Why not horns?

@ Duke: I remember reading that same account of the guy who hated horns until that experience. I just can't place it.

But I disagree. I've heard everything that has gotten any press in the last 10 years and more. Some are better than others. But I maintain my ultimate conclusion. All horns sound like horns to some degree or another. Some are just better at hiding the fact.

But like we "horn haters" have said over and over..... To each his own. Its all a balance of compromises, no matter how you look at it.

I read the following statement wrong so I'll try to answer it again.

"You are comparing 2 amplifiers that obviously have differences other than max power and saying it is definitely because they have more power. It seems you jump to a lot of conclusions."

Actually, I made no such claim! I offered this example as a counter to your implication that simply because a speaker HAD a ton of amplifier power that it NEEDED the power. I simply offered a concrete example as to why Avantegaurde WOULD install a 250watt amp versus the argument that it NEEDED one.
My initial response to this statement was offering a reason as to why the amp with more power would sound better.

Herman, we can use flea power because of the efficiency of the drivers that can be used with horn loading. Horns are a device that give a certain amount of gain with a particular driver. The efficiency can be enhanced with a horn, but the horn itself is not what dictates the power needs.

I understand, and am not irritated by physics, that with a longer horn and smaller throat, a different drive will yield different sound. But to say that something is not a horn because it uses 200+ watts is not accurate. I guess you really said "true" horn. How about saying "a non-folded horn". That I believe I can agree with.

I can theorize that the seismics are about 101-102 db. The drivers are 95 dB and I can guess to at at least a 6db gain. But this is a bass horn, ~20-200 Hz. There is quite a bit of energy needed to get from 40Hz (your horns) down another 20, and mine are a folded horn which I can move from room to room if needed.

The rest of the horn system is easily 110+ dB and that is what I referred to in my last post. I'm biamping this upper end with two, 50watt amps. They rarely get beyond the first watt, except for the amp driving the mid-bass. It probably does get a bit of a workout from the 105-106 db mid-bass. There again using a large driver because it is a 3/8 horn. It's not even worth talking about the mid-range and tweeter horns.

There is a lot more to creating a note and creating a note that sounds as big as the instrument which originally created it. This is subjective, naturally, based on the music that each of us prefers.

to all,

Did someone actually tell me that all horns are not alike? ;-) Really? I would have never guessed. I thought that all through this thread I have been pointing that out. My way is not the only way. Neither is yours.

Duke .. LOL....

Duke are you saying those that dislike horns cannot pick them out in a blind test , good Man , you know your market,
Stevie wonder must have a Pr then ? ..........LOL

Dukey maybe you have yet to hear good hi-fi, hence the horns ...)

Seriously i'm sure you can respect it does not work for everyone and with good reason.

Most dealers have had the same bad experience for years, just stick you head into one of their demonstration room's ...

Deaf comes to mind !!!

Prez, so one watt to the basshorns produces 109dB at one meter?

Identical in every way expect the fact that the monobloc has paralleled outputs.

Identical except it has more power and a different output impedance and just about everyone who has tried it says running a stereo amp in mono changes it's sound even if they are played to the same level.

BTW, If you take a 75W amp and run it as a monoblock you get twice the voltage swing so 4 times the power, not twice. What amps were these?

Wes, that is what Dan told us, I was asking him to clarify if that was what he meant.