of any of them, and were build like tanks. I have a healthy respect for their craftsmanship.
Klipsch IMO are essentially just an enclosure maker... All drivers are made by other companies AFAIK (Eminence,Atlas,EV,etc)... Klipsch makes their own cabinets and crossovers,that's it.. The K-horn and the LaScala's I didn't like too much..Too much high end... The only Klipsch I ever liked were the Cornwalls and IMHO are the best sounding out of the bunch.. But they aren't no Altec's !!!
I still own a pair of Cornwall II's. Haven't gotten around to selling them yet...
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