WLM loudspeakers

[Bourney]

I'm currently using a pair of WLM La Scalas that I bought after hearing a friends Divas. They are a brand I hadnt really thought about previously. I'd tried the Divas briefly on a solid state (Sonneteer) amp and they didn't impress snd I thought they looked odd. I'd been used to wide position of Living Voices with heavy toe in or the compact visuals of Harbeth P3ESRs for some time, so they looked a little cumbersome. Fast forward a couple of months and I'd bought a mod'd AI500 from Definitive audio that was bought to drive my IBX R2s. Which I'd did superbly.... Then I tried the Divas! Wow!!!! Everything clicked into place....speed, sweetness, great balance and control and focus and presence that was quite startling... But he wouldn't sell them to me!
So I started reading up on WLM models and found a pair of La Scalas really cheap and snapped them up. Reviews had talked about the 'old fashioned' tweeter but I didn't really read any further into it.

I couldn't get them to sound right for some time. I tinkered with the treble adjustment and the bass tuning rings but they sounded a bit detached and odd. Then.. I lost tweeter output completely on one side. With the help of an electronics guy at work, we dropped the crossover out and found that a small capacitor was damaged and we'd also lost the tweeter. With a bit of help I managed to source both as original spec and bought spares. Once repaired I plonked them down... No real care over positioning and they sang...and they still are.
They sound nothing like when they arrived so I can only imagine the the capacitor was somehow on the way
out or similar and it was affecting the overall presentation so much.

So, I come to my point. The tweeter is a rather basic paper job from visaton, it looks odd and a bit old fashioned looking but the quality it gives is an eye opener. Ive had some fancy pants speakers with expensive tweeters but I'm not sure any offer the same realistic and natural presentation that these give and they're so fast with real snap but delicate too.
They're cheap! Is it just a Triumph of design over cost by WLM or is there something being overlooked by using this type of tweeter or have I just found a presentation that really floats my boat ?

[Macca]

I had to look them up, http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/wlm5/lascala_2.html

Interesting speaker. Paper tweeter with a level control so you can dial it up or down to taste. Are they party animals as 6 moons bloke claims?

[Bourney]

Yeah they really are cut loose, and they go loud easily. I play a lot of electronica and I don't think I've had a better speaker for banging out techno but still being refined when needed. The level control is pretty useful although once set, I haven't had to tinker. The tweeters are around £15 each - bizarre really

[Macca]

The main problem with paper cone tweeters supposed to be beaming but QUAD ESL 57 do that too and you don't hear many owners of them complaining. There are so many ways to skin the speaker cat, and none of them are totally right or totally wrong.

[Bourney]

Is beaming very directional treble? Is that a result of the cone being concave? Firing straight ahead they sound terrible and I mean...terrible. that could be due to this?

[Bourney]

[Macca]

Is beaming very directional treble? Is that a result of the cone being concave? Firing straight ahead they sound terrible and I mean...terrible. that could be due to this?

Yes, it means off axis the frequency response drops. So tweeters firing straight at you, you get 'full fat', aiming them slightly off axis will diminish them a bit. a lot off axis and you wonder where the top end went. A dome spreads it out a bit more evenly. Also possible that being paper it breaks up a bit roughly, you'll notice that less (or not at all) a little off axis

[walpurgis]

Interesting speakers.

Nothing wrong with good paper coned tweeters in the right context. Sansui and Technics used very similar drive units in some decent and fairly expensive speakers years ago.

[fatmarley]

If there's less energy off-axis then there's going to be less problems with reflections bouncing off the walls and interfering with the direct sound coming out of the drivers. I can't remember the crossover on these but I'd imagine the tweeter is crossed quite high to match the directivity of the woofer.
A high crossover point, coupled with the large cone area of the tweeter and generous xmax (linear excursion capability), the tweeter will most likely be cruising along without breaking a sweat. I don't think there's any ferrofluid in the tweeter either, and that would be considered a bonus by some.

Cone tweeters look old fashioned, so will be ignored by most people. I'm very tempted to try some in my next build...

[walpurgis]

Cone tweeters look old fashioned, so will be ignored by most people. I'm very tempted to try some in my next build...

Choose carefully. Some sound pretty bad!