New Klipsch Klipschorn AK7 & La Scala AL6 will be active DSP Crossover

@saeed79 Its not only the horn design that affects sound quality. My early 1980's Klipschorns came with the K401 horn, a cast iron exponential horn. That thing rang like a bell when you knocked on it, damping these horns was the common 'fix'. So I tried various materials, amounts and placement of those materials, nothing worked to my satisfaction, nothing close to natural timbre. Point is the material horn made of also important, I'll posit any metal or plastic horn ain't gonna do it.  And yes, the original design with that horn and placement of drivers made for an in your face listening experience, so much so that I couldn't live with them in stock configuration. It took all new drivers, placement of those drivers (at least physical time alignment) , Volti tracktrix horn, reworking of crossover to get these speakers to generate a proper sound field with natural timbre. Haven't heard the latest Klipschorns but what I observe they seem to be on the right path. As for outboard dsp unit, obviously you can get the speaker to measure better with dsp, but there has to be an inherent cost in that the dsp unit will color/voice the speaker to some extent. I only like SET tube amps with my Klipschorns, and the rest of system is specifically chosen for my preferred presentation, any dsp unit will upset that equation. And this will remain true for present iteration of these speakers, some may continue to prefer to alter presentation via rest of system, others may not care or notice the voicing/coloration/presentation of this dsp unit.

Klipsch has not used metal horns in these models for many years now, but proper damping of these horns could be easily accomplished eliminating the "ringing" that they were known for. This new Lascala has a somewhat newly designed doghouse, now using a 12 inch driver. Always, MrD.

It appears Klipsch is mimicking the same type of bass loading with the new La Scala AL6 that they're using in the actively configured Jubilee version that saw the light a day a few years ago, with the goal to squeeze out some extra extension from a similarly sized package. Meaning, not only the front wave of the slottet, hidden woofer firing backwards but also its ported back wave is horn-loaded. The older La Scala's like all the Khorns are horn-loading a sealed woofer, which is the normal approach of front loaded horns, but with Klipsch's recent take on acoustically amplifying the whole of a ported bass system it's likely to result in a different bass imprinting compared to earlier iterations. Fortunately the horn acts as a low-pass filter, so any port noise should be filtered away. Technically speaking the porting of the woofer inside should minimize cone movement at the local bass tune here, so that's also something to consider. 

@mrdecibel wrote:

horn loading a sealed woofer? I do not understand. My AR 3a pair have a sealed woofer system. My best, MrD.

The 15" woofer in your La Scala’s is placed in a sealed chamber from where the front wave of the woofer cone fires into a slot (i.e.: a compression) and then the wave shoots into the back wall divider section and continues through the expanding horn to either side. That is to say: the front wave of the 15" woofer is the only thing loading the horn, whereas the backside of the cone looks into the sealed chamber and is therefore not exploited. Classic front loaded horn approach. 

The 12" woofer in the AL6 La Scala’s on the other hand sits in a ported chamber, and so not only the front wave of this woofer (which also fires through a slot) is loading the horn, but as well the back wave of the cone that releases its energy through 2 ports. That’s the same trick they’re using on the few years old, domestic version of the Jubilee’s. 

I’ve seen a version of the La Scala’s (likely a DIY variation) that is ported in addition to its horn-loading, but those ports were visible on the front side and so not firing into the horn itself.