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RE: The Pros and Cons of Horn Speakers

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In Reply to: RE: The Pros and Cons of Horn Speakers posted by cawson@onetel.com on August 21, 2024 at 05:19:58

A big advantage of horn speakers is that it's easy to make them high efficiency.

High efficiency speakers tend to have better dynamic freedom, clarity and detail - when compared to low efficiency speakers.

My speculation is that part of the reason for that is the moving mass for the electromotive force on offer.
As well as the better coupling of the transducer to the air (already covered well in this thread with the oar analogy).

The biggest con of high efficiency speakers is getting high efficiency in the bass. This is easiest done by going large to huge. Hoffman's Iron Law.

Another con of horns is the manufacturing costs compared to low efficiency.
But when you're buying used / going DIY the price you pay can bear little correlation to the manufacturing cost.

I think that a nice little challenge is to get speakers that sound better overall than Avantgarde Duo XD's whilst spending less than $2000 per stereo pair.

Follow Ups:

RE: The Pros and Cons of Horn Speakers - claudej1@aol.com 16:47:07 09/14/24 (0)
I just added a second, 22 cubic foot Tapped Horn (Danley TH-50) to go underneath my SH-50 Synergy Horn speakers.
They are "speaker stands" that make some scary bass with a $199 behringer A800 amplifier. They have 97 db sensitivity will move furniture at 120 decibel levels down to the teens.
I also have a Super Tapped Horn (21.2 ft long) in a 6 foot tall cabinet that gets down to 10 Hz. in my small living room.

All speakers need subwoofers and great bass is not cheap. Most people don't even know what they are missing.
RE: The Pros and Cons of Horn Speakers - cawson@onetel.com 02:42:46 09/14/24 (1)
> The biggest con of high efficiency speakers is getting high efficiency in the bass. This is easiest done by going large to huge.

Hence the "common sense" alternative of a non-horn bass section that is self-powered. Although Avantgarde's top speakers (Mezzo and Trio) pay lip service to horn loading (perhaps a bit unkind in the Spacehorn), the sensitivity is still so much lower than the mid and top that huge amps are needed to match the bass frequency output levels to the rest.

> I think that a nice little challenge is to get speakers that sound better overall than Avantgarde Duo XD's whilst spending less than $2000 per stereo pair.

Tell us more! I am absolutely sure you couldn't build a Duo XD for that sort of money. The drivers alone would exceed that (4 x 12" plus 2 mids and 2 tweeters) and similarly the amps with their DSP for the bass enclosure another 2500 most likely. If you look at the bass enclosures,, there's a huge amount of joinery in these and the horns couldn't be DIY'd. You'd need to mould hundreds for the cost to reach a sensible level. And there's a lot more to consider to add to your DIY build, such as their bespoke feet and spikes. I have modified the horn tube support method for my Duo XDs and before that my earlier Duos and I appreciate the cost of these speakers. But good luck with your project if you are really up for it! Best maybe to buy a used pair and forget the DIY idea!
- RE: The Pros and Cons of Horn Speakers - claudej1@aol.com 10:53:28 09/15/24 (0)
  I've owned and/or heard almost all the brand name Horn speakers on the Market.
  
  I bought my Danley SH-50's, SOUND UNHEARD, like I did the Hypex NC-400 Kits to drive them, replacing some fine class A from Nelson Pass.
  
  Except for my soon to be, experimental Klipsch derived "Super Jubilees" that easily simulate to 27 Hz. with PEQ's (Thee 12" drivers per horn and Corner loading helps), Nothing has EVER sounded as good as my Danley SH-50's with room EQ that uses FIR methods in a broad band, with 7 drivers working as ONE.
  It's still the King of the Hill after 10 years!!
  
  Tapped Horn subs are easy to build with all Rip Cuts. 5 sheets of plywood, two 15" Chinese car subwoofers, you too can have a pair, front and rear center of room, for less than $1,500 US with amplifiers.

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