Tweakers' Asylum

Posted by Nirmalanow on January 11, 2006 at 14:43:39

I was poking around the web and came across the site for MiHorn (www.mihorn.com) which offers add on horns for existing speaker drivers. The horns focus the sound and reduce room reflections so more of the sound is reaching your ears directly from the speakers.

On the site they suggested laying a piece of cardboard on top of your speakers with the front edge of the cardboard overhanging the edge of your speaker by several inches for a rough approximation of the effect. The cardboard blocks sound headed towards the ceiling so you hear less reflected sound.

So I figured if you could block sound going to the ceiling, why not also simultaneously block sound going towards the walls. I found a couple of boxes in the garage slightly wider than my speaker cabinet, and then cut off the top and one end so I ended up with a three sided open topped cardboard box. I also cut a 3 inch slit at the corners of the box along the open side so I could fold back the leading edges slightly to create more of a horn shape. You can see some pictures of the boxes sitting like hats on my Soliloquy floor standing speakers at http://myweb.cableone.net/Nirmalanow/Boxes.htm (link below)

Once I had cut the boxes I waited until halfway through a song and then I set them upside down over my speakers, so the box was overhanging the front and surrounding the drivers. Immediately I noticed a cleaner more focused sound. It took some of the room and its reflected sounds out of the equation. I can hear individual instruments more clearly, and the sound is more relaxed and natural. Using the boxes also has the effect of increasing the effective volume at my listening chair (as do the Mihorns according to their website) which might be especially of value to someone with a low-power amp.

Fortunately the boxes I used were much deeper than the depth of my speaker cabinets, so I can play with how far out the box extends in front of the speaker. (You could always cut the back off a shallower box to be able to come further forward) I found generally I like the boxes overhanging the front of my Soliloquy floor standing speakers about 8-12 inches. If I go farther than that, the sound starts to get a little too constrained.....sort of like the speakers are inside a cardboard box…what a surprise:) But different amounts of overhang seem to fit with different music. If I want a little more open hall kind of sound with more room reflections I just slide the box back further onto the speaker. If I want a cleaner, more focused and intimate sound I move the boxes a little further forward. It also works best for when I am sitting in my listening chair in the sweet spot. Sitting off-axis right now at my computer, the sound is mostly coming from the nearest speaker with the boxes in place.

I am sure there is a more pronounced effect with the fancy horns from Mihorn.com, but they also would cost close to $200 for my speakers....so maybe someday I will buy them. In the meantime, I enjoy the effect on my systems sound and it did not cost me a penny. I would say the effect is more beneficial, pronounced and obvious than the effect of some $100 corner pillows I bought from Eighth Nerve to treat room reflections. And even though they are unattractive chopped up cardboard boxes, I can always stick them in the closet when I am not listening.

I'll be curious if anyone else gives this a try and what you hear.

By the way, wearing a wide brimmed hat like a cowboy hat while listening adds very slightly to the effect….probably takes out more of the reflected sound from the ceiling.

• Pictures of boxes on soliloquy speakers   (Open in New Window)