shkong78,
Any particular WE horn system? A local dealer has assembled systems with 12, 13, 15, 22 horns and various compression drivers, like the WE-555 (field coil and permanent magnet versions), and he has a gigantic 16A horn (not for sale) which utilizes two 555 drivers per speaker (one version of this horn utilizes four 555's per speaker, but, I've never seen or heard this version). He also utilizes G.I.P. replica field coil compression drivers and their replica field coil woofers and 597 tweeter. All of this is great sounding stuff.
I also like much more modestly sized systems utilizing vintage and replica drivers and horns. My favorite compression driver is the Western Electric 713b which has a phenolic diaphragm. It is, to me, the most natural sounding, detailed, yet smooth sounding driver. But, it does not have as extended a frequency range as other Western Electric drivers and it is harder to get the crossover right because it is a 4 ohm driver. It works well in smaller systems that are not called upon to deliver extremely high volume levels. Some of the Western Electric field coil woofers sound very good, but, for my personal "dream" system, I might go with the Jensen/ERPI M-10 field coil woofer. My ideal tweeter is the 597. My dealer has actually assembled two systems using G.I.P.'s jazzed up version of the 597 tweeter that sells for $58,000 a pair; I would settle for the "cheaper" replica or an original WE 597.
For the power supply for field coils, I was surprised to hear how much better a Tungar tube power supply sounds as compared to solid state power supplies for the midrange compression drivers. My dealer says that the difference is smaller for tweeter and woofer power supplies.
Of course, amplification should be Western Electric or something comparable. I am happy with my sort of replica 133a amp (re-built, mostly vintage parts, including the correct Western Electric input and output transformers).
Any particular WE horn system? A local dealer has assembled systems with 12, 13, 15, 22 horns and various compression drivers, like the WE-555 (field coil and permanent magnet versions), and he has a gigantic 16A horn (not for sale) which utilizes two 555 drivers per speaker (one version of this horn utilizes four 555's per speaker, but, I've never seen or heard this version). He also utilizes G.I.P. replica field coil compression drivers and their replica field coil woofers and 597 tweeter. All of this is great sounding stuff.
I also like much more modestly sized systems utilizing vintage and replica drivers and horns. My favorite compression driver is the Western Electric 713b which has a phenolic diaphragm. It is, to me, the most natural sounding, detailed, yet smooth sounding driver. But, it does not have as extended a frequency range as other Western Electric drivers and it is harder to get the crossover right because it is a 4 ohm driver. It works well in smaller systems that are not called upon to deliver extremely high volume levels. Some of the Western Electric field coil woofers sound very good, but, for my personal "dream" system, I might go with the Jensen/ERPI M-10 field coil woofer. My ideal tweeter is the 597. My dealer has actually assembled two systems using G.I.P.'s jazzed up version of the 597 tweeter that sells for $58,000 a pair; I would settle for the "cheaper" replica or an original WE 597.
For the power supply for field coils, I was surprised to hear how much better a Tungar tube power supply sounds as compared to solid state power supplies for the midrange compression drivers. My dealer says that the difference is smaller for tweeter and woofer power supplies.
Of course, amplification should be Western Electric or something comparable. I am happy with my sort of replica 133a amp (re-built, mostly vintage parts, including the correct Western Electric input and output transformers).