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In Reply to: RE: Can open baffle bass unit be mated with horns? posted by Doug Kim on March 25, 2008 at 13:31:51
Yes, you can do that and it works. This has been around forever, from the old Mirrorphonic systems of the 1930s.
I am currently running 200hz horns on top of OB bass in the 40hz-200hz range.
Some suggestions:
1) OB bass is very non-directional/diffuse while horns are very directional. You will definitely have a mismatch there, much as there is a mismatch with boxed woofers but more so. You might not care however.
2) Make the baffle BIG. I like 4' minimum effective width. Using wings/Hbaffles etc this can be made acceptably compact, but it will still be big. Don't try to fight the laws of physics.
3) I use 2x 15" woofers per side, to keep up with the horn in terms of air-moving capability.
4) OB bass has a clear, non-resonant quality, because it tends to excite room modes less than box bass, and there are no box resonances. However, it tends to be less "punchy" than sealed or BR bass, probably because there's no net pressure applied to the room.
5) OB bass drivers tend towards lower-Q types, as these are cheaper and require less EQ than higher-Q drivers. As a result, OB bass tends to be a bit looser and soft, while horns are the opposite. You can also use higher-Q midbass drivers such as Altec 515-ish variants, but you will lose some bottom end extension and might be best off adding a subwoofer. If you are crossing around 800hz, then the midrange performance (100hz-800hz) is your highest concern, not low-end extension. Indeed, you might consider something like OB midbass in the 80hz-800hz range, which would work nicely on a 36" baffle or so, plus a subwoofer for the bottom end.
6) "efficiency" is a problem for too-small baffles with excessive EQ and cone excursion. With a large baffle and lots of cone area, it's not really an issue for in-home (non-professional) situations. If "efficiency"/excursion is a problem, either a) you aren't doing it right, or b) you have high-output needs that would probably be best served by horn-loaded midbass.
In short, it can work and be a lot of fun, and, like anything, there are compromises.
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