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Thread: HK Audio Lucas Nano 600

  1. #11

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    Default HK Audio Lucas Nano 600 Review

    Seeing as there are a lot of you looking at PA columns and mini arrays, here's a few thoughts on the HK Audio Lucas Nano 600. I know lots of DJ's etc who are very sceptical about this sort of kit so I've put a bit of effort in to try to provide a fairly objective assessment.

    Took delivery this week and it's already been gigged twice - for a small wedding (90-100 guests) in a 15m x 15m room approx and a children's party in a large village hall (35 children plus mums and dads). It coped with both, no problem and with room to spare, so that was good news. From experience, I'd guess it's good for gigs up to 150 people.

    Anyway, straight out of the box you notice how good the build quality is. It is very solid and although it's made of plastic with a steel front grille, it feels as though it could stand a few knocks. HK Audio have braced the insides of the subwoofer to avoid rattles and improve resonance and that probably helps make the unit so rigid. It is light (19kg) and can be picked up with one hand with ease. It has two carry handles and it is a doddle to carry about. It is also very small at just 35 cm wide, 49 cm high and 47 cm deep including the 2 satellites which stash in the back of the sub. You could easily transport the whole thing in a car on the front passenger seat.

    All the controls are easy to use and clearly set out. Just connect up your inputs from mixer / laptop / MP3 Player / Mic / Phantom Mic / Guitar / Keyboard (jacks /XLR/phono) then connect the sub to the satellites and that's it. If you are thinking of buying one of these, the satellites connect to the sub using speakons. When I bought mine, some dealers were getting confused with the 300 series and were recommending jack leads rather than speakon leads. TIP: You'll need 2 speakon cables to run in stereo mode, 1 cable to run in mono mode with the satellites docked on top of each other on a pole or....no speakons if you dock the 2 satellites onto the connector built into the top of the sub. Sounds Live in Newcaste kindly provided a pair of speakons for free. It's already been said that HK don't include any speakon cables, a speaker pole with M20 thread for the sub or the mountings if you want to put the satellites onto a speaker pole / stand so there's a bit of extra cost here if you need them all. You do get a nylon cover though. TIP: the satellites have a 3/8 inch female thread in the bottom so you could use microphone stand with a 3/8 inch male thread to mount them. I made some sleeves with a 3/8 thread on top to sit over my speaker poles so I can just screw the satellites on. Works fine, cost nothing.

    The most important thing has to be how they sound and on this forum, are they any good for DJ's. Yes, in fact I am amazed with the Nano. It's beyond me how HK Audio have managed to get so much noise from such a small package. The sub is a revelation. Very loud, very low bass from a 10 inch speaker? I can't see how it is possible. It has a front facing speaker and also has ports on the underside of the unit which move a massive amount of air but by rights, it shouldn't be able to do what it does and certainly not from a plastic cabinet. The satellites are quite clever too. They have a multi-cell diffuser sat in front of a very small speaker and again, they do more than you would think possible. If you look at the technical data it states the satellite dispersion as 90 degrees horizontal and +10/-45 degrees vertical. I'm guessing that sound is thrown forwards / downwards more than it is thrown upwards so more is directed at the audience. I reckon that the satellites have the output of a decent 12 inch speaker so something clever is going on inside both the sub and satellite. Whilst the sub and bass output is amazing and the satellites give a very bright feel to highs, the mids are slightly weaker but there is a very useful tone control knob to compensate for this. That said, it just means that the nano sounds slightly different to a 'normal' speaker cabinet. Not worse, just a bit different different. After a few minutes, you get to understand the sound and it is very pleasant to listen to - precise, without a hint of coarseness or distortion, even at the point where the large easy to see red limiter light comes on (at last, someone has put a nice big limiter light on the top of a sub where you can actually see it). It is one of many thoughtful features on the Nano.

    Today, I played some vocal / acoustic music through the Nano and it sounded like a live performer in the room whereas the bass from UB40's Kingston Town shook the room. The Nano also handles live vocals pretty well so it is a bit of an all-rounder. In our house we have a simple test. Amongst other things, I always play Darude's Sandstorm through any new PA. It's my missuses favourite and a good test track. If she nods or smiles, then the heavy bass crashes at the beginning must sound dramatic and the electronic highs must rasp as they should. She is, after all, a listener and not an overly complicated DJ. If she looks nonplussed then it's trouble. Within the next day or so, I'll be answering questions about how much money have I wasted this time! With the Nano, she nodded and even took a passing interest in the tiny little PA system. A result!. This is exactly how my DB Technologies subs were consigned to history because that time, she shook her head. Thumbs down. She knows best.

    I have been overly sceptical when it comes to ultra compact PA's and mini arrays and I now have to eat humble pie. The technical people have perfected them and these tiny lightweight systems finally seem to be able to compete with bigger, heavier traditional PA speakers. It's very hard to describe sound output in words but HK's claim of 130db in mono mode isn't far off the mark. That might not sound so spectacular because there are plenty of single 10-12 inch speakers that can achieve these SPL's. However, none of them can match the bass output of the nano and nor can you split the High frequency drivers in two and place them in a stereo layout to give a full array of sound across a venue. This is what sets the Nano apart from other systems. With all this new fangled technology, I'd estimate the tiny Nano's overall output at somewhere just below that of the current Lucas Performer or the older HK Lucas 1000. This is for less than half the cost, about half the weight and half the size. The beauty of this system is that you can run it as a single modular column array or you can split the satellites and use it as a stereo system (similar to a HK Lucas Impact etc) or you can connect up 2 units to make a twin sub / 2 tops arrangement. The latter would make a very capable PA system and the two units combined wouldn't occupy much more space than a standard 15 inch speaker. Finally, when it's not being gigged in connects up to the telly in my music room to make a kicking 2.1 sound system!

    If you're after a very compact PA, give this serious consideration.

  2. #12
    Jonny Boy's Avatar
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    Comprehensive & well written review there Paul.... Pro-Mobile article all ready, right there!

    I'm putting things in place to buy a 2nd after this weekend's '2 upstairs venues' back-aches...


    would be interested to see the 35mm pole adaptor you've made & how.

  3. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jonny Boy View Post
    Comprehensive & well written review there Paul.... Pro-Mobile article all ready, right there!

    I'm putting things in place to buy a 2nd after this weekend's '2 upstairs venues' back-aches...


    would be interested to see the 35mm pole adaptor you've made & how.
    Thanks, tbh pretty much the last time I'll bother making any effort to post on here. I tend to do a review when there is not much on the web because I have always found similar efforts useful.

  4. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jonny Boy View Post
    Comprehensive & well written review there Paul.... Pro-Mobile article all ready, right there!

    I'm putting things in place to buy a 2nd after this weekend's '2 upstairs venues' back-aches...


    would be interested to see the 35mm pole adaptor you've made & how.
    send me your email and I'll send you a piccy.

  5. #15

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    Paul, thanks for the excellent review, can I ask you where you put this Hk Nano 600 against the Lucas smart system? thanks again


    Quote Originally Posted by paulg View Post
    Seeing as there are a lot of you looking at PA columns and mini arrays, here's a few thoughts on the HK Audio Lucas Nano 600. I know lots of DJ's etc who are very sceptical about this sort of kit so I've put a bit of effort in to try to provide a fairly objective assessment.

    Took delivery this week and it's already been gigged twice - for a small wedding (90-100 guests) in a 15m x 15m room approx and a children's party in a large village hall (35 children plus mums and dads). It coped with both, no problem and with room to spare, so that was good news. From experience, I'd guess it's good for gigs up to 150 people.

    Anyway, straight out of the box you notice how good the build quality is. It is very solid and although it's made of plastic with a steel front grille, it feels as though it could stand a few knocks. HK Audio have braced the insides of the subwoofer to avoid rattles and improve resonance and that probably helps make the unit so rigid. It is light (19kg) and can be picked up with one hand with ease. It has two carry handles and it is a doddle to carry about. It is also very small at just 35 cm wide, 49 cm high and 47 cm deep including the 2 satellites which stash in the back of the sub. You could easily transport the whole thing in a car on the front passenger seat.

    All the controls are easy to use and clearly set out. Just connect up your inputs from mixer / laptop / MP3 Player / Mic / Phantom Mic / Guitar / Keyboard (jacks /XLR/phono) then connect the sub to the satellites and that's it. If you are thinking of buying one of these, the satellites connect to the sub using speakons. When I bought mine, some dealers were getting confused with the 300 series and were recommending jack leads rather than speakon leads. TIP: You'll need 2 speakon cables to run in stereo mode, 1 cable to run in mono mode with the satellites docked on top of each other on a pole or....no speakons if you dock the 2 satellites onto the connector built into the top of the sub. Sounds Live in Newcaste kindly provided a pair of speakons for free. It's already been said that HK don't include any speakon cables, a speaker pole with M20 thread for the sub or the mountings if you want to put the satellites onto a speaker pole / stand so there's a bit of extra cost here if you need them all. You do get a nylon cover though. TIP: the satellites have a 3/8 inch female thread in the bottom so you could use microphone stand with a 3/8 inch male thread to mount them. I made some sleeves with a 3/8 thread on top to sit over my speaker poles so I can just screw the satellites on. Works fine, cost nothing.

    The most important thing has to be how they sound and on this forum, are they any good for DJ's. Yes, in fact I am amazed with the Nano. It's beyond me how HK Audio have managed to get so much noise from such a small package. The sub is a revelation. Very loud, very low bass from a 10 inch speaker? I can't see how it is possible. It has a front facing speaker and also has ports on the underside of the unit which move a massive amount of air but by rights, it shouldn't be able to do what it does and certainly not from a plastic cabinet. The satellites are quite clever too. They have a multi-cell diffuser sat in front of a very small speaker and again, they do more than you would think possible. If you look at the technical data it states the satellite dispersion as 90 degrees horizontal and +10/-45 degrees vertical. I'm guessing that sound is thrown forwards / downwards more than it is thrown upwards so more is directed at the audience. I reckon that the satellites have the output of a decent 12 inch speaker so something clever is going on inside both the sub and satellite. Whilst the sub and bass output is amazing and the satellites give a very bright feel to highs, the mids are slightly weaker but there is a very useful tone control knob to compensate for this. That said, it just means that the nano sounds slightly different to a 'normal' speaker cabinet. Not worse, just a bit different different. After a few minutes, you get to understand the sound and it is very pleasant to listen to - precise, without a hint of coarseness or distortion, even at the point where the large easy to see red limiter light comes on (at last, someone has put a nice big limiter light on the top of a sub where you can actually see it). It is one of many thoughtful features on the Nano.

    Today, I played some vocal / acoustic music through the Nano and it sounded like a live performer in the room whereas the bass from UB40's Kingston Town shook the room. The Nano also handles live vocals pretty well so it is a bit of an all-rounder. In our house we have a simple test. Amongst other things, I always play Darude's Sandstorm through any new PA. It's my missuses favourite and a good test track. If she nods or smiles, then the heavy bass crashes at the beginning must sound dramatic and the electronic highs must rasp as they should. She is, after all, a listener and not an overly complicated DJ. If she looks nonplussed then it's trouble. Within the next day or so, I'll be answering questions about how much money have I wasted this time! With the Nano, she nodded and even took a passing interest in the tiny little PA system. A result!. This is exactly how my DB Technologies subs were consigned to history because that time, she shook her head. Thumbs down. She knows best.

    I have been overly sceptical when it comes to ultra compact PA's and mini arrays and I now have to eat humble pie. The technical people have perfected them and these tiny lightweight systems finally seem to be able to compete with bigger, heavier traditional PA speakers. It's very hard to describe sound output in words but HK's claim of 130db in mono mode isn't far off the mark. That might not sound so spectacular because there are plenty of single 10-12 inch speakers that can achieve these SPL's. However, none of them can match the bass output of the nano and nor can you split the High frequency drivers in two and place them in a stereo layout to give a full array of sound across a venue. This is what sets the Nano apart from other systems. With all this new fangled technology, I'd estimate the tiny Nano's overall output at somewhere just below that of the current Lucas Performer or the older HK Lucas 1000. This is for less than half the cost, about half the weight and half the size. The beauty of this system is that you can run it as a single modular column array or you can split the satellites and use it as a stereo system (similar to a HK Lucas Impact etc) or you can connect up 2 units to make a twin sub / 2 tops arrangement. The latter would make a very capable PA system and the two units combined wouldn't occupy much more space than a standard 15 inch speaker. Finally, when it's not being gigged in connects up to the telly in my music room to make a kicking 2.1 sound system!

    If you're after a very compact PA, give this serious consideration.

  6. #16

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    Hey guys, been looking for reviews and real world examples of the nano 600 so thanks again.
    I mainly do Weddings every weekend and Im always looking for ways to get "Leaner" and perhaps more efficient.

    I popped down to the local music store to listen to the Nano 600 and was fairly amazed so much sound could come out of a small box, the sub had me and the staff a little confused - it got lower and louder than it should. Shoot, I would have brought two of those 10" subs if they sold them separately.

    Anyways, I rarely do weddings for more than 100 in small/medium sized rooms (New Zealand crowd numbers) - and even then the dance floor would usually be fairly small so Im thinking two of these would suffice.

    The 5 year warranty is a huge bonus, unusual in my country for a longer warranty than 3 years and even then you have to pay extra to get it extended from 1 to 3. Portability, flexibility and a full sound top off what appears to be a fantastic product.

    The problem I have at the moment though is its Small Footprint - Im hoping my clients see the benefits in having a system that can hardly be seen, and I intend to push that point to my clients - small, unobtrusive, tidy, non-threatening (lol) you get the picture.

    Will my clients freak out when they see the Satellites? Perhaps Im thinking to hard about the whole thing? Its doing my head in at the moment lol

  7. #17
    Jim - Scotland's Party DJ's Avatar
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    Anyone else into this? I'm looking to downsize from 2x15 tops and a sub or 2.

    I had been looking into getting 2 Maui 28s but this has really got my interest peaked.

    Being primarily weddings that don't need a tonne of BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASS I could probably get away with one for the majority of what I do but 2 would be ideal as a back up / to stop symmetry OCD.

    Plus they look ideal for rocking out some bicep curls if you get bored waiting for inept venue co-ordinators to get dinner finished in a timely manner

  8. #18

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    I brought 1 for ceremonies, background/canapes - anywhere I need a really small mobile set up.
    After 3 gigs Im buying another and using it as my mains. I tested it against my main Wedding rig (2 12s and a Sub) and it wins, easily.

    The bass is a little hard to believe, but it goes low - well low enough for a Wedding.
    For a 10" sub, it is truly amazing.
    2 coupled, and its pretty crazy.

    For small gigs in a restaurant type area or small dance floor, I will only need one.
    I hear ya regarding Symmetry, but with the sub(s) under the table, and two speakers the size of PC speakers, you can hardly see them.


    Quote Originally Posted by Jim - Scotland's Party DJ View Post
    Anyone else into this? I'm looking to downsize from 2x15 tops and a sub or 2.

    I had been looking into getting 2 Maui 28s but this has really got my interest peaked.

    Being primarily weddings that don't need a tonne of BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASS I could probably get away with one for the majority of what I do but 2 would be ideal as a back up / to stop symmetry OCD.

    Plus they look ideal for rocking out some bicep curls if you get bored waiting for inept venue co-ordinators to get dinner finished in a timely manner

  9. #19

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    Hi all,



    Someone asked me for a picture of the pole mount adapter I made for the nano satellite. A picture is attached. Because the satellite is so light you could make an adapter from anything that slips over a speaker pole. Drill a hole in the top of anything like an empty plastic container, cut a suitable bolt to size, drill a hole in the bottom of the container, put the bolt through and glue it in place. Cover with speaker cloth or vinyl. It's getting like Blue Peter.

    Name:  nano adapter.jpg
Views: 2545
Size:  31.5 KB

    A question was asked about the Nano 600 vs Lucas Smart and how they compare. The best thing to do is to look at HK's website and check the specifications. The Nano appears to be considerably louder with a lower bass frequency and much lighter than the Smart.

    It looks like other people are interested in the Nano's (Jim). The important thing to remember is that in most mini PA Arrays, you can't have the 2.1 set up as well as the columnar set up. This does add a bit of flexibility. It is a very capable system for smaller gigs.

    There was also a concern raised about the speaker size and how clients would react to the tiny satellites. I've use mine quite a lot now - smaller weddings, village halls and no-one has complained. I've a trapped nerve in my spine at the moment so I can keep working in comfort because I'm not lugging big PA around. Venue owners are perfectly happy with a system that frees up space for more tables or a bigger dance floor! Here's a picture of the unit in use in columnar form (you get a better output form the satellites in this set up). The room was very busy later on but the single unit coped with plenty in reserve.

    Name:  Nano Pag.jpg
Views: 2862
Size:  59.4 KB

    Personally, I think the set up picture above looks quite nice. Certainly better than it would with two 15" speakers on stands at either side so I can't see any reason to be feared about using these tiny systems.

    The only downside is that the Nano relies on amps built into the sub unit. If this part fails, you're knackered. 5 year warranty or not, if it breaks at a gig you have a big problem. Usually though, HK stuff is quite reliable.
    Last edited by Solitaire Events Ltd; 29-09-2014 at 10:53 PM.

  10. #20

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    Thanks Paul,

    I just bought mine a week ago? I found excellent. Besides hair that is easy mounting what impressed me most is the volume that reached the unit.

    I can not believe the amount of bass out of such a small device.

    I made a mono column buying the lectern and two screws, one m20 and another 3.8.
    I've been using for quite some time a system of two speakers Communnity MVP15HO (27kg each) And EMX512 Yamaha console. That sound was powerful but did not have the sound quality and bass contour that today I have with Lucas Nano 600.
    I'm a singer of jazz and Argentine tango and sometimes use tracks and 2 musicians. I think I'll buy another system Lucas Nano 600 for some larger rooms.
    The sound coming out of the device is very detailed, with deep bass and treble sharp yet silky to increase the volume. The mids are very powerful too, I say surprisingly strong, but for my voice (i use a Blue encore 200 mic and TC Helicon Voicetone create pedal) and i found poor eq for voices, i had to use my mixer for eq my voice as well.
    It was a good buy because now I have not much weight to lug up and I have gained in quality.

    Thank you very much for your review, this really helped me decide.


    PD: sorry for my english, i know is terrible.

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