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Round 80hz exponential horn usage 100 hz to 500 hz

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Posted on February 4, 2017 at 20:00:23
SETisfied
Audiophile

Posts: 6
Location: NW
Joined: January 17, 2017
If you were to build one or have it build what wood type would you specify
Oak, poplar, Douglass Fir, Spruce or.......?
Thanks in advance

 

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RE: Round 80hz exponential horn usage 100 hz to 500 hz, posted on February 5, 2017 at 07:34:24
Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
Spruce would be ideal but probably too expensive. Poplar might be fine but it is not as stable. I fear oak is much too hard and again I would worry how much it would move as time goes by. I think you want a little "give" in the horn which the poplar, unlike almost all hardwoods, would allow. Oak would be very expensive and very heavy. I think one is better off adding mass with wall thickness with the fir.

John Inlow, maker of the papier mache horn, will be making a set of horns for me where his plan is to glue up 2 X 4 framing lumber (douglas fir) and then to cut the circles to make the horn. He is waiting for some trick woodworking machine before starting. I am waiting patiently.

I would think this to be plenty good for both of our applications.

Who is going to do the fabrication? If you are doing it yourself you have my admiration. If not, you should contact Mr. Inlow (inlowsound.com) to hear what he thinks.

I had a pair of horns made by a fellow in Hungary which required a tremendous amount of work to be usable and are still not right which is why I am going to try it again. I offer this as a warning not to jump too quickly if not doing this yourself.

 

RE: Round 80hz exponential horn usage 100 hz to 500 hz, posted on February 5, 2017 at 10:00:01
Don Bunce
Audiophile

Posts: 1380
Joined: April 10, 2002
Mahogany is the traditional wood used by patternmakers due to it's stability.
The Sierra-Brooks horns were mahogany. The Edgar Salad Bowls are Poplar.

Many horns have been made of rings of Baltic Birch plywood or MDF.

I used MDF for mine. Can't say if there is any difference in sound, as I don't have a way to compare differences without building more horns.

 

RE: Round 80hz exponential horn usage 100 hz to 500 hz, posted on February 5, 2017 at 21:24:48
SETisfied
Audiophile

Posts: 6
Location: NW
Joined: January 17, 2017
Rick
I am in touch with John inlow. He did suggest fir.Depending on specie I read that spruce and poplar,are close in density. Being that it is for the lower frequency ...I am leaning towards the fir as it is definitely more dense than poplar and spruce. I agree that oak will be too heavy.
What frequency horns are you.having John make.?

 

RE: Round 80hz exponential horn usage 100 hz to 500 hz, posted on February 6, 2017 at 06:43:42
SETisfied
Audiophile

Posts: 6
Location: NW
Joined: January 17, 2017
Thanks for jogging my memory. I have heard the Sierra brooks horns. The we're gorgeous. I did not know what wood they used.
MDF is heavy but stable and dense

 

Same range, posted on February 6, 2017 at 07:13:23
Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
He had designed the horn that was made by the fellow in Hungary but he screwed them up and John had to come up with new dimensions to get what he had done to work.

They were supposed to be round versions of his horn using the 12" B&C.

What I have has a very hard time getting above 400 hz.

I am intrigued by his smaller horn using the B&C 8" driver. Figure that fits more in the Romy model which I think is an excellent one.

I wanted to use two per side but found I do not have the room. I will go with two and ask a bit more from my Edgar SEISMIC subs.

Glad to hear you are talking to one of the audio greats in my most unhumble opinion.

 

Edgar's first salad bowls were maple, posted on February 6, 2017 at 07:19:30
Posts: 3040
Location: Atlanta
Joined: December 15, 2003
I have a pair of them.

Many years later Dr. Edgar discovered that maple was just too hard and switched to poplar. I never had a chance to hear them. I still would worry that poplar could start to squirm with time. The fir, if dried properly, would be very stable and much less expensive to make a horn with thick walls.

I know Dr. Edgar thought those SIERRA horns were very wrong, though they were visually stunning.

From my limited experience I cannot imagine anything sounding better than Inlow's papier mache horn for 400 hz and above. But I am a partisan.

 

RE: I got his last pair of maple, posted on February 6, 2017 at 09:17:25
1" 650hz horns. I stained mine to match a vintage console/speaker cabinets set, turned out great. Horns with high WAF that sound great too.

Poplar usually doesn't take stain well. Glad I have the maple.

I would love to add Inlow's 135hz horns below these, but they're just too deep for my listening position.

 

RE: Round 80hz exponential horn usage 100 hz to 500 hz, posted on February 6, 2017 at 21:27:41
EduardG
Audiophile

Posts: 284
Location: So. Cal
Joined: May 30, 2002
Some of Bruce's horns are made of poplar and some are made of maple.

 

RE: Same range, posted on February 9, 2017 at 21:20:43
hum4god
Audiophile

Posts: 55
Location: wisconsin
Joined: October 22, 2004
hi

i saw your post and interest in the inlow mid bass horn and wanted to let you know that i have a pair for sale.

let me know if you are interested.

malcolm

 

RE: Edgar's first salad bowls were maple, posted on February 25, 2017 at 19:08:29
EduardG
Audiophile

Posts: 284
Location: So. Cal
Joined: May 30, 2002
I'm aware of at least one 300hz tractrix horn turned out of Brazilian rosewood. This horn is a part of Edgarhorn Titan system. The outside is just straight and does not follow a horn contour. It is massive and it is gorgeous! Must've cost a fortune.

 

RE: Round 80hz exponential horn usage 100 hz to 500 hz, posted on February 27, 2017 at 14:02:59
Saturntube
Manufacturer

Posts: 331
Location: Austin
Joined: April 21, 2006
There are so many parameters in a 100 hz horn that the type of wood I would say is not the biggest problem... But it needs to be thick wood, or thick plastic for that matter, 2" ?

 

RE: Round 80hz exponential horn usage 100 hz to 500 hz, posted on February 28, 2017 at 07:19:55
Wojciech
Audiophile

Posts: 4115
Joined: June 23, 2009
I remember John Hasquin post when he said he compared a rough version of his 110 hz tractrix horn made up of glued up jig saw cut circles to a final, smoothed on the lathe model and there was hardly any difference in sound.

 

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