Horns and Triodes...?

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.

Thanks Tom- I've been looking into single-driver solutions to appease my wife while still keeping me happy. She refers to my LaScala's as "the twin dishwashers" and would like nothing better then to see them replaced with something taking up less space and with less of a retro look. In my mind they'd be hard to beat with my 300B SET's but I've heard so many good things about the single-drive solutions that I'd like to investigate further. If they can top a Sonata that is some high praise indeed. Is there anyplace online I can look at plans for the Voight Pipe you built..there seems to be many variations on them?

Marco

Yes, Marco you can look here for the plans(in metric, and INSIDE DIMENSIONS).
http://kosat.consultit.no/~ketil/lowther/voigtpip.html

Those are the original Lowther Club of Norway plans, and are the correct ones. Stick with those. The only beneficial mod to make, is to use my "swinging door" mods on the sides of the baffle-board, to extend the width for eliminating baffle-step losses that are common to narrow cabinet designs. Makes the bass much better. They do not ever swing forward of the baffle face, but can be angled backwards to reduce the bass augmentation for certain records. Contact me if you are going to make these.

IMO, these with either Fostex or Lowther, on your 300B will have those "twin dishwashers" permanently in the storage room.

Here's the rationale. Basically, when you remove the crossover from the speaker system, you are then achieving the same result as "active" speakers. You directly control the driver from the amp, with nothing in between. Big difference. Also, the traditional problems with crossovers and driver overlap are eliminated. Another big difference. Especially since the LaScala crosses over right in the middle of the vocal midrange. Third, you will get just as much top end extension(with Lowthers) and the (40Hz)bass will go lower than your LaScala's. Efficiency is very close, with the Lowthers doing about 100db/watt in the Voigt Pipe cabinets. And, there is a certain technical "synergy" between the SET amp and single driver speaker, that is just unmatchable with any other type of speaker on a SET. They are "made for each other", and you won't ever hear your SET better than on a pair of fullrange single-drivers. This is where the "magic" is.

One caveat: Lowthers and other single drivers take a VERY long time to break in. At the start, the bass is poor. They are stiff, and tight tolerances, so you have to start at low volumes, and then increase SPL over the first 30-50 hours. They don't come into their own till after 100-200 hours, and are not fully broken in until after 500 hours. This is very real, and not a "psychological effect".