Hi there,
As you see in the title I’m tempted to go back from JBL L300 to La Scala – and looking for a second opinion.
I’m listening mostly to 50s-60s jazz, some blues, rock and classics.
My full systems details: http://cgi.audioasylum.com/systems/4657.html
So i used for ~4 years 1977's La Scalas and loved them very much.
the problem of weak ends was solved by pairing them to a good sub and JBL 2405 tweeters.
xover was moded to A-type and new capacitors from Bob were installed.
but for last 2 years i was with L300s powered by 300b push pull amp.
eventually i said that 2 years is enough to use La Scalas at the back of the room as a table/cupboard to put ton of small things on them and it's time for them to find a new owner.
but when i connected them i instantly remembered why i loved them so much:
1. explosive dynamics. L300 are good but can't much La Scalas especially not in the midrange - i guess that only hi efficiency speakers can do this
2. bass quality - La Scalas are super fast, not distorted, not colored and doesn’t sound "boxy"
3. Huge sound
4. Single ended amp is very easy to match, not too expensive and SET sound is very special indeed
where they lose to L300s:
1. Mid sound less detailed, “dark”, “dirty” and a bit distorted. Not a disaster – but this is where L300 excels
2. Even with JBL 2405 tweeter the treble is a bit on a hard side while L300’s treble is “gentle” (I’m not talking about roll off)
3. The cabinet vibrates – generally speaking I like coloration it ads – but in some cases it gets into resonance which is too much. Luckily it doesn’t happens very often. At least not on my kind of music.
If I could solve those problems I would let L300 in a heartbeat – and I see that La Scalas can be upgraded with a better horn, other mid drivers and possible further moded x-over.
I don’t know about B&C drivers – but I liked a timbre of those old school L300’s JBL drivers.
what other Altec/JBL mid drivers can work in La Scala?
absolutely critical for me that they remain able to work with 2 watt SET !!!!
unfortunately all those upgrades easily come up to 2,000$ which i can only fund by letting L300 go - which is not easy as it's good and rare and if eventually i will see that i need them back it's gona be costly
What do you think and what are my options here?
Many thanks, Gennady