New To This Forum---Introduction

[thevott]

Hi. I am a new user of this forum. I totally grew up on Altec and JBL loudspeakers. During the last few years, however, I have become increasingly dependent on horns. My disatisfaction with direct radiating speaker systems and their lack of directivity even drove me to sell my prized Model Nineteens as they no longer satisfied my horn addiction---I kept the drivers of course! I do have a cute little pair of Lancer 101s in the living room but that's because they fit, look nice, sound great, and my wife likes them (main reason). Needless to say, the garage is where I feed my vice and spend the most time listening to music. In there I have a custom small format Altec system that horn loads down only to 100Hz and is bass reflex boomy at about 45Hz. This does sound pretty good but it is simply not good enough! Therefore, I propose to build a straight exponential low frequency horn (the length of my back yard I suppose) to, at last, fulfill my craving for front loaded bottom end. I must be carefull, however, not to exceed the townships criteria for out-building construction! Anyway, looking forward to learning more from everyone and contributing when I can.
thevott

[scott fitlin]

Are you going to build it yourself? Or do you want to purchase a horn already made and tuned for the driver of your choice? There is a good horn speaker company in Texas called www.core-systems.com. They specialize in front loaded horns. there technology is based on VOTT horns, and they will tune the cabinet to the driver you wish to use! They will tune the box for JBL, TAD, Eminence, etc!

They claim they can build a straight, front loaded horn with response to 20hz if youve got the space and the money!

My buddy just had 12 mid horns built for a job hes doing and they tuned the cabs for the TAD 1201, and from the pictures I saw they were very nicely made! Shorty went down there to inspect them personally and was quite impressed!

These guys swear by horns, as do I and many others! Horns are their forte! Check out the " Walk in " Bass cabinet!

BTW, Welcome to Lansing Heritage! :cool:

[mikebake]

Scott
That stuff on that link you provided is pretty cool. Kinda like taking JBL pro designs of the 70-80's and bringing them back. Still good stuff, just tends to be heavy.
MBB

[scott fitlin]

They can build and tune the horn for any suitable driver! JBL, TAD, Altec, Eminence, etc! Thses guys are into horns! The Walk In Bass Horn looks great! You have to see a really good picture of it, its huge, probably the biggest straight, front loaded, exponential horn Ive seen!

They use 3/4in plywood stock, but for additional money they will build from 3/4in Baltic Birch which is good! And, considering, they arent that expensive! The low mid 12in horns they built for Shorty came out very nice!

They will also do custom colors and finishes, as the industrial black isnt always whats desired!

I like their work!

[mikebake]

Scotty, did you ever post photos for us of some of your rig? Or can you?

[scott fitlin]

I havent as of yet! But, Im finally getting a cam to do this!

[mikebake]

Let's be gettin' it, then.

[thevott]

Long live big speakers!
In answer to Scott's question, I'm planning on building the low frequency horn myself. Cool site though (I added it to my Bookmarks). I'm not a horn theory wiz, but I have observed, built and studied several smaller horns. I even made an Altec 1505 replica out of paperboard once and filled it with sand. The darn thing leaked all over the place but sounded amaizing. There must have been a whole roll of duct tape on that monster. I eventually had to bury it in the back yard. Anyway, the magic of the horn, I believe, is the combination of the exponential expansion and the use of a premium driver. My concept for a LF horn is to model it after a single cell of a multicell but on a much larger scale. It needs to load down to 20 or 30HZ and sound good up to 100Hz or so. As the mouth will surely consume a wall of my garage, the narrow dispersion will be irrelevant if not ideal for that room. The system will also require a time delay on the rest of the drivers which is easy to do with a tri-amplified system. As a total seat-of-my-pants engineer I may sound off my rocker to some of you mathematically minded designers, but I truly relish in the trial and error process and will savor the day that I get to behold my sculpture and experiment with different drivers (starting, of course, with a 515, then a D130, Etc.). I will post pictures as this project progresses. Please feel free to critique my ideas and work as I value the feedback. thevott

[Alex Lancaster]

(starting, of course, with a 515, then a D130, Etc.).

Oh no!, 2245's or al least 2235's, and the length, 8.5 m minimum!.

Alex.

[thevott]

I don't have any 2245s or 2235 but you are welcomed to bring them over and we'll bolt 'em on an see how they sound! The 515 is the "original" lansing horn driver so I think it deserves the trial run out of historical respect:) Plus, I have one.

[GordonW]

Thevott, have you taken a look at the Eminence LAB12 horn? Looks like a modern take on the horn loaded bass driver, that's actually done pretty well. In arrays, flat down to 30 Hz, could be scaled up to be flat lower...

Regards,
Gordon.

[thevott]

Neat. I've been an Altec freak for so long I have overlooked many other manufacturers. I did a quick Google search on the LAB 12 and found these links that include specs, picts, and plans:

http://www.bkelec.com/Professional/Loudspeaker%20Drivers/Eminence/lab12.htm

http://www.prosoundweb.com/lsp/

Personally I want to experiment with a pure straight horn first before bending it all up. Also, if the horn sounds good enough in its upper range perhaps I can even cross it over at 500Hz and hang a 511b right in the center of the mouth with a digital delay on its amp. Then I supose I'll have to build two of 'em.
thevott