Change to Horns or stay Dynamic

Dave,

Dr. Geddes teamed up and went into a partnership with a music producer / sound engineer to manufacture and market pro-sound loudspeakers. The company, AI Audio is based and operates out of Thailand. The ESP15 is the Summa, using the same drivers as the original but with a somewhat different cabinet construction to save on costs. There are two other smaller speakers using 10" and 12" woofers that are just scaled down versions of the esp15. Sorry but I am really not sure on the availability of the Thailand products but the Summa is probably made to order. As per Dr. Geddes the specs of the esp15 shown on the AI website are the same as those for the Summa.

As for him exhibiting in any of the shows he has stated in the past that that is not going to happen. Only way to audition is in his home or possibly in one of the homes of the few owners of the Summa. He lives somewhere in Michigan and if I am ever close by I 'll certainly try to have an audition.

Here's another review:

http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/index.php?topic=24627.msg218373#msg218373

Hope this Helps

George

Dgad, you nailed it. The room, even treated, will likely produce more distortion to the frequency response curve than the speaker's curve is off-kilter in the first place.

I would, however, take issue with people's ideas that horns "cop out" in the bass. The worst that happens (if you choose your implementation), is as good as any other form of woofer section out there.

My horns systems never cop out in the bass. Horn bass has wonderful detail notes are not lost to drivers massive movements, its fast with less distortion than convetional designs, plus the amazing bass pressures one can generate with ease realy the only -s are size and cost. If you can get around that then horn bass to me is the best reproduced bass can get.

Johnk, yes, thoes horn bass units do get huge and expensive, fast.

Dave

There's no denying horns win hands down in the efficiency and dynamic department. This is why they are used for high SPL applications. Yet, all driver types have their advantages and disadvantages. Keep in mind that we're talking about *home* audio. This is not the large scale amplification that very big spaces need. So, do we need horns to accomplish our goals at home? Conventional cone/dome drivers can provide ample SPLs and dynamics (in a well designed system) for home-scale rooms without the drawbacks (cost, size, limited dispersion) of horns.

One solution is to get rid of the passive crossover. Active systems eliminate the power loss of passive crossovers allowing for greater dynamics while also providing other benefits. For home audio, this is a viable, cost effective alternative that takes advantage of fewer compromises.