I got a notification and dropped my jaw. You guys take comparisons to another level. So cool of you guys to do this for us. Awesome work guys! Thanks so much!
Great vid ! I worked for a dealer that carried all the Klipsch Heritage. In fact our store owner had Rosewood Klipschorns powered by Accuphase in his living room. Both these systems are excellent and have gone through small improvements since their creation. The klipschorn still left the largest impression on me ofall the systems. I still believe it was Paul Klipsch's best system.
I am finally renovating my basement HT setup. Going with a 13 channel setup. Have ordered K-horn 6 for mains and AL5 for a center. Still putting the rest together. 12' wide screen. Gonna be sweet, and can't wait.
3/2024: Good Day. I found you guys a few months ago. I love your presentations, most of the music that you play and when you get right down to the details & even take speakers apart. You two and this web site is very enjoyable. I have also become a lover of the LaScala AL5, over everything else. I presently am using a pair of old Polk TSi500 tower speakers & 2 Polk 12" powered sub woofers. They really do a nice job though. I would love to ultimately purchase the LaScala's one day. They are on hold because of a Fender Ultra HSS Stratocaster, a Fender Twin Reverb and a Fender Super Reverb that I bought over the past year and a half. My Wife would change my Voice to Falsetto if I bought the LaScala's right now. Thanks & Best Regards.
I remember the first time I heard corner horns, the salesman hit the power button and the only way I can describe it was that the "timber" of the room changed. I have never experienced that with any other speaker. Due to cost and WAF, sadly, I have never been able to own these fine transducers, unfortunately.
This is why I have 4 music rooms. I need different rooms for different music tastes. Similar to food tastes. Stove, fryer, grill and smoker. Food and music is a passion. Give some love to all these guys. Thank you.
Some people are starving, homeless and don’t have medical care in the U.S. and yet you have others with “4 music rooms” (!). A nice country where anybody can live the American Dream… 😂
As a Klipschorn owner I would say this comparison would have been better if you had "toed-in" the La Scala's. The experience would have been improved with sound stage and overall enjoyment. Just my two cents.
I find it simply amazing that even with all the video compression and streaming compression that this video is actually clear and quality enough to actually hear a difference between the Ls and Kh speakers even blind,, having a pair of khorns I wanna hear some scala's they seem a bit more bassy
They are both awesome but, with the right room, not much can compete with the Khorn. There is one speaker out there that would contest that fact...Make sure you're subscribed, KHorn vs Jubilee coming soon :)
Amazing! At this level it's like comparing Michael Jordan to Labron James. Too great choices but it's a matter of splitting hairs in order to pick out very subtle flaws in a pair of great speakers that are so small that they're almost noneinexistent. I just ordered a pair of Forte's and even though I'm overjoyed with my purchase I'm also greatly humbled by the amazing performance of these two far superior speakers.
That comparison, a piano vs. a recording played in the same room, is the one I want to hear. Piano is what I listen to most. But, now we are mixing in the recording equipment.
Those Klipschorns should be pushed right tight into the corners sealed back be dammed Paul designed them to preform and use the walls as final fold of the bass cabinet. Then there would be no contest , should a done that just say'in.
We actually did end up towing them back for the second half of the video. Didn't have the rear camera on at this point but, after listening for a bit, we re-adjusted the setup/couch/everything. You can see this come in around the 11 minute mark in the video.
@@TopShelfAudio Hi not trying to be a jerk but from the video all I see is they are not tight in the corner but you changed the arrangement and did not film it, so I assumed that the speakers were still facing forward and not pushed back into the corner. Sorry it bothers me when I see Khorns not placed properly when someone does a review I've seen it before and it erks me. Thank you for the response I have been a Klipschorn owner for 40 years and I'll never part with them, best thing I ever purchased. Keep up the good work guy's and take care.
@@killifish13 not being a jerk at all! You're 100% correct. They need that corner to perform at their best. Feedback is always welcome. We want these to be as accurate as possible :)
@@killifish13 ...With the new Khorn, you get some give...with the back sealed, the horn is complete with the back 8 or so inches away from the corner. The low end wave at the corner is completed with the cabinet not tight in the corner...thus it works. This was done first in the 80s TCSM.
@@killifish13 I have played with my homebuild khorn and no amount of sealing it to the back wall etc. really changes the bass output at all (I've done measurements). It's all a matter of how long the horn is. It's going to be 10db down at 30 hz compared to upper bass.
Loved the way you guys played different songs. I’m sold,my dream speakers are Khorns.I will work hard, save money, and pray, when the time is right I WILL buy them.
Thank you for watching! Happy to help in any way we can. Hope your dreams come true some day soon. Let us know when you're ready to pull the trigger and we can help there too! :) -Jason
One of the big takeaways I got here is that speaker placement and positioning is key. I think Steve Gutenberg is the one that said “the speakers play the room”...or something to that effect.
Yes, Klipsch speakers that are all horn, from my experience, don't seem to interact with the room as piston driver speakers. They seem to react more with each other. Positioning with these speakers seems to make or break them. I have had luck with having them closer together than other speakers that I have tried. If you stand next to or behind a lascala, it is significantly quieter vs a box speaker with cone drivers or even more so a dipole speaker. With that being said, room acoustics is king. This is my based on my experience and nothing with measurements. Just some listening impressions.
100%. Speaker placement is essentially setting the stage. With speakers where you can close your eyes and hear the band playing live in front of you... and you can hear where each artist is on the stage, the positioning plays a huge role. Additionally, with the Klipschorns, that 4th fold/corner loading brings you in as part of the speaker. It puts you inside of the speaker to a degree.
@@TopShelfAudio exactly! The room walls are an integrated part of the transducer. if you cant place them there and get optimum sound, find a room that will!
Sounds great guys. Wish I had a big enough house !! I’ll have to stick with my shiny new Cornwall iv’s for now !! Still waiting for possible Heresy and subs vs Cornwalls Thanks for what you do !
There is a fan maintained spreadsheet floating around on the forums that have a pretty good estimate, should be fairly easy to find with some searches. -- Cory
That's probably because there's a bunch of hard surfaces. Fortunately it's not really noticeable when you're in the room. Using an open mic is tho. Unfortunately we're already moved so yeah it's not getting fixed.
Interesting how people heard differently. Through my laptop, the la scala sounded more full and more mid bass. The klispchorn sounded very thin and no bass or midbass.
The device you are watching on for sure effects what you are hearing. As does the microphone and the room. Best bet to determine what is best for you is to always listen in person before you buy. That said, Can't go wrong with either unit here. :)
Only problem here is, if you're trying to do an A-B comparison between the two pairs of speakers, having two pairs of speakers these big in the same listening area will mess up the acoustics. The mere presence of the other pair influences the listening field. You need to have only one pair of speakers present at a given time.
There is definitely truth to this comment. That said, the positives outweigh the negatives here....At least in our opinion. With audio memory being so short, having them in the same environment is key for rapid switching/hearing the subtle differences. If we had to change the entire room between switches, it would be impossible to hear these differences with any level of accuracy. -Jason
The La Scalas are "small" enough that you could have set them directly in front of the Khorns for the same width, although they'd be a bit closer to you. It's not often you get to refer to La Scalas as small.
@@TopShelfAudio Well, in the KHorn history video, we did learn the KHorn was originally designed to be a compact version of the speaker PWK was trying to recreate. :)
very nice comparison, I can hear an echo when you are talking, do you think the acoustics of the room was able to get the proper sound of each speaker?
It's not really an issue for the sake of this video. However if you want to donate a bunch of nice panels and a professional design so we can do better next time, I can send you our PayPal or Venmo address.
The setup might make the sound more even for two listeners but you are shooting the Khorns in the foot right out the gate by not positioning them as there were designed to be. Great video, just an opinion.
The guy doing the positioning is Trey Cannon, long time Klipsch engineer who knew PWK and has forgotten more about Klipschorns than you or I will ever know.
The Khorns definitely have a higher pitch top end of anything sounds like the khorn are more colorful tho I may have a wrong idea for what something colorful sounds like and to me the lascalla sounds more natural and warm and smooth. Edit that was my impression of the first couple songs but after listing to the rest I think I favor the khorn. Sometimes it does also seem like the lascalla can get deeper but I think the khorn comes off as sounding better because of the voicing of it, not as warm more trebly sound which makes it sound more crispy which to a lot of people can make it sound better.
In the beginning it was. At about 11.5 minutes, you can see we reconfigure the setup and our listening position. Definitely helps a great deal. The LS are happy almost anywhere. The KH are far more picky but, once you find the sweet spot, they blow you away. -Jason
Hi Guys. Enjoyed the video. The Khorn was noticeably better than the La scala. Both are great though. Normally on this style of video and only using my laptop speakers to here the differences i would have a hard time discerning the difference. In this case it was apparent the Khorns were better. I'm not sure if i would call the La scalas colored. The sound is more boxier. Its like your hearing reverberations of the enclosure. I have older Klipschorns and Belles. I get similar sounds that you guys experienced. Personally i think the La Scalas are a compromised Khorn in all honesty. As you obviously are well versed in Klipsch the La scala was built for being robust and easier to move around. So a compromise had to happen somewhere. That being said were splitting hairs here. Bottom line is they both blow away most speakers.
Thanks for watching and for your thoughts! The KH is amazing in the right environment. The LS is awesome as well but significantly less picky on room and placement. Typically my recommendation to anyone that asks is, KH all the way every time ***if your space allows them to shine***. If not, LS will still blow you away, while being fairly forgiving in almost any environment. -Jason
Interesting. I like your friendship and will to test it as friends the most! It is hard to say which one is better, la scala sounds in bass little boxy, but KH little thin but cleaner, little less effortless but it is just recording and only live listening will tell the truth to the listener.
Thanks for watching! They are both amazing for sure. Typically I lean more toward the KHorn *if* you have the correct room and can accommodate corner placement. If placement is challenging or if, for any other reason, the space doesn't allow, then LS are a very close second and never disappoint by any means. -Jason
Salve vi chiedo un grande consiglio, ho delle La Scala prima serie, farei un grandepasso in avanti prendendo le AL5 ? Grazie e complimenti per i vostri video.
we like the AL5 yes. it's voiced smoother plus the cabinet looks significantly nicer due to the tops and bottoms being made out of the same piece and now having the waterfall effect.
Thanks for watching! We are somewhat limited on music selection as, we can only share the parts where we listen to music we have the rights to play. We do post tracks in the description though so, you can look them up and familiarize yourself. We use the same tracks in almost every test. -Jason
Great videos, guys. I've watched them all with great pleasure. Thank you for that. I have a few questions, and I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me with them. Currently, I own the Cornwall 4 with tube amplifiers. There is a good chance that I will soon have the opportunity to exchange the CW4 for the AL-5 or the AK-6. Unfortunately, I don't have the right room for placing the Klipschorn in the corners. However, my hi-fi dealer says that this is no longer necessary with the latest Khorn model. They can be placed with one side against the wall and the other side in the open space. That's how they have set up the demo speakers as well, with one side against the wall and the other side in the empty space. Now, I hear you say in the video that the latest Khorn still absolutely needs to be placed in the corner. My living room is 12 meters by 5.5 meters. The ceiling is 2.75 meters high. I would like to place the Khorns in the middle of the long wall, with one side tightly against the wall and the other side in the open space. Now I have a few questions: - What is your opinion on this? Will the Khorn still sound great, even though it would perform slightly better if placed tightly in the corners? Or do you think that with this setup, the Khorns will compromise too much on quality and that I should go for the La Scala instead? - If I set up the Khorns this way, what will I potentially miss out on? Just a bit less bass? Or does it affect the entire sound of the speaker? - If I do go for the La Scala, do you believe this speaker combines well with a subwoofer? I've read many comments saying that no sub blends well with the La Scala. Also, which subwoofer would you recommend? (I only listen to music, mainly acoustic music, jazz, blues, vocals) Thank you very much in advance for your help 👍🏻
the klipschorn could still use a corner. the backs were mostly added so you didn't need a tight seal. They can still be used without a corner but the bass won't be as prominent. Even normal speakers like a Cornwall will benefit from more pronounced bass in a corner.
Unfortunately I don’t have corners for k horns but I’m still going for the ls’s. I really appreciate your review, but one more question comes up for me going for ls…is there a big difference between the ls ii vs al5? Thanks again!
Thanks for watching! There is for sure a difference between the generations over the years both cosmetically as well as acoustically. Rather than type/have you read though, check out this other video. I worked with the Klipsch team a while back to help create their beyond the specs series. Mark Casavant does a great job talking about the AL5 here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-egkjScjWzMk.html Hope this helps! -Jason
^ Truth ^ Honestly it depends on what you are listening to and what your needs are. They perform excellently without a sub but, a sub never seems to hurt. ;) Honestly while listening though, I wasn't missing a sub. I really wasn't left wanting for anything at all.
During the first track we don't introduce which is playing to avoid bias and remove distraction. In the second track we add in a label to show you which is playing. This starts a little before the 10 minute mark. hope this helps. :) -Jason
Late to respond on this but just a quick question. Looking at either La Scala or AK6, with AK6, based on everything I've read is a little more picky on placement, having a front wall of 30' , would placing AK6's that far apart diminish things?
The AK6 are for sure more picky on placement than the LS *but* if your room will allow for corner placement/can be configured correctly, I would go with the KHorns. That said, you will want to look at more than just the length of the front wall though. The depth of the room, whether or not is is an open configuration, seating placement, and other items will come into play as well. Give Cory or Steven at Paducah Home Theater a shout with room dims and a more in depth description and they can help you make that final decision. Let me know what you go with though and throw some pics up on the Klipsch owners facebook page when you're done. I'd love to see the completed project!! :) -Jason
@@blakewilliams2198 it's not the width alone that I'd consider to be an issue here, it's the angles. It's not the bass I'd be concerned with. It sounds like they'd be 30' apart and you'd be sitting 15' or closer from the wall they are on. Any speaker set up at extreme angles like that may not do so well with imaging and whatnot. These latest generation K-horns have sealed backs so you can actually scoot them in. The bass response will suffer somewhat but moving to La Scala's will do the same or worse. La Scala's and a couple of nice punchy subs would do the trick though. We have sold several setups with dual SB-3000's and people are happy with them. -- Cory
As with any system, and any room, there are compromises to be made to give the most fair comparison. While no room or setup is perfect, we try to offer the most fair comparison between the units. -Jason
This is mostly just to say that this channel, like Paducah Home Theater itself, was designed to provide accurate information in a world where opinions are being sold as fact. We strive to provide accurate information regardless of if it helps or hurts the sale of a speaker.
We were very careful on placement of both units as, when comparing side by side, the speakers could actually interfere with each other and, to a degree, block the signal path. While we would likely set the room different for a straight 2-channel listening, we have to work with the space that we have available. -Jason
I really enjoy your videos. Great job But I don’t understand, same tweeter, same midrange, heck even same woofer in the La Scala and Klipschorn. And yet the La Scala spec sheets says it goes 5Hz - 20Hz while the Klipschorn only does 33Hz - 20Hz. And lets not even go where if you added a good sub (SVS PB12 as I have), it negates the lower end all together (below 80Hz). And lets consider IF you were to use something like Pioneer MCACC to equalize them, what would of been the results?
There's NO speaker that can do 5hz, except for maybe the custom built Cerwin Vegas that were made to shake the movie theaters when the film Earthquake was released, and you wouldn't want it anyway, unless you want to crack your walls and foundations as those CVs did in many of those theaters. The La Scala's spec sheet has a typo. It should read 50-20khz. When you get lower than around 20hz, most of us can't hear that low, and even if you can, it's just a low rumble, not a musical pitch. The only instruments that go that low are maybe kettle drums, the lowest keys on a piano, which have no real pitch, and the 32ft. pipe on giant pipe organs that produce a 16hz tone, and maybe some synths. There may be explosions and other sound effects in movies with very low pitches, but you don't want to be exposed to those frequencies at high levels unless you want permanent damage to your ears, like military people that operate giant anti-aircraft guns, and other huge artillery without using hearing protection. There are very few home speakers that can go down to 20hz, and those that can are in the $20k or more price category.
@@DougMen1 Duh, I just slapped my forehead. I should of caught that. Thanks. But is my point still valid? Add a really decent sub woofer and both speakers would be the same? And especially when you add in using either Pioneer MCACC or Audyssey. I love Klipsch but I do find the high end can seem a little bright and hence the need to equalize them. Now let the purist bring out their pitchforks and torches to burn down my village.
On the spec sheet, I don't believe its a typo but more of a misreading. It states 51hz and the 1 blends a bit with the rest of the characters so, at first glance, it's easy to mistake for a 5 by itself. The KHorn gets lower due to the additional fold in the horn as well as corner loading to improve lower frequencies. The LaScala has the advantage of not requiring a corner though so, it's more versatile. As for the sub addition, there is so much to be said about this topic. Too much to cover here but, I believe we will be doing a few "this speaker + sub VS other speaker with no sub" in later episodes. We've had a lot of requests for this especially in the Heresy department. If equalizing, the results would be much closer. As you mentioned, the componentry is very similar so we would be very close in tone. That said, the crossover will play a huge roll here as well. Telling what components to do what and how they function within their spectrum makes a difference as well.
Lascalla is mid 50 hzto 20k (factory specs) in real world you can expect around 60 to 18.5 k depending on room and setup. Khorns rated at 33hz to 20k in perfect setup. Real world is about 40 to 19 depending on how perfect the diaphragm and lens are. Lab specs and real world are vastly different.
Thanks for watching! I'm not sure we will get into any of these as, I really believe they would blow away almost any other powered monitor in the lineup. Maybe if they come out with a gen 2 or something in the future...or, something comparable, but as of right now, not sure of a good/fair matchup. -Jason
Did I miss it or did they not say which one was which. Like when they changed back and forth they weren’t clear on which one was playing when and I found myself guessing which one was which or did I miss something.o ok they just didn’t in the first recording.
We like to give you a chance to listen and guess which is which first to avoid bias. A few songs in, we start to label each switch. In this particular video, the labels come in around the 9-10 minute mark.
If one were to build a room around a set of K-Horns. What would that (LxWxH) room look like? I'm just guessing here but, I'd imagine there has to be a recipe for an acoustically perfect room.
While I'm sure there is a perfect room scenario for these, I don't believe this has ever been specified. More than anything else, the proportions of the room need to be taken into consideration. This would be a great question for Roy should we ever lock him in for an interview. It is typically recommended that the corners should be/the speakers should be spaced 10-15ft apart from eachother. If they are going to be further apart, adding a center channel such as the LaScala is recommended as opposed to going purely 2 channel.
A drug store owner in Arkadelphia built a house and got Paul Klipsch to help him design the listening room. There are a lot of stories about Paul Klipsch around there. I met him once. He was a nice guy.
Thanks for watching! We didnt start taking things apart until this season. We may have to go back and start pulling apart heritage to show internal components if we have enough requests for it. -Jason
My LaScala’s are 37+ years old, both of the woofers are blown in each. Is it possible for those to be repaired, that someone else that fixes speakers could do. I live in the Philippines now, that’s where the speakers are.
I would recommend either pulling the driver, or doing a model search with your serial to see which exact version it is. I unfortunately do not have a recommendation for driver replacement in the Philippines but, getting a model number could hopefully give you a jump off point to start your search. If new replacements are unavailable, you may have to search for secondary options such as ebay or similar. -Jason
Hey guys love your videos, i would love to have khorn and have a dedicated music room at the bottom of the house, but not underground, was wondering or am concerned about the size of my room 20 feet by 16 feet and 8 feet high, just carpets and the ceiling is concrete panels, walls are plaster with only one side window, do you think they would fit or is it to small. Thanks for advice.
Thanks for watching! Based on the short description you've provided, I don't see a problem at all. I'm pretty sure the first time I heard them was in a room much smaller than that in a Klipsch HQ demo room and I was completely blown away. Room treatment will be key but it can for sure be done! Feel free to give Cory or Steven at Paducah Home Theater a call if you have any deeper questions. They'd be happy to assist further! ...Also, post some pictures on the Klipsch Owners Facebook page when you're done! Would love to see the setup! :) -Jason
Thanks for this! I also do all my recording myself. My channel is a one-man recording studio channel. I'm going to get myself a pair of Khorns made in a year or two, and I can't wait to hear my stuff on them!! *edit: I'm actually going to take a week off of work to go to the Hope factory when I buy the Khorns. I live in south-central missouri, so it's not far.
In normal times, we can arrange a factory pickup. Actually it's at the distribution center down the road. However with COVID spiking, they're pretty weird about things right now, this wouldn't be a possibility for awhile. Hopefully in a year or two things will be back to normal and they won't mind. Keep in mind that Klipsch does not stock Klipschorns, they are all built to order, so you'll have to call us up, place your order, then show up when they are finished and have been transferred to the distribution center, which usually averages about 6 weeks sometimes 8 weeks later. -- Cory
@@TopShelfAudio I had heard 8 weeks, so yes that was built into the plan. First I'm getting myself and the wife lasik laser vision surgery, so the k-horns won't be for a year or so; with any luck, covid will let up.
It was back and forth for me with what we listened to. I would probably go with the LS due to spatial constraints but, if I had the right room, there is no replacement for the KH. -Jason
No problem at all! I'm guessing this particular unit is about 20 years old so, honestly, don't know if it is still manufactured. I'm sure there are other comparable units on the market today but if you're looking at this exact model, you may try ebay or similar used markets.
My personal opinion is that unless you're on a strict budget or have no usable corners or just happen to love the La Scala history or how it looks, there is no reason to not get the Klipschorns given the choice. -- Cory
The difference in this vid. and the others is the ROOM. This room is massive. 12 ft ceilings, 25x30 or so. In the other locations the room IS MUCH smaller. The mic is picking this difference up. We are also about 20ft from the speakers. In the other rooms, 12Ft. Are there ways to get better recordings of what we hear? Sure. Will you tell the difference when listening on your phone? No...PC? No, Big system? No. YOU HAVE to be there. GO hear for yourself.
For sure better in person. These are made for our commentary. We always recommend hearing the speakers in person before deciding what you would like in your own home. -Jason
Do it! You will not regret it. Give Cory at Paducah Home Theater a call when you're ready. Pretty sure he has them in stock and ready to ship and can have them on your doorstep in a couple of days. Tell him we sent ya :)
These aren't just local musicians. They are friends of and we have connections to them through Klipsch. Some of these are actually the same musicians that Roy/Klipsch use to test and setup their systems. -Jason
Gotcha. Yeah, this was more of a technical error than anything else. Trey was fidgeting with the volume while I (Jason) was switching back and forth between the speakers. Got a little weird there for a minute.
It did when we were shooting this. Just a bit difficult to hear through the mic/on RU-vid. These are mostly made for the commentary. Everyone should hear these in person as well. :)
I love your guys approach to this demonstration but nothing sounds like actually be in the room of the speakers...Ian sure people on t he channel realize your can't replicate audio on this or any format...Gotta be there live.......Plus you have to have all components set up to manufactures spec.......
Thanks for watching! We agree completely and try to say it at least once in every video...hear them in person. These videos are primarily for the commentary. There is no alternative to hearing with your own ears! :) -Jason
Honestly they share a lot more similarities than they do differences. Identical mid and LF driver but with less folds on the LF. If you have the place for them, KH, if you dont have the ideal room for them though, LS are the way to go. -Jason
