I remember MaLa feeling sluggish when I first tried it (after toying with MameWah) but now it scrolls entirely fast enough for me.
Three things I have set (MaLa 1 RC8 on the machine I'm using now - other versions may vary but I can't check):
Speed the videoFrom the main list screen, right-click > options > GUI tab > Options Tab >
- Enable display delay set to 100
- Tick only "text" under exceptions and leave the rest switched off
Speed the inputFrom the main list screen, right-click > options > Controller tab > Keyboard Tab > Options Tab >
- Key repeat (ms) set to 50
Speed the animationFrom the main list screen, right-click > options > Controller tab > Options Tab >
- Check the "use scrolling acceleration" box
- Acceleration speed 8
Hope this helps. Harsher settings on some of those just made MaLa unstable for me, so keep that in mind.