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Horns and Triodes...?

Buddy of mine is interested in (anguishing over, really) building a system based on a pair of super-efficient horns and a low-powered triode amp. As this stuff tends to run even more towards the esoteric than the regular esoteric fare around these parts ("guy in X building out of his basement/garage...") upping the comfort level prior to taking a leap of faith (let alone actually listening to something first) is turning out to be darn near impossible.

Personally, being that I run Thiels and a huge sucking monster of an amplifier (relatively speaking), I know bubkis about this stuff -- so I throw myself at the mercy of the collective wisdom.

What's worked for folks? Is there anything or anyplace to listen in the NYC area? Tastes are running towards the exceptionally spartan, relatively cheap, diamond in the ruff among the recently-post-home-brew-eque market (if that makes any sense) with a focus on piano more than anything, if it were necessary to choose. Likely to be using a single source, too, so we're really talking no frills. Pointers?
mezmo
gregm
3,409 posts
 
Paul -- thanks for yr kind words. OTOH, youngwon?? gidarilso?? iqkeso?? Ya got me there!
twl
3,251 posts
 
Greg, I understand the Tractrix front-loaded horn arrangement just fine, and there are some things like that already out there using Lowthers, like the Oris 150. However, most designs like that have a box loading of the rear of the Lowther, and I was most interested that your design did not load the cone in the normal manner.

I expected the rear radiations to play into this equation at some point, and was interested in your comments about that. I think the idea of an open baffle Lowther is interesting. It sounds to me like you ended up with some sort of "aperiodic" loading design.

To Paul: The horn contour is designed to have a "lower cutoff frequency" which is defined by the length and mouth size of the horn. At this "lower cutoff frequency" the bass sounds are no longer amplified by the horn, and the efficiency drops off correspondingly, like an acoustical filter.
bemopti123
303 posts
 
Greg, that quote is in Korean and the line I placed afterwards, is a translation of it. I am very curious about your arrangement. Thanks TWL, I understand what you have said. Still, the subwoofer arrangement, that is the part that sounds impossibly intriguing.

PAUL
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