Horns Jensen 302 201 P15LL103 Fountek General Radio 1450TA Altec 808 Fostex T90A

Click pics to enlarge. Tri-amped Altec System. L, from top: TT, Conuterpoint, Electronic Crossover x 2, ASL. R, from top: Passive Pre, Puresound, Adcom, Raphaelite, Adcom.

Virtual Home Visit (7): Dual (Duel) Horn Systems

Editor: BenYC is one of the gentlest souls that I have had the pleasure of knowing. Always willing to lend a hand, Ben has been very kind to me. He is a very experienced audiophile; just a casual look at his equipment will tell you that. Ben also had my ferrite La Scala for a while before he evolved into the Jensen's and Altec's. Although we probably listen in different ways, there is one thing that now we share: we both listen to the low-res streamed music - Ben to his YouTube and I to NML or Spotify. We just love to explore music. For Ben, this comes in the wee hours, after a day of working and cooking (he's an excellent cook) and tending to his three kids; he then is free to listen at low volume or with his desktop system - his private hour. I am sure a lot of readers can relay. Ben plays the violin.

It was more than 10 years ago that I wrote up BenYC in a Home Visit. I had visited him several times after that but didn't report on it. Note that the equipment haven't changed that much. How does BenYC describe the sound of his systems? "...All are old gears that no one wants.  They sound like a mini-hifi that can play a bit louder..." But, don't you believe him...

BenYC's Living and Dining Rooms are conjoined in an L-shape. Top pic shows the Dining Room System, which is kind of his main system.

CD transport - Puremusic MU20
DAC - Adcom 600
Turntable: Nottingham ?
Phono - Counterpoint 5.1 + Raphaelite SUT
CD Passive Pre - General Radio 1450TA (RCA 11713 Transformers in out)
Crossover and input selector - Ashly SP4.8 x 2
Treble - Raphaelite 6L6 SE to Jensen 103 + Fostex T90A
Mid - Sun Audio 45 SE to Altec 808 + 511
Bass - Antique Sound Lab 6L6 PP to Jensen P15LL
Sub - MJ Acoustics Ref 100 x 2

The system below is the second system, located in the Living Room by the Door.

Top Shelf: Ampex,  Raphaelite behind amp on left, Sun Audio behind amp on right, Electronic Crossovers stacked behind Center Speaker. Middle: Parasound and Passive Pre. Lower: PS Audio. See also right pic and pic below.

CD Transport - PS Audio Lambda
DAC - Parasound 1600
Passive Pre - General Radio 1450TA (RCA11713 transformers in out)
Crossover - Ashly SP4.8 x 2
Treble - Raphaelite 6V6 to Jensen 302 + Fountek NeoCD2.0
Mid - Sun Audio 6V6 SE to Jensen 201
Bass - Ampex 6L6 PP to Jensen P15LL
Sub - Sunfire HRS12

BenYC also has a lot of stuff on his desktop, but that is enough for now!

The Yumcha Diaries: 25/07/09

The Yumcha Diaries: 25/07/09
Horns, more please

After yumcha, four of us went to audition BenYC's new horn setup. It's a "clone" of the Jensen Imperial. Sometimes you can hear the real thing (asking for >>$100k) play magnificent music at YK audio.

The alnico drivers are actually not expensive, according to BenYC. Instead of a one-piece enclosure, he made a ported bass enclosure (side vents) according to Jensen spec, and made two open-back enclosures for the midrange horn and the tweeter, to which a supertweeter is added passively. A cheap dbx 3-way professional ss crossover feeds 3 amplifiers at recommended crossover points: SUN VT-25 LE, SUN 6V6SE and ASL EH-6V6 PP (rugged, and could be used in this originally 6L6 PP amp!!) monoblocks, driving the tweeter assembly, midrange and bass, respectively. The rest of the equipment include PS Audio Lambda, Parasound PCM-63 DAC, Counterpoint SA5.1.

The system was just setup and still in early tuning stage. Compared to the previous (non-alnico) Klipsch La Scala, which I sold to BenYC, there was certainly more details up above though a slightly etched quality was apparent and coherence seemed to be lacking slightly. Later, it was revealed BenYC's kids had "re-equalized" the curve! :-) Ah, sweet kids...

Although not yet perfect, the detailed sound revealed very good presence, as a good horn should do (though many don't) and I agree with whlee that one could tell the quality and potential of the drivers. I am not quite sure I agree bass is better than La Scala, which has deep bass if you do it right.

Anyway, an good setup with eminently deep potentials, which I look forward to re-auditioning soon. I also have to re-arrange my house now (friends know how big a task that is) to receive the La Scala back. This I plan to put beneath my current alnico pair, so as I can play them stacked! Isn't that something to look forward to! :-)