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View Full Version : Visit to Non-Smoking Man to hear his 5-way horn system



montesquieu
26-04-2015, 19:27
Jack 'Non-Smoking Man' is only up the road from me in Bracknell and he's been to mine on a number of occasions, but while I've picked stuff up/dropped stuff off at his, I've never managed to hear his system - till last night.

It's a five-way horn setup which made up part of the famous collaborative system at Scalford a couple of years back. He has it powered by an eclectic mix of amps, most crucially with an EL34 single ended and KT88 PP amp on two of the mid-range drivers, and a really interesting electronic (i.e., not digital) crossover.

I'm not one to get into the technicalities of horns but there's a rightness about Jack's setup which quite a few horn systems I've heard don't have. While some prioritise detail, or top to bottom frequency response, or holographic imaging, Jack has somehow majored on something that's often forgotten - musicality. While it's not short on all those hifi virtues, what it has in spades is a naturalness, an easy listening quality that's quite remarkable.

I found this especially when we played some harpsichord music (the Nonesuch recording or Bach's 14 canons, one of my all-time favourties). Harpsichord can be hard to reproduce and its characteristics can grate if done badly, but if you've had a harpsichord in your living room (as I've had) or been to lots of early music concerts (er… as I have) you also know that beyond that (literally) plucky, abrasive quality which can be annoying in the wrong setup, there's a harmonic richness, a 'harmony', that is devilishly difficult to reproduce. Well, Jack's setup manages it wonderfully.

It helps that it's fed properly - Jack's Cranfield Rock, with Alphason HR100S and Cadenza Blue, sounded pretty much exactly like my old Rock Reference. What a cracking turntable. No digital nasties here.

We played quite a bit of my stuff including some late Brubeck (some fab fretless bass work by Dave Brubeck's son, Chris) and some Dowland lute songs with the sparkling Emma Kirkby (a flame-haired Beatrice to me in my adolescence, which makes me feel a little old now as she's just turned 66!).

Jack also shared some of his musical passion for Blues .. a new avenue for me but I came away with a couple to look out for and plans to go back to investigate more of his collection.

And this is the secret, I suspect. When I'm working on my system I don't endeavour to make good hifi, I'm trying to find something capable of playing cantatas, Lieder and chamber music with full expression and emotion (a tactic which co-incidentally usually leads to a good job with other genres as well …). Blues on Jack's setup (for example, one delta blues record, astonishingly, recorded with just one mic) sounds like you are at a room-sized gig. Glorious.

Anyway what we have here is a horn system that doesn't sound like a 'horn system'. Rather, it sounds like music. Which is kind of the point.

Non-Smoking Man
27-04-2015, 10:00
Thanks Tom - you've been very complimentary there. (Tom is an education re classical music and I really enjoyed the vinyl he brought over.)
The crossover is an Ashly XR4001 and is a 4 way analogue device with 24db slopes made in the USA. The system didnt cost a fortune to put together and every single item was bought on the used market. Much of the horn speaker array I inherited from our very own Speedysteve. I will try to get some pictures posted.
Jack

paskinn
27-04-2015, 15:13
I agree totally with the sentiments here...the aim is always music, not 'hi fi'. They seem to be a very successful design, horns can be great, but often aren't!

Marco
28-04-2015, 08:30
Always good to hear of these little get-togethers taking place. Seems like you guys had fun - nice one... The Rock is a lovely T/T.

Look forward to seeing the pics! :cool:

Marco.

montesquieu
30-04-2015, 12:10
No ordinary Rock, Marco, the original Cranfield Rock has all the attributes (in terms of deadening mass and substantial suspension bellows) of the much later Rock Reference, barring the electronic controls (which on my old RR were a bit flaky, as you'd expect 30 years on).

The mass produced Rock II while a great deck was a cut-down version of the original Cranfield concept. Add in an Alphason HR100S which by any standard is better than the Mk1 Excalibur generally fitted to the RR, and Jack's setup is about as well sorted a TT as you'll find.

This from a dyed-in-the-wool idler fan as well ..... Jack has a couple of TD124s available to him but the Cranfield is, in the fabled words of Rolls Royce, 'more than adequate'.

I must admit I was also taken with the Cadenza Blue, I had an Ortofon Jubilee some years ago and it's certainly at the same sort of level.

Marco
30-04-2015, 13:44
No ordinary Rock, Marco, the original Cranfield Rock has all the attributes (in terms of deadening mass and substantial suspension bellows) of the much later Rock Reference, barring the electronic controls (which on my old RR were a bit flaky, as you'd expect 30 years on).

The mass produced Rock II while a great deck was a cut-down version of the original Cranfield concept. Add in an Alphason HR100S which by any standard is better than the Mk1 Excalibur generally fitted to the RR, and Jack's setup is about as well sorted a TT as you'll find.


Hi Tom,

I know it's a Cranfield, and I'm also aware of the difference. It's a superb T/T - truly one of the greats (for a belt-drive, lol). Anthony's got one, so I know how good they sound :)

Anyway, we're still waiting for pics (not of you daftees, lol, but of the kit you listened to during your bake-off), so come on Jack, get yer finger out!! ;)

Marco.

agk
02-05-2015, 14:33
Pics would be most excellent.

Non-Smoking Man
24-05-2015, 18:24
Not before time some pics..

Non-Smoking Man
24-05-2015, 18:27
and more..

petrat
12-06-2015, 05:28
Saw and heard the horns at Scalford a couple of years ago and was suitably impressed.
Any changes since then?

Non-Smoking Man
13-06-2015, 22:53
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

Non-Smoking Man
06-07-2015, 08:45
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