I have been trading, saving and begging for four years, but i finally got my lascala's. I got them from a serious purist who had four of them in his house and these two in the finished garage. They were dj speakers when he got them, and he went thru all of the components and changed to Crites AA crossovers. Midrange horn is metal and original. The tweeter is stamped K-77. There are no tags indicating serial #'s, and the scuffed up exterior has been professionally coated with Kevlar impregnated pickup truck bedliner material. True assault speakers! I am currently using a Harman Kardon AVR520 (85x2) for amplification. The previous owner used vintage Mac 60 watt mono tube amps. I am not a tube amp guy, and have no idea what to seek, if anything, to replace the AVR 520. I use a 980 watt Crown ComTech 800  to power my sub( a Polk Audio LSiW that I bought new sans recalled amp) and have considered getting a new XLS 402(300x2) and using the AVR 520 as a preamp. Keeping in mind that I'm a monetarily challenged geezer - any suggestions? Also - does anybody have any wisdom as to the worth of these speakers? All new knowledge will be appreciated.

 Congrats on the LaScalas and welcome to the forum. 

It is very cool to have fresh crossovers, too. 

On the K77s, do they have round or square magnets on the back?

Well, in terms of amps, what you've got may be just fine. Your own ears can be the judge. 

Lascalas don't require much power to sound fabulous. Having a good sub to use with them will round out the bottom end extension nicely, and it won't even have to work hard to do that. 

 Run what you have through them but keep your ears open. If you have friends or meet people with different amps see if they want to hear them on your horns. If they haven't heard La Scalas they could be just as curious. I've always liked tubes and horns but there is more than one way to skin a cat. Congrats and welcome to the forum....

Thanks for your help! Magnets are square. Is that good?

Congrats on your "assault" La Scalas and welcome to the forum.  As was mentioned, clean power is more important than big power.  If you like the sound of what you've got, continue to enjoy it.  A popular upgrade is Bob Crites' CT125 tweeters, but you don't need to rush out and jump on the upgrade merry-go-round until you're ready.

Let's see some pictures of your new babies.

maxsdad:

There are no tags indicating serial #'s

maxsdad:

Thanks for your help! Magnets are square. Is that good?

I'd say yes. The square magnet K77 would be my preference.

Some folks are real fans of the old round alinco magnet K77's, but they are notorious, and in my own observation, for the magnets losing their strength and then having a very low output for sound. Never heard of a K77 with a square magnet that went bad in that way.

As DD mentioned, La Scalas can use the help of a sub, but for music you don't need a really powerful one.  I learned this last month when my 10" 400-watt sub was in for repairs.  While it was away, I used one of my 8" 100-watt subs from the bedroom and it was almost as good as the bigger sub when playing music, even music with lots of bass.

When playing movies, the small sub couldn't shake the room like the big one, and for that reason I was glad to get it back, but if you're mostly listening to music, you don't need to sink a lot of money into a powerful sub.

as other have said what you have is very nice, but keep your eyes peeled for a Mcintosh Mc250 or 2505 ($400-600) vintage S.S. mac that was designed to emulate their tube amps of the era. If you have a CD player with volume control, you don't even need a preamp...

lots of folk here swear by these amps and they sound excellent with all heritage line speakers.....

The vintage Sansui Au-11000/ Au-9900 ($300-600) are awesome S.S. amps from the same golden hifi era... I have/have had all the above mentioned and could easily live with any if my $$$$ were to the point that I could not afford my all Tube system.

just some thoughts....and remember that even though SS vintage were generally well made and last a long time....a 35-40 year old amp can just quit on you....so a $200 steel, may turn into a money pit if it needs to be rebuilt....so make sure if you buy vintage, do your due diligence .....

Look for a recent Antique Sound Labs AQ1003 integrated amp. Best amp for the La Scalas out there for the money. I just picked up a used one for a friemd for $425.00

Please allow me use this opportunity to thank all who have helped - very helpful!! The key to wisdom is to know what you don't know, and I'm getting wiser by the minute!

I have searched for the recommended stuff, and it has been way out of my price range, but I was wondering what you all think of Carver stuff. I've had a couple (MXR130 & the 705 5 channel - should have kept it!) and am seeing several models that supposedly have a "tube" sound - M400t, M500t - and also see some TFM 35's taht are interesting, but I am realizing how little I actually know. Any input you have would be invaluable to me.

Thanks again for all your help!!

I have yet to hear a s-s amp that has the tube sound, and certainly not Carver!

Then you need to hear the Portal Audio Panache.

Colin:

I have yet to hear a s-s amp that has the tube sound, and certainly not Carver!

SS amps are another beast all together, just because they are designed with a warm fuzzy coloration, does not make them sound like tubes. They sound like SS amps that are skewed toward the warm and fuzzy.

Some really like this sound and I won't argue with it....you like what you like! I'm just really glad Colin pointed this out as I too get caught up in semantics.