Not many audiophiles have the opportunity to own a pair of legendary floor-standing speakers such as the Klipsch La Scala. This could be the endgame for most of us and would certainly be one of our proudest possessions. The Klipsch La Scala are loudspeakers with exceptional sonic performances and amazing sound quality but do they still need a subwoofer to supplement their bass responses?
When we look at the La Scala frequency response, it is from 51Hz-20kHz (+/-4dB), and based on this, we can tell that the floor-standing speakers do not reach deep enough into the bass extension so as to provide us with full-range sound reproductions. To many listeners, this might not be an issue but if your music involves subsonic bass frequencies which go down to 20Hz or further, you are probably missing some music details and textures. There are also audiophiles who might use the Klipsch La Scala to watch movies once in a while and will benefit from having a subwoofer being integrated into their sound systems. This will give you a more exhilarating home cinematic experience whenever you watch your favorite movies.
The Klipsch La Scala has incredible energy in its spatial music delivery which is highly accurate and has immaculate timing. The pristine and clean sound quality has exceptional clarity as well. Its bass performance has similar precision and handling, and as mentioned, the subsonic low-end reproductions are a bit lacking. The bass responses are agile and articulate, not to mention, they are well-textured too. Klipsch La Scala speakers are capable of producing realistic sound and projecting a large soundstage. The soundstage of the Klipsch floor-standers will benefit from having a subwoofer that could add more weight and presence to it.
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We should only choose matching subwoofers of the same caliber that could complement the Klipsch La Scala floor-standing speakers. The active subs must also be able to fit your preferences and this is why we need to finalize your subwoofer requirements since they will influence your choice. We will be showing you some of the usual subwoofer requirements which you should consider and once we are done with it, a list of the best subwoofers to partner up with your Klipsch La Scala would be shared with you too.
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Potential Subwoofer Requirements
You should only match a high-quality subwoofer with your Klipsch La Scala speakers even though it might be an expensive endeavor, and so you should work on your budget first. The amount you are willing to spend on an active subwoofer should be comfortable and within your means. If your budget is tight, you might want to take some time to save up first as it is quite pointless to pair a low-quality subwoofer to such extraordinary speakers like the Klipsch La Scala. You are probably using the La Scala loudspeakers in a mid or large-sized listening room and to fill such a space with bass energy, you will need a powerful and large-sized subwoofer. The bigger the space, the more powerful and larger of an active sub you will need, and some may want to go for dual subwoofers if your sound system could accommodate this.
Having larger or dual subwoofers would mean more space is needed and you should check now to see if you have enough of it. Listeners who are having limited floor space might want to go for compact and yet still powerful subwoofers. Such powered subwoofers would not be cheap, especially those that could still reach down to 20Hz bass extension or more. How deep of the bass frequencies you require the powered sub to produce can be a requirement too. If some of your music involves church organ, you will definitely need a sub that could hit below 20Hz subterranean low frequencies. Please take some time to consider other subwoofer requirements on your own and you might want to discuss with others who you are sharing the use of the sound system with. They might give you more requirements worth considering. When you are firm with what you need from a sub then please take a look at the list of matching powered subwoofers below.
Best Matching Subwoofers for Klipsch La Scala Speakers
We do find sealed cabinet subwoofers would match well with the sonic characteristics of the Klipsch La Scala and the Rythmik Audio F15HP will be one of the top choices to go for. It uses Direct Servo technology to enable the F15HP to produce powerful and articulate bass reproductions, allowing the sub to keep pace with the La Scala with ease. The Rythmik Audio F15HP has a 15″ driver and a Class-H amplifier that drives it with 600 Watts of RMS power. It also has a really impressive frequency response of 10Hz-250Hz (+/-3dB).
The SVS SB16 Ultra is an extremely powerful sealed cabinet subwoofer which will be suitable for large-sized listening rooms and will match well with the Klipsch La Scala floor-standing speakers. This is a subwoofer beast with a 16″ driver and a whopping peak power of 5000+ Watts. The SVS SB16 Ultra is capable of delivering immense bass energy with agility and tightness. The 16″ SVS sealed sub has a very wide frequency response of 16Hz-460Hz (+/-3dB). With so much power, this will give you plenty of headroom to push the SB16 Ultra.
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The Ken Kreisel DXD-12012 is one of the very best subwoofers on the market and would be an excellent choice to match it with your Klipsch La Scala. The level of details and depth you can get from the DXD-12012 is fantastic, the bass rendering sounded so accurate and realistic as well. It has dual 12″ bass drivers, giving it fast bass transients and impeccable agility. The Ken Kreisel DXD-12012 is quite compact due to its slim cabinet and you could stack another DXD-12012 on top of it for even better subsonic bass performances.
JL Audio Fathom f113 is another high-end sealed subwoofer that will be a worthy match to your Klipsch La Scala floor-standing speakers. The Fathom f113 has a 13.5″ driver and could deliver very deep subsonic low-ends with accuracy. The subterranean bass delivery is taut as well and easily shakes the room. The rich and detailed bass performances of the JL Audio sealed sub help to add more depth, providing more full-bodied realistic sound reproductions. Certainly worth your time to have a further look.
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The Klipsch SPL-150SW is also one of the best subwoofers to pair up with your La Scala speakers. As both of them are designed by the same company, we can expect a seamless full-range sound reproduction. Klipsch SPL-150SW has a modest price tag too and a large 15″ bass driver powered by an amplifier with up to 800 Watts (Peak). It is capable of delivering subterranean low frequencies of down to 18Hz and has a front-firing slot port. The clean deep bass performances of the SPL-150SW are ideal for both music and movie playbacks.
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The SVS PB16 Ultra is another ported subwoofer but with more power and could reach deeper into the bass extension than the Klipsch SPL-150SW. PB16 Ultra uses a Sledge amplifier to provide it with 1500 Watts RMS and up to 5000+ Watts peak. There are 3 modes to choose from which are ‘Standard’, ‘Extended’ and ‘Sealed’. When in ‘Extended’ mode, the SVS PB16 Ultra could go down to 13Hz bass extension. The exhilarating and authoritative subsonic bass performances of this SVS 16″ subwoofer make it a worthy match to your Klipsch La Scala floor-standers.
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To Conclude
As you have already spent so much on your Klipsch La Scala, you shouldn’t short-change yourself when it comes to investing in a matching subwoofer. A high-performance powered subwoofer will make a difference in improving the overall sound quality of your stereo system. Before you start finalizing your choices, you should arrange an auditioning with the potential subwoofers first so you can hear and find out which one of them sounds the best to you.
