Klipsch has announced a new generation of its top two Heritage speaker models: the massive Klipschorn AK7 and its smaller sibling, the La Scala AL6. The two classic designs get a variety of reworked acoustic components and can be ordered in three colors — the existing American Walnut and Black Ash, and a new option for 2025: American Auburn. For the first time, Klipsch is giving buyers the option to customize the sound of these speakers via external active crossover units, which can bypass the speakers’ internal passive crossovers.
The Klipschorn AK7 are priced at $17,998 per pair, while the La Scala AL6 go for $14,998 per pair. The Heritage active crossovers are $3,499 each (one per pair). All can be ordered starting today at authorized Klipsch Heritage retailers.
The new speakers have a slightly different set of crossover frequencies than their predecessors. Both the AK6 and AL5 used 4,500Hz for the high-frequency and 450 Hz for the mid-frequency, but the new models looks like this:
- AK7: 2,900Hz (high), 380Hz (mid)
- AL6: 2,900Hz (high), 425Hz (mid)
Using the Heritage active crossover doesn’t change these crossover points, but the onboard DSP has a noticeable effect on frequency response, smoothing out many of the spikes and dips exhibited by the speakers’ passive systems.
Here’s an example of active versus passive on the new Klipschorn AK7:
You can adjust the gain of the low and high frequency sections of the DSP active unit to compensate input sensitivities of different types of amplifiers.
If the idea of using active crossovers on Klipsch Heritage loudspeakers sounds familiar, it might be because the company debuted the concept on its $35,000 per pair, Klipsch Jubilee speakers in 2022. It was apparently so well-received, the company decided to expand the option to the Klipschorn and La Scala models.
Still, the design team didn’t ignore the opportunity of a new generation to improve the speakers themselves.
“The team felt it was imperative to offer Klipsch fans a choice,” said Roy “Chief Bonehead” Delgado, Jr., Klipsch principal engineer and protégé of company founder, Paul W. Klipsch, “so as we set to incorporate the active crossover on the Klipschorn and La Scala, we were inspired to boost the passive performance with key upgrades.”
The Klipschorn and La Scala keep their traditional, three-way horn-loaded designs. Each driver is coupled to a precisely engineered horn that has been optimized for one of three passbands.
Both speakers keep their K-771 compression driver tweeters nestled inside Tractrix horns, but they’re now paired with a wide-dispersion extended phase plug. Klipsch says this minimizes cancellations and equalizes wavelengths, providing a wider, more consistent soundstage, letting the speakers deliver greater clarity and coverage.
The midrange has been given a more serious redesign. Both models get a new, larger 3-inch compression driver and the older exponential horn has been replaced with a modified Tractrix mid-range horn that has a shorter 2-inch throat. Klipsch claims this improves time alignment by bringing the exit point of the driver closer to the other.
The midrange also benefits from Klipsch’s “Mumps” technology, which “improves coverage across all drive-units, integrating small contours to help maintain an even frequency response to the horn’s edge.”
And while the AK7’s low-frequency setup is unchanged, the La Scala AL6 gets a new horn loaded, vented system that apparently maximizes efficiency, extends output, and lowers distortion. Though the woofer itself is actually two inches smaller than before at 12 inches, its folded horn purportedly produces “richer and more robust bass from any room placement.”
