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Thread: Visit to Non-Smoking Man to hear his 5-way horn system

  1. #11
    Join Date: Oct 2014

    Location: Lancing W. Sussex

    Posts: 116
    I'm Jack.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by petrat View Post
    Saw and heard the horns at Scalford a couple of years ago and was suitably impressed.
    Any changes since then?
    When Steve (Speedy) first showed them at Scalford they were wood finish; since then they have made one more appearance when they were black and were accompanied by black folded horn subs as opposed to tapped horns (Coleman room 2014).
    The only changes have been to the amplification - I used some borrowed John Wood pp monoblocks on the bass (15", the large conical) at Scalford and an EL84 integrated on the 1.5" JBL compression driver; and had to make do with a T amp on the ribbons cos we lost an amp. Nowadays I am using a Creek 4140 on the tweeters (soon to be replaced by a Korato EL84 integrated), a Megahertz (Italian Kit amp) SE pentode amp (EL34) on the small white tractrix, a KT88 pp DIY amp on the 2" compression driver/small conical, a Rotel 60w SS on the big conical and a A&R SA 200 ss on the subs.
    Jack

  2. #12
    Join Date: Oct 2014

    Location: Lancing W. Sussex

    Posts: 116
    I'm Jack.

    Default Changes..

    I have made some changes to the system in recent days which may be of interest.
    Working on the 'weakest link' idea I have been focussing on the treble as an area in need of improvement. I started looking for answers at the front of the system - I cant fault the front end, nor the Kinshaw Perception 2 box/Martha's Dad SUT, so my attention turned to the DIY Supply Basie pre. This was heavily modded by the previous owner (Bottleneck) but the 3 12AU7 signal valves could be ripe for replacement, I thought, as they were unbranded and a cheap gift.
    I popped a wanted ad on another forum and chose a pair of RCA clear tops from what was offered (£30). These made a noticeable difference and when I followed up with the third 12AU7 from Langrex (an RCA grey plate £9) the improvement was clear and marked. A friend was round the other day who is very familiar with the sound and was really surprised at the effect of these 3 valves in a 5 way system.
    We installed the other upgrade, which was a Korato V4 paralleled single ended Pentode amp to drive the tweeter. (This replaced a very much stand in Creek which had been doing duty for long enough.) This was also worthwhile.
    I played a couple of Joni Mitchell LPs last night and was rewarded with a lovely sound. The soundstage has taken on more depth, the upper frequencies show a lot of improvement but the surprising aspect of whats new is that the music comes across as slower. This was illustrated when we both listened to our 'go-to' LP (the Harry James Direct cut) as a test - the music unfolded in a an unhurried way and we were able to really appreciate what the band were trying to do, yet on a 4 Seasons LP beforehand the violins were lighting fast and crystal clear.
    Jack

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