Horns and Triodes...?

I also like the Jeff Korneff amps. You might consider Jack Elliano's Ultrapath preamp too. That is getting a bit of attention lately.

For the speakers, the DIY route is very popular with the triode/horn crowd. For real front-loaded horns, try the Oris 150, kit or built. It uses a powered subwoofer under 150Hz, but can use low power SET above 150Hz. If you like a back-loaded horn, then the Hedlund Horns are a nice project, or you can get them already built by Hornet Audio. Not real cheap, but nice. Another nice back horn is the Lammhorn 1.8(not a kit). For the cheapest, but still very good sounding single driver Voigt Pipe setup, try the Cain and Cain Abby's or even making your own with Lowther or Fostex drivers. Easy woodworking, no crossover to build, and very nice sound when done right. You might be able to keep the whole package of source, preamp, amp, and speakers and cables under $5k, if you are a good shopper and do some DIY. And this would yield very excellent sound too.

Much appreciated, all. Clueless, a hot tip -- but, no, I wasn’t fast enough. Recognizing (I think) that it's unlikely to hit the magic combo right out of the gate, he's currently thinking about relatively budget gear with some DIY thrown in just to get things going in the right direction. This is all new to me, but the great bit is I get to play along, too. First things he mentioned, by way of example, were the Horne Shoppe and Decware -- and I'm guessing budget is under $1k for each of speakers and amp (and from there, ideas unsettled. I did try to drag him to Avantguard, but that’s definitely not the direction things are headed). My role in this, at this point, is the trigger guy ("do it, do it, do it -- pull the trigger") and have even offered to loan an extra preamp or two and a CD player to the cause if it makes the initial leap any easier. Trick is, over the course of the past year and a half, I'm sure that he's read just about everything there is to read on the subject at least once and is now paralyzed by too much information and no way to make any of it concrete by actually listening to any of the stuff. Knowledge is power, sure, but in the days of the internet driven info-glut it's often just befuddling. (Who was it that defined the information age as an explosion in the amount of information it is safe to ignore?) I’m just trying to come up with ways to break the stalemate...

P.S. When I told him that I was a junkie around these parts and playing along and all that, he warned me to "watch out for those guys" (from one prone to morbid, serial addiction to another). I, of course, let him know that I was "one of those guys" and that he was the one in trouble.

I can't think of many actual horns under $1k. Maybe you might find something vintage for that, but it may not be in perfect condition. Perhaps some older Altecs. You could make some nice Voigt Pipes with Fostex drivers for under $1k. The Hornshoppe and the Z-horns with smaller Fostex are about it, otherwise. Ideally, you'd really want the 8" drivers with higher efficiency for a SET.

Regarding the amplifiers, getting a good SET with decent output transformers for under $1k will be a challenge too. Maybe a used FI X 2A3 would be possible. Or a Wright 2A3. The problem is that the really good output transformers can cost over $1k all by themselves.

Horn Shoppe and Decware are ok, but the Fostex 103 commonly used in the Hornshoppe "The Horns" are not capable of much volume level. A 4" driver can only do so much. Out of the Decware stuff, probably the Jack Elliano designed DRD amps would be my choice. Jack is a good designer.

Hey Tom- What do you think of the Cain & Cain (Abbey and Ben) speakers? They utilize a different Fostex driver. They Abbey is $1500 and tbe I-Ben (has tweeter and crossover) $5000. I've been thinking of making the 3-hour trip out to Walla-Walla to take a listen to them. Anyone else have any experience with their speakers?

Cain & Cain

Marco

Marco, I know a couple of people that have Cain and Cain Abbys and like them. I haven't heard them, but have built some Voigt Pipes with other Fostex drivers.(The Abbys are a Voigt Pipe cabinet). It's hard to beat them for the money, in a single driver speaker. I use Lowther EX3 drivers in the Voigt Pipes now, and I prefer the Lowther, but Lowthers are alot more money than Fostex. And also some people like the sound of the Fostex better. I think it is a worthwhile thing to investigate the Cain and Cain stuff. I built my own cabinets, and got Lowthers in them for the same cost as Abbys with Fostex. Voigt Pipes are an easy build.

I know a member who replaced his Silverline Sonata speakers/Electrocompaniet amp, with a pair of DIY Lowther Voigt Pipes and a Wright 2a3 SET amp, and they killed his previous higher power conventional system. He was shocked. I also know of a few other similar stories, including some Lowthers knocking out a pair of Merlin VSM. These are the newer Lowthers with the new improved design. A whole 'nuther smoke. I really think alot of members would be quite surprised to hear what this kind of setup can really do.