Trading Down from Klipsch La Scala's to Forte 2 / Chorus 1-2 / Quartet

[Chorus1fan]

Calling all Klipschites...

Gonna "take one for the team" (IE: keep the wife happy) and work on trading my vintage 1985 black La Scala's (too "huge & ugly" for the family room per the wife) for something smaller and WOOD VENEERED in the Klipsch heritage lineup like Forte 2's , Chorus 1's (kinda like the front firing port option vs a placement sensitive drone cone) or possibly even Quartet's.

My Question for you is, how much cash should I ask for/want added in to the make the trade? Btw, I am located in Central Fla. if the "regional price differences" factor helps you estimate a #

As a "COOL Retro Timewarp" check out the thread I posted over on the Klipsch forum to see a pic of my original layaway receipt ("what is this layaway thing you speak of?") and owners manual booklet

 

[Edroom]

Definitely Chorus over Forte but my suggestion would be Cornwalls.....
Cornwalls, LaScalas and Chorus can all fall into similar price categories depending on finish and condition, fortes less.

 

[markshan]

Other than depth, Cornwalls (15.5 x 25.3 x 35.8 inches) are almost the same size as LaScalas (24.2 x 25.2 x 38.5). They do appear smaller with finish and grill cloth as opposed to geometric lumber, but they take up almost as much floor space. Chorus have a smaller footprint at (15 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 39) and the Fortes are smaller all around at (13 x 16.5 x 36). FWIW, I think Hereseys are the most similarly voiced to LaScalas, are significantly smaller and can be found rather inexpensively. However, they do need to be somewhat corner loaded to give respectable bass.

 

[314carpenter]

Cost differential is not as significant as you assume. Allow condition to determine which end of the market range things end up at. If you have the space for LaScala's then you obviously have the room for Cornwalls. I would recommend having your wife have a look at some photos of some members rooms with either. You will have a difficult time finding some Chorus II's in your area at a price you not going to feel gouged by. A long drive would be an exchange for time spent searching without success. It may come down to availability, and room placement. Chorus II need room to breath due to the passive rear, Chorus I fit up to the wall similar to Cornwall due to the front ports. Chorus II are closer to Cornwall's then Chorus I by a large margin. If you end up with Forte II, you are just saving an inch of so, but loosing much more than that. I have a pair of Quartet's sitting unused in storage in the lower level, if that helps you any.

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Main system: Panasonic TC-P60ST60 plasma; Denon AVR-X6200W; Outlaw 5000; Klipsch RSW-10 sub; modified Klipsch Chorus II Fronts; modified Klipsch Forte II center; stock Klipsch Chorus II surrounds; JBL Loft40 rear heights; JBL L20T3 front heights; Mogami 10ga speaker cables, Mogami interconnects; custom gaming pc



Secondary system: LG 47" lcd; Onkyo TX-NR818; JBL 240Ti Fronts; JBL L40T3 Center; JBL L100T3 Surrounds; Mogami cables; custom htpc/server.

 

[Chorus1fan]

Cost differential is not as significant as you assume.You will have a difficult time finding some Chorus II's in your area at a price you not going to feel gouged by. A long drive would be an exchange for time spent searching without success. It may come down to availability, and room placement. Chorus II need room to breath due to the passive rear, Chorus I fit up to the wall similar to Cornwall due to the front ports. .

Chorus 1's interest me because of the flush to the wall option (ports up front) They may not have as much bass as the Chorus 2, but neither do my current La Scala's. I see ads on CL down here in Fla all the time for Chorus 1's for around 600.00 pretty regular. There's a pair near me right now (hr or 2 away) that have crites crossovers and titanium tweeter diaphragms installed for only 800.00. Forte 2's are usually about 500 - 550ish in Central Fla. & so are Quartets.

If I end up selling my La Scala's outright I'm thinking 1000.00 - 1,200.00 (trading down may be a challenge, but ya never know till ya try...)
all the options I mentioned (Chorus 1/2 Forte 1/2, Quartets should be cheaper than that near me)

 

[Edroom]

I don’t know the market in Florida but you would be hard pressed to get 1000-1200 for birch black in New England

 

[Chorus1fan]

I don’t know the market in Florida but you would be harder pressed to get 1000-1200 for birch black in New England

I'm thinking 900.00 is about as low as I would ever go, and that would be cash only. If I end up listing em on fleabay, it'll have to be higher to include their final value fees

 

[visman]

I like my Quartets - but my listening room isn’t huge. I agree Cornwalls would be good - if you have the space.

 

[Chorus1fan]

UPDATE (Score)

Moved on from my "trade" idea. Today I picked up a MINT pair of Chorus 1's for a good price about an hr 1/2 drive south of me. AND these already have rebuilt Crites crossovers & Crites titanium tweeters installed. Cabinets are in 9+ condition on a 1-10 scale (oiled oak) & look like fine furniture. They are still BIG classic Klipsch (& weigh 89 lbs) so I'm happy, (not just the wife) The main thing I like (besides their sound) is they definitely have a more upscale look compared to my industrial black La Scalas. (Now I need to start clearing some space, & work on actually selling my La Scala's)

As a bonus, I got to meet "Steve" a cool AK forum member with a TON of classic gear, and then hang out and listen to some of his unique equipment including the biggest pair of speakers I've ever seen ! (JBL model 4435) I even got to finally hear a pair of Cornwalls hooked up to a vintage Fisher tube amp, and now understand why people say older model Klipsch & tubes interact best together (it sounded sweet/warm/LOUD with only 26 watts) All in all, is was a great day

 

[314carpenter]

A fine choice. Care to share your cost? Those upgrades are a big improvement over 20+ year OEM caps and an improved autoformer, plus the tweeter diaphrams are a blessing. I like the #18 = Duracrest, brown, poly-olefin, stranded, coarse weave grill cloth on the oiled oak. It has a higher WAF in our home. I never understood why they call it brown though, more like a dusty grey.

A suggestion on the Lascala finish...I would recommended using Dupli-Color 1608 black lacquer semi-gloss. This is within 5# of the original Klipsch black lacquer sheen.
https://duplicolor.com/product/premium-lacquer

 

[danrclem]

Congrats on buying a good pair of speakers. I think mine are stock but I haven't ever looked inside to see. The bass on mine seem better when I spread them out.

 

[markshan]

The bass on mine seem better when I spread them out.

That's the room, not the speaker.

 

[danrclem]

That's the room, not the speaker.

I don't doubt that one bit. My room is not a very friendly room for music. It's a finished family room in the basement that has an all purpose duty. One half of a wall is open, the other half of that wall along with two other walls are wood. One wall is brick, the ceiling is drywall/sheetrock and the floor is tile. I can't really do a lot with it because of what it's for. I have thought about changing the ceiling with something that's not quite as hard.

 

[markshan]

I don't doubt that one bit. My room is not a very friendly room for music. It's a finished family room in the basement that has an all purpose duty. One half of a wall is open, the other half of that wall along with two other walls are wood. One wall is brick, the ceiling is drywall/sheetrock and the floor is tile. I can't really do a lot with it because of what it's for. I have thought about changing the ceiling with something that's not quite as hard.

There is nothing inherently wrong with corner loading. It's only when you get phase cancellations that it is a problem. If you "spread out" the speakers and the bass remains even rather than one note being boomy and the others faint, then I say work with what you've got. If you are getting one note bass, then do a search here for "bass traps". There is a ton of info available.