Our good friends on the Klipsch board.....

[Geekstar]

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!

[cradeldorf]

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.

[bowtie427ss]

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.