Klipsch love them or hate them.

You know If Klipsch made a speaker that was as uncolored and refined soundding(or at least close for the money) as the AVANTGARDE HORN speakers, I'd be a DEFINITE FAN!!! COME ON KLIPSCH!!!!..I'M ROOTING FOR YA!!!!
For over 10 years now I've been selling Klipsch speakers on a retail level. I've had people bring their older Heritage series speakers into my shops, and/or telling me how great their LaScalas or K Horns sound and such. But I have yet to hear one pair that I thought sounded "all that"!!! I sure wish I could JUST ONE TIME hear a pair(or whatever) of Klipsch speakers(or combo of equipemt) that sounded transparant, uncolored, and refined!!! I SOOOOOO MUCH want to hear a pair of K's that sound really really good...and I'll tell you why....
I REALLY love the dynamics and pressence that you get from a lot of these Klipsch passive speakers potentially, and the advantages that offers for movies and dynamic music/sound, and that they are easy to drive with any amp!(also tubes) My complaint thus far with the Klipsch's, at least ALL THE ONES I'VE HEARD, is that they are just too colored, and not so extended sounding sometimes(although horns can be very detailed). Or they just don't seem to be transparant and dissapear well enough for my tastes. While they can be detailed and involving, and the dynamics and pressence are fantastic with the right set up and equipment, I can never get past the limitations. I mean I hear a pair of uncolored or refined(although not nearly as dynamic and effortless sounding) Thiels, or Maggies, or Wilson's(better dynamically than a lot however), even stuff from modest 'ol NHT's line, and I wonder why Klipsch's can't produce that kind of transparancy and lack of coloration!?!
Still, from years of dealing with the Klipsch's, I keep hoping someone will enlighten me on some "modification"(like I've heard about crossover upgrades for Klilpsch's, but don't know if it makes a difference) or "obscure" model of Klipsch's that I'm not aware of, which will make me get excited about trying a K speaker! I really really want the K's to sound better than they do! I love the benefit a high sensitivity speaker offers for HT and rock music, and the pressence that's available with even low wattage amps. I know you're going to get steap roll-off off axis and all, but I can work with that(although you sure get better off-axis sound from COMMERCIAL MOVIE THEATER SPEAKERS!!!...anyone know why theater horns have so much better dispersion?).
Build me an affordable Klipsch speaker that sounds even remotely "hi-end" sounding and "uncolored", and I'll buy one right now!!!!!!
I've certainly come to the realization of the limitiations of passive speakers in general dynamically, and horns certainly do better in efficiency and sensitivity(and thus dynamic ease). So I like what "potential" the horn has to offer in the right design.
I keep hearing tons of very clear and uncolored sounding speakers over the years, but most of these passive designs are very flawed dynamically(but then we're talking "passive crossover network designs"). Avantegard has the whole "uncolored" and very refined and high end thing down, but they're BIG BUCKS! I want BUDGET MID-FI PRICED SPEAKERS that sound as clear as a pair of old NHT 1.5's or better, with ultra high sensitivity like what Horn speakers offer! Otherwise, I will continue to crave "powered speakers" from higher end manufactures(still rare), or active speakers(also rare) with "higher refinement"!
If anyone has some input there I'd love to hear it.

I'm certainly not an expert and I'm really speaking from my mid-fi perspective, however I agree with Jax2. The original Klipsch products, now referred to as the Heritage line, were awesome speakers and were very well made.

In the mid '80s, I had a roommate who had a pair of Heresys driven by some top-of-the-line Yamaha gear (way back when Yamaha made some quality stuff), and supplemented by an M&K subwoofer. I spent five wonderful years with those speakers and I was pretty bummed when we parted ways.

Around the same time, I had a friend who owned a pair of LaScalas paired with Carver (I think). It was a great setup for cranking up classic rock and R&B. A mutual friend purchased a brand new pair of Boston Acoustics A400s and carted them over to compare to the LaScalas. If I remember correctly the A400s did provide a little more detail than the LaScalas, and they looked really cool too. But at the end of the evening (and the end of a bottle of Jack Daniels) the speakers that I would have wanted to take home were the Klipsch.

I've met several Klipsch fanatics like your friend. In my experience they are always people who have spent time with the Heritage products, and not the recent Klipsch designs. While I no longer think that Klipsch speakers are 'great' as your friend does, I would have a hard time passing up a pair of old Klipsch if the price was right.

I think that the "classic" series were their best products and even these need a lot of help in stock form. The cabinets resonate like mad, the cabinets are not very well sealed, the horns ring like crazy, the drivers suffer from severe diffraction, the wiring is attrocious, etc... Luckily, these are all things than can be taken care of with a little "TLC" : )

Most of their newer stuff is pretty bad sounding in my opinion. Take all of the above-mentioned flaws and then try to make the finished product even cheaper. Don't know about the latest K-horns, but most of the others hurt my ears. Sean
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It could be worse. Your friend might have said Bose.

I own a pair of Klipsch La Scala's. They have been an interesting and enjoyable experience so far. They are *very* revealing. I did the ALK Engineering crossover upgrade, and it helped some things, hindered others. I did a lot of A/B and found that the original cross-overs had a weird fuzz to the high frequencies that the new cross-overs cleaned up well. My main problem is my room is way too small for these puppies. I first started them with an integrated home theatre amp, but now they are on a more purist system: no pre-amp, musical fidelity A3.24 DAC from a computer downstairs is feeding two Antique Sound Lab 845 (golden ear award) amp's (amazing value for money). I used to have a 'passive preamp' (what a dumb name) in the chain, but the coloration was big. I never used to believe in cables, but it is quite apparent to listen to differences in cables with this system. Right now it's Cardas neutral reference. I even heard rather surprising changes when I upgraded power cables, added the power filter, etc... the 'audiophile' experience. What a glorious waste of money.

A friend of mine from China dubbed it 'the best system he's yet heard in Canada' -- no small compliment from this guy).

It's an interesting polarizing speaker (the La Scala). Some really dig it, other's really hate it. I've really mellowed it out to maximize on its good points. Why, just today I added a carpet to my hard-wood floor. I've also mounted the speakers on aluminum cones, with brass pucks. Dozens of tweaks (re-wiring speakers, etc...). It's a lot of fun.

But wow, the sound. I was listening to a 20grand setup (a Musical Fidelity Trivista statement amp, crazy cables, and a sonus faber setup) and just said 'nahhh'. While that system had many good points, it was too laid back and reserved. The La Scala's spray sound -- not the best for imaging, but a wide sound field really makes live performances sound live.

I have augmented them with some Vandersteen subwoofers (2x 2wq) which is actually a very subtle blend. If anyone gets subwoofers, I recommend doing the stereo subwoofer experience. The Vandersteens are pretty nice if you want to have bass, but not hear a sub-woofer. They have some clever filter concepts.

I consider this system to be my 'best tube system', and now I'm building a solid state system to compare it to. I'll play dueling bango's in different rooms ;)

I'll never get rid of the La Scala's (they're too big to move!)