Why not horns?

Fast woofers they pass me in the slow lane. How many MPH can a fast woofer do anyway? And why do people still think of bass as fast or slow. For to me this doesn't describe any real aspect of sound quality. I have never heard fast or slow bass and I design bass systems. I have heard time delay, limited transients, excessive distortions, phase issues. But not fast or slow. Since these drivers are not going anywhere I would say all transducers are very slow indeed. Unless rolled down a steep hill then a fast transducer is possible.

Very funny, Johnk. In this instance, "fast" means it refrains from eating.

I'd like to weigh in on the "fast woofer" question with some observations.

Back in the 70's when I used to sell audio, woofers generally ranged from 8 to 16 inches in most popular lines. I personally never took as well in general to speakers that used 16" and often even 12" woofers. They seemed to almost always sound muddied and unrefined compared to models in the same lines with 8-10" woofers.

My thoughts are that larger woofers are perhaps not a bad thing, if done well of course, however they are often more demanding in regards to amplification. Back then, we used mostly receivers up to 120 w/ch or so that perhaps did not have the current delivery or damping necessary to control those big drivers properlty, or at least that is my theory.

Today, I think there are many amps that are up to the task. That is one of the reasons I am willing to perhaps investigate mixed driver horn or other systems that use larger woofs to see what might be possible these days. I'm strongly considering giving a pair of Klipsch Heresy's a try in my wifes sunroom where I run a pair of very nice Dynaudio monitors currently. These are tiny but deliver almost too much bass in that room. The Heresy's running off my high current, high damping factor Bel Canto ref1000 mono blocks is a combo that I think the price is right to perhaps at least give a try.

Here's an explanation from Bill Woods about his conical horns and the advantages they provide.

http://www.acoustichorn.com/tech/conical/

Mapman - There is a quote I recall from AA. "Half measures availed us nothing". With that in mind I must say that a Klipsch Heresy, or any Klipsch for that matter, will be unable to show you what excellent horns can do.

I'm in western Colorado and Oswald's Mill is in north central Pennsylvania and lower Manhattan. Bill is in Hastings, Ontario. Chris Brady of Teres Turntables is in Broomfield, Co., near Boulder. I believe the Cogent guys are in the L.A. area. Perhaps you can travel to one of these places to hear what I'm talking about. If you are still reading after this long, you probably should go somewhere and get a listen. I know that Jonathan Weiss created quite a stir with these horns at the RMAF 2 years ago.

That reminds me. I still plan on experimenting with a prototype conical against the Edgarhorn tractrix. Bill gave me some dimensions to try but it has become just another bullet item on a long list of things to do.