Watch the entire hand-assembly process of our Heritage Classic product LaScala AL5 in Hope, Arkansas - from a stack of boards to a complete finished product! For more info: www.klipsch.com/products/la-scala-al-5
Still enjoy my early one piece LaScalas. They used to be great for just music but once home theater became popular they are great with movies too with addition of surround speakers and a subwoofer. So after living with them for 24 years, I would highly recommend them!
Still by far the best sounding set speakers I've ever heard ! Still working my way to being able to afford a set and I'm sure they will be worth every penny!
I have 3 Klipsch LaScalas from 1980 in my theater room and they sound amazing! Thanks for taking the time to show us what goes into making this incredible speaker.
I bet they have a better build quality too. That woofer seemed a bit cheap, small voicecoil and a plated basket, instead of an injected cast metal basket and polyester caps in the crossover. Replace those with a Silver foil one or poly propylene and this speaker would be Magic. I guess if you like there are a lot of upgrades that could be made to this speaker. But an impressive speaker none the less.
@@Pervypriest I've done full mods. - Titanium tweeter (linear and clean well beyond 20khz) - 1% tolerance crossovers, including metallized polypropylene caps The la scala with mods FAR exceeds what the factory produced up until the current titanium equipped models. That, and I run them with twin subs crossed over at 80hz.
Man, did you guys see the crossover network that went into that box? It was the beefiest that I have ever seen. Usually it's just a couple of teensy little parts stuck on a circuit board about one inch wide and two inches long. This thing looks like it belongs in a gun aiming computer on a battleship.
Anyone thinking about purchasing a pair of these. After listening to this crappy soundtrack the backing to this video. They would change their mind. I'm listening to this on my Klipsch cornwalls the music sucks. 😎
Nice video including the opening shot of a Felder shaper with stock feeder however this is not 1950, what's with the awful dust collection during machining and sanding?Those people aren't going to be enjoying their retirement, they'll be on oxygen masks.That said I have a pair of the older black one piece cabinets, 1987, great loudspeakers.
I bought my matching pair of Klipsch La Scala's way back in 1978. They have been fantastic over all of these years, and they are still perfect. Doctor George Whitehead
You know what, there is a tremendous amount of value in this construction. It's quite something and it's pleasing to see just how much effort and craft goes into the construction. Wonder if Cornwall IVs require similar levels of work?
We bought HERESY II’s ten years ago. We live in Florida and keep our home air conditioned with low humidity. The HERESY’s still sound perfect. We will likely by a set of HERESY III’s to replace the two BOSE cubes back channel speakers. We already had the cubes, gave the woofer to a BOSE enthusiast neighbor. The cubes are so incredibly inefficient. On low volume we only hear the HERESY’s. We are going to have real surround sound with four HERESY’s.
Now, THAT'S the "Klipsch" I used to know! The cheap, home theater line and lower-grade Klipsch systems that began showing up by the hundreds in stores like Walmart, Target, and even in some large DIY hardware store outlets began to make me think that Klipsch stopped trying to reach the audiophiles out there. It was disappointing to me when I heard a pair of Klipsch towers and realized that they had no presence. Small bookshelf speakers half the size but built back in the mid-80's sounded far better! The Cheap Klipsch towers that I heard were set up with the additional Klipsch theater speakers. Even with their 7.1 surround sound, home theater setup for under $2300, I felt they weren't even worth half that much! Way back in the early 80's I could only dream of the Klipsch Cornwall speakers. I couldn't afford one let alone a pair or more. But times change and with age comes some wise decisions. I'm still unable to own one of the McIntosh top-of-the line systems but I'm into analog music and Reel to Reel recorders/Players. Thankfully, Klipsch didn't surrender everything to the masses and refocused on the audiophile (the Klipsch Palladium P-39-F, for example). Anyway, I've got my decks and turntables and I have a McIntosh MC2105, which is a great amp. But I'm about to buy a Mac with more power and a Mac pre-amp to boot. Before 2024 is over, I'm hoping to have that basic McIntosh system and at least one pair of the LaScala AL5s! The only thing slowing me down are the "unforeseen variables" that life throws at you. I make it a point to be as financially prepared as reasonably possible for those unpredictable events. So, I can't drain the piggy bank too fast! FWIW Rich
They're nice if you like the sound of a horn-loaded speaker. I sold Klipsch speakers in the 1970's and back then, high power amplifiers were anything over 100 watts and they were expensive. The Klipsch speakers could be driven to high volumes by a 30 watt amp making them very desirable in a music system. Today, there are far more accurate speakers that don't have the directional, horn-loaded, characteristics of the La Scala. I've owned Heresy and Forte speakers, but got tired of the horn sound. I have B&W 802's and far prefer the more neutral and accurate sound of the B&W's. However, they require a high current amp to drive them correctly.
@@philipwebb960 and you dont understand the key word here is HEAT!+a alu basket is much more rigid.there is a reason why top speaker brands only use cast baskets.if it didnt matter hell they could spare a ton of money using steel instead.get your facts straight.
With instruments, e.g. guitars, you have to distinguish why you use which wood. For example a Gibson ES175 was the first electric jazz guitar made of plywood. The aim was to reduce the resonance feedback to the speaker. Plywood also offers a more even resonance distribution than hardwood. Hardwood guitars sound louder when played acoustically, but the weak point may be that they may have resonance peaks that give each chord a constant resonance tone, which does not always sound nice. Therefore you need highest level of craftmanship to finetune the woods before gluing it together, like a violin maker does it. The Gibson L5 for example is a hardwood guitar. It was developed in the 1920's when amplifiers were not yet available. It had to be acoustically strong in a band. This model was built until recently, also as Wes Montgomery model with only one pick up. In the 1940s it was equipped with pick ups so it was converted into an electrical model but with an acoustic heritage. Of course it is a wonderful guitar, but much more difficult to make acoustically even re the resonances than a plywood guitar. And for example an ES335 would not sound at all as a hardwood guitar. I have 1980's La Scala and 2008 Klipsch Jubilee speakers. They are plywood and they sound very musical. A hardwood speaker, on the other hand, would add unsightly booming frequencies. Plywood has always been used for bass horns of all brands. MDF also works, but in my opinion it has no sound advantages. It is easier to work with. It has very much weight, which is a pain. That's why the MDF La Scala is divided into two speaker cabinets, because nobody could lift or move this MDF speaker as a single speaker system. I would also like to mention that the Klipsch heritage series has gotten better and better in sound. The plastic K401 sounds more neutral than the old cast metal mid horns. The tweeter is significantly improved (that's why I added LaScala Bob Crites tweeters in my 1980s). And I'm glad that the bass driver, which is very well tuned to the speaker, is still used. It really can be made of stamped metal. That doesn't matter in the horn system. The loudspeaker sounds great, then at its time and now contemporary as well. There are some people who say that the transition from the middle horn to the bass is much more open and seamless in the La Scale than in the Klipschorn.
I have yet to hear one of these sets but I’ve heard great things. I own a couple klipsch products like the 2.1 desktop speaker setup and my more recent purchase, an R12SW for my surround sound system. Now that is a great subwoofer for the money in my opinion.
Can anyone confirm (or refute) that the bass section of the LaScala is fully horn-loaded, and contains no bass-reflex porting? At 01:08 and again at 02:47 we see a round hole, approximately 4” dia opposite the trapezoidal opening for the bass speaker (thus on the BOTTOM of the finished enclosure). The trapezoidal opening on top receives a plug, but we don’t really see what happens with the round hole. Presumably it is for wire passage, and is also filled?
A bit late but I can confirm that it is a true horn system with no bass reflex port. The newer one like in this video have a different access for wiring, but the older one piece La Scalas did not have that round access point.
@@Broadpaw_Fox Thank You - that's great info. One of the interesting things about these threads is that they can often remain "live" for very long periods (years sometimes) and there is no problem in responding months after an initial post. Not everything in the electronic age disappears in 2 milliseconds, and interested people remain interested in useful discussion, even if Kourtney Kardashian wouldn't be seen dead in something she wore a day ago!
E uma honra para mim poder falar destas caixas de som. simplesmente e maravilhosa gostaria muito de ouvir o som dela deve ter com certeza muita qualidade .meus parabéns para os construtores delas . um forte abs a todos ai.
As a woodworker I can confirm that tape is the perfect method for mitred corners that do not use a spline or a profile such as a glue joint.Clamps will cause the pieces to come out of alignment without splines or glue joint profile.
Back in middle and high school, we used strap clamps which would hold any angle. The only disadvantage is if you tighten them too much, they would compress the wood leaving a mark that you had to sand off. That’s risky when dealing with veneer like this.
It's used when you assemble a box and have the walls pre-cut. You apply the tape and just "fold" the walls together. Very easy to do and also very easy to get a perfect edge since the pieces won't move.
if you knew anything about speaker design, you’d know that MDF is much better for building boxes. It’s much heavier than wood and when it vibrates more of the acoustic energy is turned into kinetic energy compared to wood, which reduces the sound of the cabinet. If klipsch were really trying to save money they would use cheaper hardwood because you don’t have to buy a veneer and you don’t have to have someone install the veneer and it would be much lighter.
you should probably do a better job at sealing your trunk from rain. Do you have any other ridiculous scenarios that you think are important? How about this: Take a piece of MDF and a piece of plywood. Make a speaker box out of each, and see which one sounds better. HOLY COW now theres an idea!?!? Build a SOUND system to SOUND good!?!? also not all MDF is created equal. Some are higher density some are lower density. and 3/4" MDF is pretty damn strong. Yes plywood is stronger, but it has bad acoustic properties. Bottom line is that MDF is better for speaker poxes period.
@@nickparkin8527 That's why every wood instrument from a Violin to a Piano is made from plywood. I never seen one made of glued sawdust. A hard wood plywood has been proven to have better acoustical properties over partial board.
@@G82Balive yes for an instrument, whose job is to resonate and create sound. For an acoustic guitar, the bracing inside the guitar matters more than the wood. also, they aren't made from "plywood". steinway uses house made-laminated maple, not cheap plywood. Furthermore the guitar I'm building like most guitars are made from solid mahogany (solid wood). An instrument is designed to resonate, while with a speaker, you want to minimize resonance.
Is this one of those products that are assembled here in the United States but the cabinets are made somewhere else the speakers are produced somewhere else the Crossovers are produced somewhere else and it's just a symbol to here in the United States when we are able to make the cabinets here we are able to make the speaker's here we are able to make the Crossovers here everything that they have we can always make here in the United States every single piece can be made here in the United States and they still charge an arm and a leg for those speakers when I can turn around and for a fraction the coerced build a pair myself
Uh-oh, better hope the thought police don't read this comment ;-) ... I imagine it would be hard to find many professional-looking skilled woodworkers willing to work an assembly line job in Hope, Arkansas. Wikipedia lists median household income at $25k.
I grew up in Louisiana and these workers looked like an average bunch of blue collar workers little different from what I was used to seeing when I lived in that part of the country. Seriously, have you ever been to a furniture factory, particularly one in the South. These workers looked like the standard general issue workers in that kind of industry. If they look like convicts to you, I think that may say more about your particular set of preconceptions than about the workers.
@@scottielambert9312 Garbage in, garbage out. If the music has been poorly mixed and/or mastered, Klipsch speakers don't hide the flaws. Neither do they hide any amplifier noise or distortion.
Nice lil speakers. If you want the sound experience Paul Klipsh was ultimately shooting for, you must hear the Klipshorns or AK-6s. I've had a pair for the last 44 yrs and listen to daily. There's no better anywhere
Der Klang ist definitiv super....aber wenn ich mir ansehe wie die Personen die Lautsprecher zusammen bauen...muss ich an minderwertige Handwerkskunst denken.Kein Vergleich zu TAD ...etc...was die Optik und Qualität angeht.
