Timeless. Improving Classic Designs with Innovative Excellence

The final month of 2020 – AT LAST!

If ever there has been a year to count one’s blessings, 2020 has been it. And at Hammertone, count them we’ve been doing, feeling grateful for every one.

One of the ironies of the year is that for many of us, having more free time at home than normal, we’ve had the opportunity to pursue with more energy and involvement all those activities that bring joy and solace to our lives. Here, one of the things that’s kept us busy has been a follow-up project to one we did last year - one that we are so happy to be living with daily - to reinvent another classic speaker with Allnic and other technology.

In our blog for June of 2019, we told the story of how we obtained a unique pair of Altec Lansing Voice of the Theatre, Gary Fischer Speakers rebuilds, with Allnic Audio’s KS Park designed Constant Impedance Network crossovers. You can see them in the main photo for this blog, and also read about them in detail here: https://www.hammertoneaudio.com/archives/1233

…but in a nutshell:

• Altec 288-16G 16ohm Alnico 29lb compression drivers with 1005b 10 cell horn
• Altec 416-8B 15”woofers
• JBL 2405 slot tweeters
• ALLNIC constant impedance dividing network
• Custom powered elevating and tilting Fischer VOTT cabinets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve been happily, oh so happily (understatement!), listening to those ever since!

However, as mentioned in that story, around that time we also purchased a pair of vintage, blue-faced 1970s JBL Olympus speakers with a possible future project in mind.

They were gorgeous, but knowing what Allnic’s KS Park’s constant impedance crossover can do (based on his industry first, and only, constant impedance attenuator, standard on all the line-stages in the current line-up) and the wide range of other possibilities, we had a big question.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What to do, what to do?

 

 

 

 

Don Corby, of Corby’s Audio in Ontario, https://corbysaudio.com , a trusted Allnic retailer, suggested we talk to Frank Fazzalari of Coherent Audio Loudspeakers, also in Ontario.

Frank is a master and has been making speakers for many years, at first building enclosures for well-known Canadian manufacturers and then, starting in 2007, his own designs, loved by many for their sound, flexibility and beauty of design ever since. Take a look at his website: https://www.coherentspeakers.net

 

Coherent loudspeakers are a fantastic match for Allnic gear, including the beautiful low power monoblocks.

 

 

 

And Allnic products themselves are also perfect examples of blending excellent old with exceptionally new and innovative technology.

The beauty of SET mids and highs with solid-state-like bass in an all tube device anyone?

 

Well, one thing led to another, and right now Frank is building brand new enclosures and equipping them with his custom-made Yuichi A290 25” wide Walnut CNC’d horns for:

• the new, 18 inch Radian dual neodymium magnet, 103db efficient woofers;

 

 

the JBL Olympus’ original 375 midrange drivers, the engine in the Hartsfield corner horn, the SR8 Olympus, and the fabled console styled Paragon, operating from 500HZ to around 9500HZ; and

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• the JBL 077 slot tweeters!

And the Yuichi horns are in progress…

First the boards are dressed to thickness and glued up to make flat panels. Then, the panels are stained and trimmed close to finished size.

Next, a CNC machine cuts out the blanks of the various layers.

 

 

The blanks are glued together to make up 4 identical sections.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frank built a router jig to mill the contours of the horn. This is the old school way; next time he says he will CNC them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Completed horn sections

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And KS Park at Allnic is making the “magic box” crossovers!

Now THIS is exciting, and a great way to make these times pass by with anticipation of incredible sound to come. It makes us want Frank to provide daily reports, but we have to have some consideration and patience, don’t’ we? ;-)

Rest assured, we’ll post more info on how the build is going and, of course, the final results.

 

And just to provide a little more cause for sweet anticipation, KS Park and Allnic are currently testing the viability of producing their own versions of the rare direct heated triode vacuum tubes used in Allnic’s premier DHT products.

 

The first being tested is the new version of the increasingly rare RS242 valve used in the Allnic A-5000 DHT monoblock amplifiersand flagship H-8000 DHT phono-stage.

 

 

 

 

 

We hope you’ve enjoyed this little update, and look forward to letting you know more soon (Frank?!!?); and…

… Whatever activity you’ve been able to explore more deeply during these days, be it studying/researching some favourite topic in more detail than ever, playing a musical instrument, gaming, automobile-restoring/modding, drawing and painting, whittling, whatever – even stereo system improving :-), we hope it’s been, and continues to be, exceptionally rewarding. And… the holidays really ARE coming!!

Stay well and happy!!