Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater.

---

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Speaker Asylum ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

RE: Planars vs. Horns Discussion

Posted by Presto (A) on June 20, 2012 at 10:27:15

In Reply to: RE: Planars vs. Horns Discussion posted by Charlottesville Audio on June 19, 2012 at 14:02:47:

Hey CA!

Sorry it took so long to get back to you here, I have been SO busy with kids, life, work etc. YIKES!

Thanks for the detailed description of the system you have there. I really like the sheer magnitude of it all - and those tractrix horns look phenomenal! (Did you build those or have them made?) A friend had an uncle in the bar biz in high school and he was able to borrow a PAIR of klipsch lascala speakers which we tried out in his basement, in his driveway and at a school dance. Yes, they have what I consider to be a very "Klipsch" sound in and around the vocal range, not shrill per say but definately crisp. Seems to augment some sounds and instruments yet detract from others. I have JBL2441 horns on JBL2380 lenses here, and I know what you mean by a horn that can sound smooth yet deliver shocking immediacy and transients. In fact, I was thinking of making tractrix horns for the 2441 a while back but the idea got shelved.

So I've never heard of these (RCA) Ubangi's so I looked them up.

http://itishifi.blogspot.ca/2010/04/rca-theater-bass-horn-ubangi-or-mi-9462.html

Neat stuff - looks like it's made in the spirit of some of the older and very large Altec cabinets. I have some vintage catalogues for the Altec gear and that stuff is physically massive - especially the low frequency horns.

You say it's an older picture, yes, I don't see the LaScalas in there, just the Ubangi's and the Tractrix horns. Say, are you okay with the high end extension of the 288K's? I would much rather go with a driver that goes "all the way up" than to use a driver that requires a supertweeter. Crossing over that high up has some drawbacks, such as inter-driver spacing and it's negative effect on comb filtering at higher crossover frequencies.

I know with the 2441's I can reach down to 600 or even 500 Hz which could mean the use of a driver as large as a high-efficiency 15" (as long as it's not totally horn loaded and is partially direct radiating like the Ubangi's.

You know, I am not sure why but I thought the Altec amps were already transistor, but nope - (2)811-A and (4)5R4GY. Really neato tubes! I bet those 811-A's are not cheap... That is one amp I indeed would love to hear. I have some 300B SET amps here, (1) 300B per monoblock, that I really SHOULD run into those 2441 horns and then use something with more clout for the midbass drivers (like perhaps my Romulus integrated used in "amp" mode). Then I can use DSP active crossovers to drive it all with a multi-channel pre-amp. DSP let's me do CD horn EQ, driver EQ, time alignment and phase correction so I can basically enjoy the impact and immediacy of horns while still getting transient accurate playback per the likes of 1st order acoustic designs and Maggi's, electrostats, etc.

Yeah - I think you've given me horn itch.

The 2441 drivers are sitting there with original aluminum diaphragms. The 300B tube amps are there. The 2380 horns are there. (Or I could build tractrix or Edgar horns). I've been SO caught up in my WMTMW transient accurate speakers that I've been afraid to change anything, but I can easily freeze the design and shelve them for a while!!

All I need now is TIME!! Want to borrow a couple of KIDS for the summer? ha ha ha. Good thing my kinder-aged kids love music...

I don't know how Lady Gaga and LMFAO is going to sound through 300B tubes and horns, but thanks to my kids I will find out... Then it will be some Dvorak and Chopin to sooth the nerves followed by some nice 70's vintage Rock and Roll... Thank God my boy likes Queen. Maybe I can transition him from Queen to maybe Styx and then some other vintage rock that I so love.

Thanks for the great post of your system! It looks large, monolithic and very cool!

Cheers,
Presto

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Parts Connexion

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---