Ambitious DIY Horn Project

[tinnitus]

Good afternoon and happy holidays. I've been kicking around the idea of a fully horn loaded 3 way garage system. From looking through the vintage stuff on the jblpro site I like the look of the 5671 cinema setup. I'd like to change it up a bit based on a few drivers I have laying around.

HF section wpould be a 2426H on a DIY tractrix horn, 800 Hz flare cutoff, with the HF coming in around 1600 Hz. MF section is a 2123 or M209-8A on a DIY tractrix horn, 175 Hz flare cutoff. The MF driver (whichever I and you help guide towards) would run from say 350 - 1600 Hz. LF ideally would be a 60Hz DIY Tractrix horn running up to 350Hz. The horn's length is about 25" with a 12" x 12" throat. I don't see the throat as the problem so much as the mouth. Plots have it coming in at 55" wide by 35" high (rough numbers). Making bending forms for that horn flare will take a bit of work. I don't have any LF drivers now that I want to use but initial thoughts are Altec 515-8G. The horn mouth could go up to a 15" x 15" throat and run 2245s as the LF horn drivers. Going up to an 18" driver reduces my LF horn length, no relief on the mouth.

How far off target am I with this and what are the possible pitfalls in building besides LF horn size?

Thanks in advance, Gary

[Mr. Widget]

I've been kicking around the idea of a fully horn loaded 3 way garage system.Does "garage system" imply the primary goal is SPL over finesse?


Widget

[tinnitus]

I'm going for finesse. I say garage because I think the sheer size will most likely have it relagated to the garage. I'm indifferent to high SPL. It's about the sound, some looks and for a woodworker - THE BUILD.

[Mr. Widget]

I'm going for finesse. I say garage because I think the sheer size will most likely have it relagated to the garage.If you want bass below 40Hz, it will likely be gigantic. The best horn loaded system I have ever heard would be the Magico Ultimate (http://www.magico.net/?d=03_Products/06_Ultimate_II). It is horn loaded to about 100Hz and is still a beast.


Widget

[Ian Mackenzie]

In a sense Mr Widget is right and will could be labour of love (frustration) lasting a decade.

http://www.artec-france.com/etudes.php?lang=en&system=reference&PHPSESSID=4d29984138c5385b50eaa4dcbbfd1413

Go here, its all laid out for you.

One of the pitfalls of such a high efficiency system is proportionally worse signal to noise ratio that can mask the potential gains of such a system.

[Eaulive]

According to the calculator I got, a tractrix horn with a 40Hz cutoff and a 900cm² mouth will have a length of 220cm and a mouth of 29150cm² or 171 x 171 cm :applaud:

Still maneagable for a garage, unless tou want a stereo pair :D

[timc]

According to the calculator I got, a tractrix horn with a 40Hz cutoff and a 900cm² mouth will have a length of 220cm and a mouth of 29150cm² or 171 x 171 cm :applaud:

Still maneagable for a garage, unless tou want a stereo pair :D


Stereo might not be needed for subs, but Dual mono surely is nice ;)


-Tim

[tinnitus]

My horn calc has a 60Hz flare cutoff coming in with these params:
12" throat x 40.63" high flare x 48.75" wide. I'm assuming the back chamber may be about 3-3.5 cf.

Thanks for the link to the Magicos. Very inspiring.

[Horn Savant]

20 hz Tractrix horn
[German cinema circa 1951]

[Allanvh5150]

Maybe you could find something here that would be useful.

Allan.

http://photofile.name/users/tda-audio/182333/

[Beowulf57]

How about a folded corner horn that uses the walls of the garage?

[jcrobso]

How about a folded corner horn that uses the walls of the garage?

The whole idea of the Klispch corner horn was how to get a 8' horn into a corner with a small foot print.

[JoMoCo]

:hmm:Here Is an other example....

[Jan Daugaard]

Where can we read more about cousin Bjørn's horns?

[spkrman57]

Where can we read more about cousin Bjørn's horns?


Pretty cool stuff there!

Ron sends...

[Beowulf57]

The whole idea of the Klispch corner horn was how to get a 8' horn into a corner with a small foot print.

Agreed...but you'll need good woodworking skills.

[1audiohack]

Cousin Bjorn's Nowegian Ambitious Horn Project

Now that is a weapon for the war against silence! Just think, in the dark of night, Jurassic Park at full power.

I would be happy to have a garage that would even fit in, and unhappy to live on the bussiness end of that!

I would love to see a bill of materials list, just for fun. How many steel drums is that? :nutz:That's great!

[Eaulive]

:hmm:Here Is an other example....

Now THAT'S what it would have taken to properly call the moose accross the lake :applaud::applaud::applaud::applaud:

For those who don't get it, check here, starting at post #37:
http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=27201&page=3

[tinnitus]

First off thanks for the limitless possibilities this thing could have.

I'll probably go with a more conventional enclosure for the low end. Looking at the Magicos I see the subbass is more like a Bazooka Bass Tube. That shouldn't be too difficult. Design a cylindrical enclosure (radius = 13.25 inches) following the vented 2245H enclosure.

The project is underway. I thought I'd start off with the hard stuff, HF horn, first. Attached are a few starting picks. The view on the table saw is the wedge shaping sled and blocking to laminate the curved top and bottom. Next picture should be the wedge sled on the router doing the tapered shaping of the compound curve. Last picture is some shaping with a wrasp to remove burrs.

I consider my woodworking skills pretty good. I think the hard part will be finding time to complete. Life is always busy without having a hobby. It's gonna be a slow one but I'll try dropping in pics as I go.

Gary

[JoMoCo]

:drive:
Where can we read more about cousin Bjørn's horns?

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/100392-beyond-ariel-632.html#post1953808

[JoMoCo]

You may be able to gleen some info / inspiration from this more modest project...:beach:

http://www.volvotreter.de/new_system.htm