Features
La Scala AL5: The original La Scala was developed as a more portable Klipschorn to serve as a public address speaker for the 1963 gubernatorial campaign of Winthrop Rockefeller. Like the Klipschorn, it displays extremely high sensitivity and is a fully horn-loaded, three-way speaker featuring a shorter, two-fold bass horn that can operate independently of listening room corners. As a result, the La Scala's only sonic compromise as compared to the Klipschorn is a slightly higher bass cutoff.
3-Way Design: The Klipsch La Scala AL5 consists of two speaker cabinets. There is a top loudspeaker cabinet which consists of a newly-designed, highly-efficient Tractrix horn tweeter with an extremely high 109 dB sensitivity, plus a horn-loaded 2" phenolic diaphragm compression midrange driver for powerful highs and mid frequencies. The Klipsch 90° X 40° Tractrix horn's high-frequency performance creates a mammoth sound, bringing the most subtle nuances to the forefront of your listening experience. The bottom loudspeaker cabinet houses a 15" fiber-composite woofer with a folded horn for smooth bass response. The top cabinet gets placed on top of the bottom cabinet.
Book-Matched Wood Veneers: Klipsch only uses book-matched wood veneers for the Heritage series. Each pair of La Scala AL5 loudspeakers is grain-matched using wood veneer panels that come from the same timber. The veneer leaves are kept in order as they are delicately sliced from the timber and precisely arranged to provide a mirror image at the splice joint - like turning the pages of a book. This gives each speaker a more aesthetically appealing and consistent appearance that is treasured more than any other cut of wood veneer. Each cabinet is carefully matched so that each speaker in the pair is practically indistinguishable from the other. The speakers move seamlessly together through the factory. Each finished product is inspected and labeled with sequential serial numbers, ensuring that each pair of speakers leave the factory as a meticulously crafted set.
Dual Binding Posts: The speaker has two sets of binding posts connected by jumpers. Using the dual binding posts, you can bi-amp or bi-wire the speakers (make sure to remove the jumpers in this scenario). The binding post terminals will accept banana plugs (single only), pin-connectors, spade-connectors, and bare wire (up to 10AWG). The binding posts are located on the back of the top speaker cabinet. There is a wire that feeds down internally from the top speaker cabinet to the bottom speaker cabinet.
- Bi-Wiring: Bi-wiring can provide noticeable improvements in the overall transparency of your loudspeakers. Run separate speaker wires to the low & high frequency drivers from a single amplifier (the upper set of binding posts are for the high frequency drivers; the lower set of binding posts are for the low frequency drivers).
- Bi-Amping: Bi-amping allows you to use separate amplifiers for the high & low frequency sections of your loudspeaker for greater dynamic range & lower distortion. We recommend that your separate amplifiers have identical gain to preserve the speaker's voicing balance.
Note: If you decide to bi-wire or bi-amp, you must remove the jumpers between the terminal posts (failure to do this could result in damage to your amplifier and loudspeakers).
Placement Options: The Klipsch La Scala AL5 features a self-contained, front-firing, folded bass horn to permit placement out of the corner if required. However, because this model has less bass extension than the Klipschorn, the low frequency acoustic reinforcement of corner placement is optimal. The La Scala AL5 also offers full flexibility with regard to the amount of toe-in for the desired stereo image. Deep bass performance may also be augmented with a high performance Klipsch subwoofer (sold separately).
- Place in the corners of a common wall 13' to 17' apart and position them equidistant from the wall behind the speakers.
- Angle speakers toward the listener and even with or forward of any adjacent obstructions.
- Placing them near a corner or wall provides the greatest amount of bass while moving the speakers away from room boundaries reduces bass.
- Asymmetrical placement of a pair of speakers from adjacent side walls can smooth room-induced bass unevenness.
Heritage Series (Made in the USA): The Klipsch Heritage Series is built and handmade in the USA at Klipsch's manufacturing facility in Hope Arkansas. They are meticulously handcrafted and assembled using the finest quality materials, even down to the highest-grade adhesives and fasteners (no detail goes unnoticed). Each Heritage Series loudspeaker utilizes Klipsch proprietary horn-loaded technology to bring a live music listening experience into the home. All Heritage Series loudspeakers are available in a variety high-quality wood veneers. Klipsch Heritage loudspeakers are built to rock the house and stand the test of time. This is a speaker that will be handed down for generations to come.
4 Principles of Klipsch Sound: Paul W. Klipsch believed four principles to be the foundation for great sound. They continue to drive the design of every new Klipsch speaker, today and tomorrow.
- High Efficiency & Low Distortion: Klipsch horn technology is highly efficient, providing more accurate sound with less power and less distortion - resulting in louder, cleaner audio. Klipsch's Law: Efficiency is inversely proportional to distortion.
- Controlled Directivity: Klipsch horn technology accurately directs sound to the proper locations, which, in turn, creates a more lifelike soundstage without wasting acoustic energy where sound is not needed or desired.
- Wide Dynamic Range: The softest sounds are reproduced with remarkable clarity and the loudest sounds are delivered without harshness or distortion - with the greatest possible range between the softest and loudest sounds.
- Flat Frequency Response: Audio is delivered without frequency bias - no unnatural highs, mids or lows - reproducing recorded sound as accurately as possible without colorization.
