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Cogent horns

Count me among those who have to say that the Cogent field-coil horn system is the single most realistic (and satisfying) speaker system I have heard. The system at RMAF 2006, powered by Welborne 45 (top) and 300B (bass) SETs, was *literally* jaw-dropping (for me).

(For whatever reason - I was not impressed to the same level the next year, in the very large conference room. Perhaps there is something about near(er) field listening these things. By all rights the Welborne room was *way* too small, but they sounded fabulous to me and many others.)

They are far beyond my price range.

How do the Classic Audio speakers with field coil drivers compare? And how come I see no mention at all of field coil options on Classic's site, including no pricing info? (I'm sure they're beyond me as well but just curious.)
paulfolbrecht
macrojack
1,303 posts
 
Ralph - I have large horns and a 2 inch compression driver. Where should I look for a field coil driver that can replace my B&C DCX 50?
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,793 posts
 
Macrojack, right now field coil drivers are custom affairs or at the least, pretty pricy. I know Classic Audio Loudspeakers modifies a certain JBL compression driver- seems to me by the time they are done there is very little left of the original driver.

Either way I would contact either CAL or Cogent- its likely that they are the major suppliers of compression drivers right now.
johnk's avatar
johnk
1,975 posts
 
Such a large cash outlay for a small persevered benefit that I have not been able to hear or measure when I compared FC versions of dynamic drivers to alnico. Never tried FC comps. But with all things YMMV. I will stick to optimizing other aspects of front horn design for going FC for now. Still Cogent makes a cool horn loudspeaker I say more power to them. We need more horn loudspeaker designers on the bleeding edge. Maybe someday FC comps will be readily available and I will give them I try.
darkmoebius
900 posts
 
I have heard the Cogent field coil speakers a couple of times, lastly at The Show in Los Angeles circa 2006. It was a very small room and they were driven by Ron Welborne's new Terraplane 45 & 300B monoblocks.

As Paul mentioned, the sound was best described as "effortless" and "liquid". No matter how complex the material, the music just plain flowed with and ease I've never heard before. I'm not talking about a "soft" or traditionally warm tube sound. This was something entirely different. All the transparency and detail was there, staccato blasts from trumpet had the proper "blat" and bite, but there was glossiness or glare.

It's hard to describe except to say I have never heard any compression horn system present music in the same way as those field coils. They were incredible, both in performance and price.

I'd love to hear how far they've come since then.
macrojack
1,303 posts
 
My system performs according to your descriptions using the same conical horn that Cogent uses without the field coils. I have never heard Cogent drivers so I cannot say how close I am to what you heard, but it raises in my mind a question of how much is the horn and how much is the driver?
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