I was hoping to solicit input from people who know and understand the parameters of horn design. Since we aren't hearing from them, I'll stick my neck out and mention a few things I think I know about the subject. If nothing else maybe we'll learn from the people who correct me.
Horns work for speaker drivers just as a megaphone works for Al Jolson or a cheerleader. It was used as a mechanical microphone, amplifier and speaker before we had electronic ones. I believe the idea is one of focus. The energy generated by your lungs or your driver is channeled through a narrow opening and allowed to disburse gradually, just like reducing the diameter of a water pipe increases the pressure.
The lower the frequency being reproduced, the longer the wavelength and the bigger the horn required. This is why bass horns need to be large. I don't know exact numbers but the mouth has be enormous and the throat may need to be like 35 feet long.
Because the mid and lower horns need to large, you need to be some distance back from them so that their presentation can blend sufficiently before the combined wavefront reaches you.
The aforementioned mechanical amplification also explains why horns are so efficient.
Some reasons why horns you have heard in the past were not very pleasant could be poor design, lousy amplification, too damn loud, poor driver integration, cabinet or horn resonance and placement. On this last point, I should stress that, while placement in a high end sound system isn't terribly critical, having the speakers fire at you from similar distances and the same direction could prove very important but be ignored completely by the company who was merely installing "reinforcement". Another matter to reflect upon is the source employed when you heard the horns. It could well have been an 8-track or a beat up record played with a broken stylus. In general horns have been misused far more often than they have been optimally installed.
Metal horns often ring. Many Klipsch owners have taken steps to deaden their horn bodies. Passive crossovers in horn designs of the past were quite rudimentary and cheaply executed. Woofer cabinets in hybrid horn systems have sometimes been constructed of broad pieces of plywood with little or no bracing and no dampening.
My horns are made of 12 one inch thick cherry wood petals. They are conical in shape, meaning the flare is perfectly straight with no elliptical contours. The throat is made of cast aluminum. No ringing, no resonance. I used a pair of JBL L-200 cabinets for my bottom end and mounted the horns with a simple pair of rudimentary brackets bolted to the back of the woofer cabinet. I completely bypassed the native horn and passive crossover and hardwired my amps to their assigned drivers. Then I bought a dbx Drive Rack PA to serve as active crossover, EQ, time delay and level matcher. Because of the extreme efficiency I am able to use excellent sounding low power amps for small money ($300 each) to drive this system and I must say that it will make you swallow your gum. Total outlay 18 months ago was under $5K for everything from the DBX to your ears. The preamp admittedly wasn't cheap. It's a Parasound JC-2.
So I hope this offers some clarification about product, price, placement, performance and pleasure.
Comments? Questions?
Horns work for speaker drivers just as a megaphone works for Al Jolson or a cheerleader. It was used as a mechanical microphone, amplifier and speaker before we had electronic ones. I believe the idea is one of focus. The energy generated by your lungs or your driver is channeled through a narrow opening and allowed to disburse gradually, just like reducing the diameter of a water pipe increases the pressure.
The lower the frequency being reproduced, the longer the wavelength and the bigger the horn required. This is why bass horns need to be large. I don't know exact numbers but the mouth has be enormous and the throat may need to be like 35 feet long.
Because the mid and lower horns need to large, you need to be some distance back from them so that their presentation can blend sufficiently before the combined wavefront reaches you.
The aforementioned mechanical amplification also explains why horns are so efficient.
Some reasons why horns you have heard in the past were not very pleasant could be poor design, lousy amplification, too damn loud, poor driver integration, cabinet or horn resonance and placement. On this last point, I should stress that, while placement in a high end sound system isn't terribly critical, having the speakers fire at you from similar distances and the same direction could prove very important but be ignored completely by the company who was merely installing "reinforcement". Another matter to reflect upon is the source employed when you heard the horns. It could well have been an 8-track or a beat up record played with a broken stylus. In general horns have been misused far more often than they have been optimally installed.
Metal horns often ring. Many Klipsch owners have taken steps to deaden their horn bodies. Passive crossovers in horn designs of the past were quite rudimentary and cheaply executed. Woofer cabinets in hybrid horn systems have sometimes been constructed of broad pieces of plywood with little or no bracing and no dampening.
My horns are made of 12 one inch thick cherry wood petals. They are conical in shape, meaning the flare is perfectly straight with no elliptical contours. The throat is made of cast aluminum. No ringing, no resonance. I used a pair of JBL L-200 cabinets for my bottom end and mounted the horns with a simple pair of rudimentary brackets bolted to the back of the woofer cabinet. I completely bypassed the native horn and passive crossover and hardwired my amps to their assigned drivers. Then I bought a dbx Drive Rack PA to serve as active crossover, EQ, time delay and level matcher. Because of the extreme efficiency I am able to use excellent sounding low power amps for small money ($300 each) to drive this system and I must say that it will make you swallow your gum. Total outlay 18 months ago was under $5K for everything from the DBX to your ears. The preamp admittedly wasn't cheap. It's a Parasound JC-2.
So I hope this offers some clarification about product, price, placement, performance and pleasure.
Comments? Questions?