KLIPSCH La Scala AL5

TR30.03.2021

Floorstanding loudspeakers

La Scala AL5 can be seen as an ‘affordable and modern’ version of classic Klipschhorn speakers. It is built like a piece of furniture, it looks like a piece of furniture and it’s as big as a piece of furniture. In the world of carbon, aluminum and high-performance composites the old-world approach is charming and brings back the memories of the forgotten loudspeaker building.

Function and form

80%
Ease of use
66%
Sound
92%
Appearance

Pictures are better than words and if a video is available it is even better. So please follow this link on YouTube to watch how the La Scala AL5 speakers are built. Plywood, MDF, wood veneers, and glue is what you will see; with a bit of skills and equipment a perfect candidate for DIY. However, the Klipsch is more than the cabinets, it is about horns.

All three drivers in the La Scala AL5 are horn-loaded. The La Scala’s tweeter has a 2.5cm polyimide diaphragm and remarkably high sensitivity, the midrange driver is a 5cm phenolic diaphragm compression driver in a high efficiency exponential horn, and the woofer is 38cm fiber composite. The AL5 is basically a two-way speaker sitting atop the large woofer cabinet. Both cabinets are connected with a cable. Klipsch pay a bigger than usual attention to crossover parts as well as to internal cabling – AudioQuest Type 4 cables are used for wiring the drivers. The La Scala AL5’s speaker terminals allow for bi-wiring; the terminals are on the upper module, however, so you’ll need extra length of a cable to reach them.

Despite its bulky appearance the Klipsch La Scala are not too big: they are only 1m tall with 60x60cm footprint and the selection of veneers (cherry, black ash and walnut) looks great in both modern and traditional interiors.

Bass management

Weight
66
Slam
62
Articulation
62

Heritage speakers ask for heritage recordings. I reached for Masterpieces by Ellington (Analogue Productions) which is a real masterpiece in how the 70 years old recordings were extracted on to the SACD. It is mono, I mind you, but it does not rob the music of its aliveness and incredible depth. Mood Indigo was recorded in Columbia’s New York Studio that – not only back in 1950’s - was considered to be one of the finest sounding studios in the world. It was actually a rebuilt Presbytarian church and that explains generous footprint of 30 x 16m with a 15m high ceiling. Not only did the La Scala recreate the atmosphere and the ambience of the room where also Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue was recorded (and much later arrangements for The Wall by Pink Floyd) but it did so with incredible ease and openness. The sound was terrific through the Klipsch, saxophones, trumpets and trombones, supported by horn, were expected to be outstanding, however, I was taken aback by the voice of Yvonne Lanauze that was oh-so breathtakingly present even though I barely touched the volume knob. The expressiveness – and effortlessness at the same time – of the vocals was a polar opposite of your usual high-end speakers; there was absence of any push but there was absence of any pull either. The music as if existed rather than being generated by a pair of speakers.

Clarity & delicacy

Detail
80
Air
83
Transparency
79

The bass of the Klipsch La Scala AL5 is that of an analogue record – it is not as deep as we are quickly getting used to in the digital era. This is to say, diplomatically, that despite the La Scala system is the size of two refrigerators its bass output is shy and equals a good pair of stand-mounted speakers. When I listened to the Klipsch pushed back to the corners of the room the bass was reinforced by boundaries and have sufficient volume and good suppleness, however when I pulled the La Scalas into the room the balance shifted towards mids and highs. From the music lover’s point of view I had no complains and enjoyed my time with the Klipsch tremendously. In fact, once I stopped looking for the deep bass I started to appreciate the way the La Scalas communicated to me – they were uncomplicated, expressive, big and easy on ears. From the audio critic’s point of view I would expect more if I should live with two monsters in my living room, at least when I was listening to piano recordings that lacked bottom octave fullness. However, I understand that the La Scala AL5 was deliberately designed like that and the manufacturer is honestly declaring -4dB at 51Hz.

Tonal accuracy

Timbre
79
Dynamics
91
Temporal resolution
91

The fact that the Klipsch La Scala AL5 are sensitive speakers (105dB) means very little demand for watts. I could get fantastic results with my friend’s Line Magnetic LM-805iA integrated amplifier that uses two 805 triodes in its output stage to deliver 2x45W of power. I suspect I was using less than 2 watts anyway and could play very loud. The La Scala are very dynamic and fast speakers with lightning fast transients which makes them a great companion for rhythm and upbeat tracks. They reignited my passion for Rush, Asia, Uriah Heep, Status Quo and other iconic albums that rested on a dusty shelf. The immediacy and scale of what I heard was arresting and all those non-hifi artifacts that we usually complain about when listening to those records were put aside by the verve of the La Scala’s presentation.

Spatial resolution

Holography
90
Soundstage width
90
Soundstage depth
90

As imaging capabilities are closely connected to the upper half of the frequency response it was easy for horns of the Klipsch to precisely ‘lock’ images within the soundstage. Still, they are not analytic speakers so not expect hair-line imaging, rather expect something like live soundstage experience. The images were of appropriate size (or bigger) and they fill the room (or beyond). I mentioned Pink Floyd’s The Wall earlier in this review and the sound effects on the album (yes, the helicopter) were really enveloping me and I loved it.

To sum it up, the Klipsch La Scala AL5 are Klipsch speakers for Klipsch lovers. As such they would deserve its own category as it is not fair to put them against contemporary dynamic speaker designs. Properly framed in the context of their mission, there is nothing to complain about – they are fun to listen to and great to look at.

Price as reviewed:350 000,- Kč

Recommended resellers

CPT Praha., Praha, +420 283 842 120

Associated components

  • Sources: C.E.C. TL51XR
  • Amplifiers: Mark Levinson No.526, Mark Levinson No. 432, Line Magnetic LM-805iA
  • Interconnects and speaker cables: Kubala-Sosna Emotion
  • Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima Studio2
  • Power conditioning: IsoTek Titan, Nordost Qb8, Blackwater Continuum NST2

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