HK Audio LUCAS SMART - JHS

Review HK Audio L.U.C.A.S. SMART
Portable PA system
Smart
Thinking
HK Audio’s LUCAS systems set a new
benchmark benchmark for for powerful, powerful, performer-friendly
performer-friendly
PA when when they were first launched, but are
they they still still ahead of of the game now?
I’ve always liked the look and sound of HK
Audio’s portable P.A. gear, and I recently
purchased the baby of the portable sound
range — the L.U.C.A.S. SMART. The current
L.U.C.A.S. range (L.U.C.A.S. stands for
‘Lightweight Ultra Compact Active System’ by
the way) consists of five models ranging from
the 2000 Watt ‘ALPHA’ and ‘MAX’ versions right
music musicmart
HK Audio L.U.C.A.S. SMART
£1039
Key Notes
• Compact 400 Watt system.
Weighs just 30kg.
• Easily fits inside a small car.
• Powered subwoofer and passive satellite mid/
highs.
• Mid/high power amps built into subwoofer.
• Aimed at solo/group performances up to 100
people.
High Notes
• Tiny, lightweight rig with a quality sound.
• Very easy to set up and use — nothing to get
wrong.
• Classy looks, with good build quality.
• Micro-Tilt speaker mountings are very effective.
Low Notes
• You’d need at least two to do Wembley.
John Hornby Skewes 0113 2865381
www.hkaudio.com
Review by Mike Crofts Crofts Crofts
HK Audio L.U.C.A.S. SMART PA
down to the 400 Watt L.U.C.A.S.
SMART, so in theory the range
caters for virtually anything
from a one-man-band
to serious rock and
roll. HK gear has long
been well thought
of in terms of sound
quality and reliability,
and this was certainly
what I was looking for in
a very portable and simple
to use format.
As with all the models
in the L.U.C.A.S. range, the SMART consists of
a powered subwoofer and two passive satellite
mid/high speakers. The two mid/high power
amps are built in to the subwoofer, so the only
signal connections requierd are an input to the
sub, and Speakon cables from the sub to each
satellite speaker. In addition to the power amps,
the sub cabinet also contains all the electronic
processing and protection circuitry which is an
integral part of the system design. The L.U.C.A.S.
SMART system is, according to the HK catalogue,
aimed at solo and group performers and
presentation applications for up to 100 people.
One of its main features is its portability — the
whole thing weighs about 30kg and easily fits
inside a small car.
Down to basics
Let’s start with the basic system
components… the subwoofer is equipped
with a digital power amplifier which delivers
250 Watts rms into a specially-designed
ten-inch HK speaker with an impedance of 3
Ohms. Above the crossover point of 90Hz, two
80 Watt rms power amps drive the left and
right satellite speakers which each contain
a 6.5 inch HK midrange driver and a one-inch
dome tweeter unit.
The three cabinets are finished in black
paint, which appears to be pretty sturdy stuff,
and the steel front grilles have an outer foam
layer which offers some additional protection
to the driver components, and looks good too.
The satellite speakers have special pole mount
fixings (HK call them ‘MicroTilt’) which tilt the
speakers down at an angle of ten degrees —
this is to direct the mid and high frequencies
straight at the target area — the audience
— and this greatly reduces reflections from
58 August 2007 musicmart-mag.com
low ceilings for a cleaner and more efficient
delivery of the direct sound. The speakers
are very stable when mounted, and will not
spin or tilt once they are in place but, as these
cabinets are so light, you do need to make
sure that the speaker cables are either running
vertically up to the cabs or fasten them in
place (e.g. tape them to the stand) so that they
don’t pull the speakers out of position during
the performance. Apparently you can also
mount the speakers on microphone stands as
the mounting hole is only 15mm in diameter
— the HK stands have 15mm top sections
so bear in mind that you can’t use standard
35mm stands or poles.
The subwooofer is very compact and easy
to carry using the two large recesses machined
into each side — there is no pole mount
socket on top, and it can be tucked away out
of harm’s way if space is tight.
My system came with the optional speaker
stands and cable set, and also with the
carrying bags. These heavy padded covers are
very well made and look as if they would offer
a good deal of protection against road abuse
or a bit of a shower — but the clever part is
that the sub and satellites bags clip together
and you can roll the whole lot away using the
built-in retractable handle and wheels — really
neat idea, sort of ‘rock then roll’ maybe?
With knobs on…
Connecting up the L.U.C.A.S. SMART is a very
straightforward process, but there are some
input options which add to the versatility of
the system. All the connectors are on the top
and rear panels of the subwoofer and they
are all clearly labelled. On the input side,
three sets of input connections are provided
— line in, auxiliary in, and microphone in.
The microphone input is a balanced XLR
socket, the line input is one of those ‘combi’
type sockets which accepts either XLR or
balanced TRS jack, and the aux input is a pair
of unbalanced RCA phonos for connecting
CD players and the like. Each input has its
own idividual rotary control to adjust input
sensitivity, and all three channels can be used
simultaneously and mixed together using
these controls.
The main outputs are those which feed
the satellite speakers — the left and right
power amp outputs appear on NL4 ‘Speakon’
connectors about halfway down the sub’s
back panel. There are a pair of RCA phono
line-level outputs as well, which can be used
as recording sends or for feeding into an
auxiliary system; the output on these sockets
represents the input signal which is being fed
into the power amp stage, and will therefore
be a mix of all three possible inputs.
On the top panel there’s a stereo/mono
selector switch, which allows either normal
stereo operation, or routes the left input
channel to both sides as a mono source. (This
button is a good thing to check when you
have set up for mono and the right-hand
speaker is giving no output…) Apart from
Spot the PA! The organiser at this gig were
particularly keen for the PA to be heard but not seen.
a ground lift button, the only other controls
are a rotary balance control for setting the
relative left and right levels, and a subwoofer
level control which allows a fair amount of
boost and cut around the ‘normal’ sub level
which is when this knob is at its 12 o’clock
position. a pair of LEDs indicate that a signal
is going in to the system, and warn if limiting
is taking place, either occasionally (yellow
warning LED) or all the time (red). Just add
a standard IEC mains connector and an on/off
switch and that’s about it — very simple and
clearly laid out.
Sounds bigger than it looks
The L.U.C.A.S. SMART has been designed to
provide high quality sound reproduction
in a very small package, and this can’t be
achieved by simply sticking a smallish sub and
a couple of little speakers together. There’s
quite a lot of clever electronic stuff happening
inside the box, and the result is a physically
small system which sounds like a much bigger
one. There’s a lot of information on the HK
website about the various processes used, but
the main goodies are worthy of brief mention.
Firstly there’s the use of digital power amps,
which are extremely efficient and can be
manufactured much lighter and smaller than
conventional analogue stages. a small system
like the L.U.C.A.S. SMART won’t be expected
to produce bowel-loosening bass at two
hundred yards, so the lowest frequencies are
safely disposed of with a subsonic filter which
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Review HK Audio L.U.C.A.S. SMART
Portable PA system
— by removing unwanted and ‘impossible’
low signals — allows the system to use its
available energy on useful low end material
which provides much improved dynamics, and
protects the driver components at the same
time.
All ‘managed’ active systems employ
some form of limiters, and the SMART uses
a multi-band circuit where overall response
can be controlled and optimised to the
speaker characteristics. Finally, there’s some
technology in there called ‘OFR’ which stands
for ‘Optimised Frequency Response’ and this
is what keeps eveything sounding as it should
under a number of different conditions —
various corrections are applied to the signal
to compensate for non-linearities in the
loudspeakers, and the system response is
fine-tuned to maintain the best sound balance
at different volume levels. All of this is aimed
at producing a sound which — at low or high
volume — sounds pleasing to the human ear
and is faithful to the original sound source. So
does it work? You bet it works…
Into action
In its first month this little rig has been out
on three full-blown gigs and a couple of
modest conference room presentations, and
despite it’s diminutive dimensions it really
has performed impeccably. On a five-piece
‘covers’ gig — a reception in a marquee, you
know the sort of thing — it was used for the
three vocalists and a bit of kick drum. The
main problem was actually in convincing
the band that it would be powerful enough,
even though the gig wasn’t intended to be
music mart
a particularly loud affair. All doubts evaporated
after about five minutes (the setting up time)
when the SMART system was fired up, and the
lovely clean vocal sound was apparent. The rig
performed beautifully for the whole set, and
seemed particularly well-suited to the female
vocals — I could probably have sold it there
and then and made a few quid, but it had
more work to do the following weekend.
The second live sound challenge was quite
different, and involved providing very high
quality sound reinforcement for an opera
company performing in an open-fronted
marquee to an audience of around one
hundred seated in an adjecent marquee. The
job called for four radio mics for the principals,
three static mics on the chorus, and four mics
to cover parts (mainly strings and piano) of the
fourteen-strong orchestra. As the Oxfordshire
weather control seemed to be stuck on ‘very
wet’, I rigged the SMART system under cover
at the front of the audience marquee with the
speakers tucked in right behind the lighting
stands; this went down very well with the
organisers who were insistent — and rightly
so — that the sound system was there to help
the audience hear what was going on, and not
a decibel more… and if possible it should be
completely invisible. The SMART system was
absolutely spot-on for this job, and I managed
to achieve a ‘near-invisible’ transition between
the amplified sound and what was coming
directly from the stage. Setting up the
front-of-house took about ten minutes on
this occasion, as I had to use a much longer
cable to connect the right-hand speaker, and
bury it under some gravel and posh carpeting
so that the guests wouldn’t see it. Again, the
SMART rig performed with perfect manners
throughout, and earned several positive
comments. One thing that was very noticeable
was the even sound balance between the front
and back of the marquee; the built-in speaker
tilt of ten degrees was just about perfect and
provided lovely even coverage for the whole
audience area.
Packing up was just as easy and I was glad
that I had bought the system complete with
its protective covers — you just zip it up and
wheel it away — brilliant.
The following day we were back at the same
location but this time with grand piano and
vocals only — and again, the SMART rig came
through with flying colours.
Not only is it ridiculously easy to transport,
set up and pack away, it sounds really nice too
— just like a big hi-fi — and it looks exactly
right for this kind of upmarket work, where the
last thing you want is anything reminiscent of
rock-n-roll.
Non, je ne regrette rien!
The people at HK Audio have got his one
absolutely dead right in my opinion — and
that’s as an owner who considers his money
has just been very well spent. It’s a fab little
system; having the SMART in the house is a bit
like having a favourite guitar lurking in the
living room — I keep wanting to get it out and
play with it, if you know what I mean! It’s neat,
it sounds smooth and classy but with lots of
dynamics, and it’s just sooo easy to handle
— and in one more gig it’ll be into profit. You
really just can’t say fairer than that.
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