Change to Horns or stay Dynamic

Exlibris,

I heard the Cessaro Betas in Germany in a home system. They were slightly modified from standard using a Field Coil Midrange and TAD drivers for tweeter & super tweeter. Also folded horn TAD woofers. I think 4 drivers for the bass. There were limitations to the sound. Primarily the room was small so bass couldn't generate 100%.

The system uses an adjustable crossover on top. I felt the treble could be turned down a touch. So in that regard, they could be taken as slightly high fi ish. But...I am wondering how a Fostex Supertweeter would compare and has me curious.

There was a certain magic in these speakers that defies all electronics etc. Hard to explain, but resolution and a lack of distortion was present at any volume setting. If you closed your eyes, you could not find the speakers (within the sweet spot) and the speakers being fairly tall gave a very realistic image size. The body on male vocals was spooky to say the least. With acoustic guitar the strings came to life. You didn't strain to hear any detail. It was there. Not unrealistic just there. It makes you question where to put your money. Speakers vs. electronics. This was run with I think 1 watt.

I will give you a little of my listening biases as they have matured. I have been looking for a speaker that can play well at both low & high volumes. I have found speakers that sound OK loud but then very poor at low volumes. And speakers that excel at low volumes only to distort at high volumes. Actually, I want to crank it up once in a while at close to 100 db. Yes, crazy, but here in Aruba there aren't many concerts to go to. I am extremely sensative to distortion of any form and work endlessly to eliminate it. To date no dynamic speaker I have heard aside from some truly Giant multi driver arrays have been able to handle such a task. My Maxx IIs have thier limits. Also they don't have the detail of the Cessaros at any level. They have been older designs. And the crossovers have been audible. Another huge sensitivity for me. Most speakers get very congested at loud volumes. They lose detail and smear. I would say this is room related to some extent, but after hearing the Cessaros this was no longer the case. You can listen at 100db and not even know you are listening so loud. No distortion etc. And everything remains stable in space with a transparency that is hard to believe. There is no horn coloration at all. The crossovers are seemless, all 1st order. Many horn people love the speed a horn can give. I like the speed but find more important is the lack of distortion.
Thus I am now progressing to setting up a 2nd system w. horns in the future. I am trying to learn as much as possible to get a sense of direction and find setting up a horn system quite a daunting task. Too many options and I need to learn the benefits. I won't mention many of the popular horns I have heard that many love. Suffice it to say, they all have been colored (horn sounding) and the crossover has been detectable.

Very nice description Dgad. Thanks for taking the time.

Dave

Exlibris,

Yes we are in the same boat. I was curious if there were others. It is nice not be alone. I feel a few others have gone this way as well.

Horns are very complex to understand and the horn world has so many options. Also how to integrate bass is going to be a problem. Have you seen the massive 20 feet long bass horns some use. Others use a folded horn or a back loaded horn. I have to hear more implementations to know what is my direction.

I also think you can do it for less. I have been told by a few people a compression driver and field coil come very close. I prefer to do without the hassle of a field coil but love what I heard. The TAD drivers are great and the Cessaros might be an option due to their turn-key installation & adjustability. But there are also fabulous US products around. I just spoke w. one designer who was incredibly informative and modest. There is a lot to learn.

The truth is I think horns have come a long way but also have thier limits. I don't want to throw in a ton of money only to find I made a mistake. While I can sell a Maxx II or you can sell your 101es, most horns will be impossible to sell unless they are Avantgardes or the like which we both don't want.

I also want to hear the Sunny speaker. I think it is a back loaded bass horn with front loaded highs & mids. Have you heard any you liked. The Cessaros blew my mind from the mids on up. I would have turned down the highs a notch but the crossover easily allows for that. Total clarity and no distortion. Something special. You feel you need to pay for admission the sound is so good. Especially the wonderful air pressure in the room from listening to a 12 string guitar as if it is in front of you. You are left with a giant smile like the first time you heard a great system.

"You can listen at 100db and not even know you are listening so loud. No distortion etc. And everything remains stable in space with a transparency that is hard to believe."

ATC, PMC will do it and so will some horns and several other high end designs but you are basically getting into the realms of professional main studio monitors (Westlake, Meyer, custom Augspergers with Tad drivers - take your pick). If you sit 4 meters back (large room like I do) then you are talking 112 db SPL capability at 1 meter continuous to get your 100 db spl at the listening position (and remember that headroom up to 122 db SPL may be required to be handle this cleanly on some music).

Very few speakers can do this that are not specifically designed for this task....and they only sell handfuls of these kind of speakers - not tens of thousands like B&W's. Most people don't want or need this kind of eye watering capability - but it can be incredibly fun and exhilerating.