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Thread: Westlake HR-1's are now home

  1. #1
    RIP 2014 Ken Pachkowsky's Avatar
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    Westlake HR-1's are now home

    Well, I picked them up day before yesterday.

    Here are a couple of photo's.

    I have stands that need to be cut down from 6 feet to 16 inches in height. They where used as mastering monitors at Bernie Beckers studio in LA.

    The cables that came with them are like battery jumper cables I kid you not. All eight are only 6 feet long each, creating a nightmare for reaching the power amps. I called Westlake to enquire about 15 footers. They wanted 2500 for them. Think I will make the 6's work.

    I spent yesterday hooking them up. I have a slight ground loop on the Crown D-150 I am using for the 2426 HF drivers. I have tried everything to get rid of it to no avail. Any advice would be appreciated.

    The HRX-4 Active crossover is amazing. For 6,000 it should be.The tweakability of this crossover is outstanding. Each driver can be turned off and on without need of turning the volume down. Each of the 8 output sections (4 per side for quad applification) have gain adjustments. This xover is divded into 2 seperate channels with independant power supply's. There is an overall gain control for each channel as well. Each channel is designed and matched to the specific drivers in each enclosure.

    The down side:

    These are the industrial version with black cabinets and look odd in a living room situation. The horns have been damaged along the edges over the years and will take some TLC to get them looking good.

    The grills just plain suc.

    They weigh a %$#@ ton. 300lbs each.

    My wife hates the way they look in our living room.

    The price.

    First impressions:

    Unbelievable imaging and very tight bass. I have never heard a large format monitor that comes close to this in terms of imaging. The 2235H's are wonderfull on the bottom. I must admit the Gauss 3184's do a fine job on the mid bass. This system uses the 2446 on the large wood horn. I can see why so many love these horns as they are very smooth at high spl's. The 2426 seems to do a good job filling out the high's using the small wood horn.

    These can be tweaked a great deal using the HRX xover. I will spend a good part of tomorrow doing that.


    Will keep you posted.

  2. #2
    RIP 2014 Ken Pachkowsky's Avatar
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    Here are the photos

    Where toooo big
    Attached Images Attached Images  

  3. #3
    RIP 2014 Ken Pachkowsky's Avatar
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    Here is another

    Another one.
    Attached Images Attached Images  

  4. #4
    Administrator Robh3606's Avatar
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    So what are you gonna use for a center channel with the 4345's as rears???

    Wow!!! Ken those look just huge! Are you using the EQ's too?? So it uses a 2446 with a 2426 no ring radiators??? Do you know how they have the horns EQ? Especially the 2426. What are the crossover points??

    Enjoy them!!

    Rob

  5. #5
    RIP 2010 scott fitlin's Avatar
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    Great speakers

    I love those wood horns. Those are nice speakers. ENJOY, Ken!

  6. #6
    Senior Señor boputnam's Avatar
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    Yea, me too.

    I get this eerie feeling I'm looking head-long into a 747 - and somehow it's ALL good...
    bo

    "Indeed, not!!"

  7. #7
    Tom Loizeaux
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    Ken, Congratulations on these Westlakes! I've watched your persuit of "the ulimate" speakers, and I think you may have gotten there!
    The Westlake speakers, especially the larger ones, appear to be a refinement of JBL big studio monitors. Westlake seems to have taken up where JBL left off. I hear they auditioned a number of drivers and selected the best, regardless of cost, to use in building their ultimate systems. Not surprisingly, a number of the componants are JBL Pro.
    I've had my eye on Westlakes for some time but only as wishfull thinking. I kept waiting for them to build a tower version of these monitors so I wouldn't have to put them up on stands. (I also wasn't ready to spend that kind of money on speakers). I decided to go after the JBL studio monitors because I found some that were not wanted or appreciated anymore.
    I'm sure these Westlakes sound GREAT and that you'll be in audio heaven when you sit down in front of them.
    Let us know how these play out for you in the weeks ahead.

    Tom

  8. #8
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    Ken,

    Very impressive, no need to go to any more concert hey.

    That will keep you busy for a while.

    Do you still have the 4345's?

    macka

  9. #9
    Senior Member MikeM's Avatar
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    Westlakes

    Those look nice Enjoy. They will Demand Premium amplification I bet your finding this out Ha. Better have your furniture bolted down
    Von Schweikert VR-8
    Canary Ref. 1 300B monoblocks. 300Bx16

  10. #10
    RIP 2014 Ken Pachkowsky's Avatar
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    Challenges for sure!

    Well, there have been some challenges for sure. These weigh in at 420 lbs each and sound marginal at best sitting on the floor (as Tom pointed out re stands) I spent 3 hours using a car jack to slowly raise the left one a bit at a time using cinder blocks to get it to ear level (don’t have anyone to help). Where’s Mr. Zero when you need him? After getting it to ear level I discovered the MHF driver cable won’t reach the barrier strip on the cab (4in short). Hmmm “what now”

    Mike M pointed out I will need premium amps to drive these. I have purchased 3 more Hafler’s in the last couple of days. I am currently using 2 Musical Concepts Hafler’s now along with a stock Hafler P-500 and a Crown D-150. These are doing the job well but only after all the Haflers have been upgraded by Musical Concepts will I be happy. The final mix will be.

    2x DH-200’s bridged for the 15’s 300+300 watts at 8ohm load
    1x DH-500 for both Gauss 10’s
    1x DH-500 for the 2446’s
    1x DH-200 for the 2426’s

    At this point that’s all I can afford.

    Would love to get some Bryston’s but alas, divorce could be the end result.

    Going to wait till tomorrow to hoist the right cab up to ear height. Will try and get the gardeners into the house to help.

    On the advice of Westlake I tried some ground lifters to solve the mild loop problems with negative results.

    I shall endeavor to persevere. The end results should be one awesome system. You guys that love to tweak would get woody’s from the flexibility of this HRX crossover.

    Thanks to all for your enthusiasm about this acquisition. These where completely rebuilt 4 years ago and are the equivalent of the current production HR-1’s that per Westlake sell for 65,000 today. By the way, the SR-1’s sell for 80,000 in standard black cabs. The upgraded veneer versions are a mere 120,000. Can you believe that?

    Alas, I had to part with my beloved 4345’s, but they went to a very good home where they will be enjoyed for years to come. They helped finance the above.

    Later Guys.

  11. #11
    RIP 2014 Ken Pachkowsky's Avatar
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    Oh MY GOD!!!

    What a difference getting these off the floor...

    Now were talkin!!!

    Later

  12. #12
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    Ken,

    I know its early days, but what are your first impressions of the big horn/ little horn relative to the 2307/2308 + slot.

    Ian

  13. #13
    RIP 2014 Ken Pachkowsky's Avatar
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    Too Early but

    Originally posted by Ian Mackenzie
    Ken,

    I know its early days, but what are your first impressions of the big horn/ little horn relative to the 2307/2308 + slot.

    Ian
    I would have to say what jumps out is the high spl's with very little if any harshness. Its going to take a while to set these up right and until then I won't be able to answer these questions with any hard facts. I will tell you this. The 4345's where tuned lower than these. Those 2245's are fantastic. I don't believe these 2235's will ever sound as good as they did on extreme lows. They don't sound bad, just different. Right now with the way they are setup and not rta'd the price difference is not being justified. This will be temporary I am sure. Work though is going to place this on the back burner till fall. I will continue to tweak as time permits.

    As pointed out by Mike M., Amps are def an issue. I may have to go to a whole different level of quality. Perhaps Brystons. Will this ever stop?

    Ken

  14. #14
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    Re: Too Early but

    "I don't believe these 2235's will ever sound as good as they did on extreme lows."

    Well something is definitely wrong then. I wonder if they are yet another set of 2235H's some genius thought to remove the mass rings from.

  15. #15
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    Well,

    How about some Hi end DIY X Aleph Class A Pass amps for the horns? They are the best of thebest

    Can you solder?

    I'll zip you an email later with the details

    macka

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