I'm thinking of building a pair of Klipschorns and I'm looking for a cheap solution for the midrange. How would this combination work if crossed over at 400Hz? Normal listening position will be approximately 10 feet straight in front of the speakers.
I have the 2482 drivers already, and the 2386 horns are almost free on eBay. I am limited to a horn that is about 29"x11", and length isn't a concern.
Why not simply buy a pair of these "almost free" 2386 horns and find out for yourself ( how the 2482 does on it ) ?
Some free test software and a USB based test mic ( another $100.00 ) will tell you the low end limit of any possible combo .
For my listening preferences I suspect that the narrow 40deg horizontal coverage would be a real draw-back / though one might be able to widen the coverage with some ( largish ) custom built slant plates .
BTW, the Klipsch Forum have already parsed these very same questions every which way.
You'll get much more thorough answers there .
The 2386 wouldn't really "load" the driver at 400Hz, as the horn is simply too small to place much additional load on the connected driver at such a low frequency. Pattern control and horn loading are two sides of the same coin. The 238x horns don't really live up to their advertised pattern control until ~1200 Hz in the horizontal plane, and ~2Khz in the vertical plane.
Loudspeaker designers did not realize this in the early days. Many speakers were quite enjoyable despite the fact the horns were mis-shapen.
I doubt that the 2482 would be bothered by your combination in a home environment though- your ears will probably hurt before the diaphragm hits the phase plug... think woofer excursion vs. frequency in a sealed cabinet application.
As Earl K says: buy a pair on ebay and try them out.
There isn't any information on the Klipsch forum or the internet on the 2386 horn. There is a bit on the 2380, but the opinions vary from good to terrible. I've read good things about the Eliptrac 400 horn, they are about $300.00 in a DIY kit. From what I have read about horns the Eliptrac would be too small to go to 400Hz? The more that I read about horns, the less I know.
Judging by that picture that horn is smaller than the 2386.
The 2386 Specification sheet is available on the JBL website, with plenty of good data. It may also be posted on this site.
Plentiful on ebay at $25-30 each, how could you go wrong? Mount drivers on them, lay them on top of the cabinet, and enjoy listening while learning first-hand.
At the frequency range you're covering, the 2386 (and any similarly-sized horn) will have much wider coverage area than its' 40*x20* spec. See my earlier post. Better yet- look at the spec sheet here:
http://www.jblpro.com/pub/components/2386.pdf
If you look at the horizontal & vertical beamwidth graphs you will see it is exhibiting a 57*x75* beamwidth (coverage area) at 1KHz and doesn't narrow to 45*x25* until 5KHz, a factor dictated by the relatively small horn mouth. The 2482 is well rolled off by then and you're crossing over to the tweeter long before then anyway...
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