I thought I'd take advantage of Afterimage's post to throw in my two cents' worth on the La Scalas as well.
Late last year I took a flyer and purchased a pair of La Scala floorstanders sight unseen and sound unheard. It took an effort on Vinnie's part as I'd never purchased audio equipment over the internet and I wasn't about to part with $5,400 without some serious hand holding.
Well, between Vinnie, a positive review by Ralph Werner, and a favorable disposition toward WLM products at 6moons, I did, in fact, part with the money. So how's it working out? While I'm certainly in no position to write knowledgably about loudspeakers, there are a few observations I can make.
Presence
By far the most impressive characteristic of the La Scalas is something I can only define as "presence." It's a quality where the source of the sound appears to be in the room itself rather than coming from a box in the room. No other speaker I'm familiar with so removes itself from the music. I assume this quality is mostly due to the La Scalas' midrange competency since it's most obvious with pianos, horns, and voices, but it's striking at the upper and lower registers as well. It's quite a revelation to listen to music rather than to loudspeakers making music.
Bass Performance
In his review, Ralph Werner mentioned the outstanding bass performance of the speakers. It took me awhile to get it, but now I understand what he was saying. My own taste in bass developed through listening mostly to a pair of JBL L200s from the 1970s. These made big sound and the monster 15 inchers could dig oh so deep. What I got used to was a meaty, dark, wet bass. Needless to say, with an 8 inch mid/bass driver, the La Scala's bass performance isn't going to be the same. At first this bothered me, but after playing with spike heights and port donuts, I am no longer disappointed. The La Scalas definitely put out a different kind of bass than the big JBLs. Compared to the JBLs, La Scala bass is tighter, dryer, and more detailed. The 8 inchers deliver less punch but you can hear deeper into the bass (for example, you can hear bass strings clearly being plucked and the woodiness of a cello comes through). What you lose in absolute bass thump you gain in detail. It's a fair trade and no less satisfying.
Treble Performance
I'm kind of a back-to-basics guy so an old-fashioned paper cone tweeter appeals to me. I run a tube amp and preamp and had some concern that perhaps these in combination with a low tech tweeter would result in muddy sound. That's not the case. While the La Scalas don't knock you over with treble that can shatter glass (at least with my system), they do provide treble that is realistic and satisfying. I don't notice anything missing from the top end, but my preference is for a warmer rather than a hyper-detailed treble anyway. If you're a detail junky you might want to power the La Scalas with a transistor amp (or at least boost the speakers' treble output via the rear-mounted control--a very handy device). Given this situation, it's surprising to me that the La Scalas are quite revealing when it comes to CD sizzle or graininess. Clearly the tweeter, old tech paper cone notwithstanding, is a capable device.
Placement
Finding the best placement of the La Scalas was straightforward. I followed WLM's suggestion in the users' manual for distance from side and rear walls, and took Vinnie's suggestion to toe the speakers in so as to aim them about three feet behind my listening position. The distance between my listening position and the plane of the speakers is equal to the distance between the speakers themselves. No amount of adjusting improved the sound. I did experiment with George Cardas's "Golden Cuboid" method of speaker location but it didn't work for me. It just put the speakers too far out into the room and turned the bass boomy.
Build Quality/Aesthetics
To my way of thinking La Scalas exhibit the quintessential qualities of German engineering and design (actually Austrian, but close enough). You might think of them as the Audis of the speaker world: rock-solid build quality, high-performance for the money, and attractive not in a sexy Ferrari sense, but in an uncomplicated, visually pleasing, purpose-built sense. La Scalas aren't cheap, but you very much get your money's worth.
Don
