Horn loaded midbass cabinet

[Tube Radio]

What would be a good JBL or Altec horn loaded midbass cabinet to use with a JBL 4520 cabinet with the crossover set at 90Hz?

Thinking about the Altec 816 unless the JBL 4560A or 4550A would be better.

Will be used for a skating rink.

The 90Hz crossover point was determined so that the midbass horns reproduce the kick drum which the 4520 cabinets don't do very well.

[Earl K]

Research this site for all the posts made by former moderator Scott Fitlin ( RIP ) about the system he ran within the Eldorado Bumper Car Ride ( that his family owned on Coney Island ).

You'll get a really good idea from that research just what is necessary in a venue of similar size .

Scott was very passionate about this system ( and wrote quite a lot about the upgrades and changes, etc. > that he made over it's life-span ).

Lots of good box, amp & driver info is hidden away in those posts .

[Tube Radio]

Ok will do

[Tube Radio]

He definitely had a good system for sure.

The rink did have some BFI Bullfrog cabinets which look like they were maybe a copy of the Altec 816.

I can get the plans for the 816.

If I do have the boxes made versus buying the 816s would it be best to go to someone who works with furniture and other woodworking or someone who builds speaker boxes for car audio?

That said will the Altec 816 sound good crossed over from 90-800Hz?

[Dr.db]

I doubt your targeted crossover of 90hz would work well for the Altec 816.

The 816 has a relativ small mouth area and thus it won´t load the mounted driver very low. Altec themselfs claims effective hornloading from 200hz up. This is about the same as a JBL 4560 I have owned. For best sonic results I would stick with a xover point of 200hz.
As you have asked for a midbass horn I assume you´re aiming for a fullrange hornsystem.
Shure you can xover them way lower, even 50hz as the vented rearchamber supports the lows a bit. But it lacks efficiency below 200hz and is far from linear! And the 816 would act as a simple vented enclosure between 90-200hz...

I only have real life experience with the JBL 4560 (aka altec 816), but in my understanding you would rather need an altec 817 or even 815 for a propper crossover of 90hz.

[Tube Radio]

Agreed.

Unfortunately the rink closed earlier this year so there's no more need for these.