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Thread: 100 kg bass compression driver

  1. #16
    Marty
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ian Mackenzie
    this is probably his junk room.. on the other hand this maybe the only room.


    Ian
    Or perhaps it's a redecorated Mobile Home somewhere in Tennessee ?

  2. #17
    Senior Member louped garouv's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by scott fitlin
    their basshorn woofers look interesting. Similar in shape to Altec!
    reminds me of those exemplar boxes....

  3. #18
    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    [QUOTE=Marty]
    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Widget
    Well
    Spending $100,000 (I'm including delivery) for the 30HZ to 100Hz
    http://www.scrounge.org/speak/burwen/

    [/QU
    OTE]

    I don't know if this will win you over or not, but delivery is free if you take advantage
    of this offer in the next 30 minutes.
    Damn! I am on board... will they take my somewhat flexible check?

    Widget

  4. #19
    Senior Member Steve Schell's Avatar
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    This ALE (Audio Laboratory Endo) stuff looks pretty strange, but I believe that the builders are true believers who are pursuing the absolute best sound possible, the best way they know how.

    I heard a pair of the midbass horns (the ones on the pallets) about two years ago at the home of Kevin Brooks, ALE's U.S. distributor. I have never heard such clear, clean, dynamic, uncolored bass in my life, and I have been building bass horns for years. We have all had listening experiences like this- where you are impressed out of your socks and are forced to reevaluate your assumptions and raise your expectations. Since then I have discussed that listening experience with other audiofreaks who have heard the ALEs, and their reviews have been similar raves. As one fellow put it, "You went to Kevin's and got messed up."

    It does all make sense in a way. The mythical ideal driver has infinitely low mass, a perfectly rigid piston, and an infinitely strong motor to force the piston to follow the signal exactly. A true compression driver comes much closer to this ideal than a paper cone woofer. The Bell Labs engineers who designed the Fletcher System in 1933 chose this solution with their outrageous, enormous 20" aluminum diaphragm bass compression driver. I think it is sad in a way that the team that designed the Shearer Horn System a couple of years later chose Jim Lansing's paper cone 15" woofers- and most of you know how I feel about Jim Lansing! Anyway, 15" woofers became the standard and all thoughts of using compression drivers for bass disappeared until these tiny Japanese companies began springing up in the 1970s.

    My partner Rich and I have been building prototype bass compression drivers and horns for the past few months. We have been pleased with the results so far, but I'm not sure we have quite equaled the ALEs yet. I guess it's about time to go take another listen to them.

  5. #20
    Senior Member tomt's Avatar
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    The Bell Labs engineers who designed the Fletcher System in 1933 chose this solution with their outrageous, enormous 20" aluminum diaphragm bass compression driver.
    `````````````````````````````````
    steve,

    where could more info(and maybe pictures) of this driver be found?

    (besides the'fletcher.jpg')
    `````````````````````````````````````````````````` ````
    seiya goto can fix your 555s,
    http://www.hinocatv.ne.jp/~shinichi/

    http://aca.gr/pop_goto_ale.htm

  6. #21
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    Stereo knocked most bass horn purists for a loop they never recovered from. With today's surround sound, anyone who can afford the real estate can probably pay whatever the tariff is if you can sell it, but for 16hz you may have zoning problems. You'll probably have to find a buyer with an attitude like Ellison's.

  7. #22
    Senior Member Loud & Clear's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Schell View Post
    This ALE (Audio Laboratory Endo) I heard a pair of the midbass horns (the ones on the pallets) about two years ago at the home of Kevin Brooks, ALE's U.S. distributor. I have never heard such clear, clean, dynamic, uncolored bass in my life, and I have been building bass horns for years. We have all had listening experiences like this- where you are impressed out of your socks and are forced to reevaluate your assumptions and raise your expectations. Since then I have discussed that listening experience with other audiofreaks who have heard the ALEs, and their reviews have been similar raves. As one fellow put it, "You went to Kevin's and got messed up."
    I know Kevin, He lives not 2 hours from me. I talk with him once in a while. Maybe I need to hear these horns?

    Two Time "Kidney Transplant Recipient"

  8. #23
    Senior Member Steve Schell's Avatar
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    Thanks for the thread bump, Thom. It was fun to read through it again.

    Builders of ambitious bass horns have always been few and far between. I think part of the reason for this is that relatively few audio enthusiasts have been exposed to them and experienced their excellent performance. Factoring in the space requirements and low Spouse Acceptance Factor assures that they will never become mainstream. This is okay, as they remain available to those who wish to pursue them.

    Tomt, I'm sorry I did not see your question when you posted it. The Fletcher bass driver can most easily be studied by reading A.L Thuras' U.S. Patent #2,037,185. Also worthy of study are #1,970,926 (bass horn), #2,037,187 (compression driver) and #1,992,268 (multicellular horn). These patents as a group are simply mind blowing and essential reading for students of loudspeaker history. Patents are easy to access using Google's new patents search page:

    http://www.google.com/patents

    The Audio Engineering Society has made a PDF available of the original Bell Labs paper on their 1933 Auditory Perspective experiments, for which the development of the Fletcher Horn System was created. This important and fascinating paper can be found here:

    http://www.aes.org/aeshc/docs/bell.l...erspective.pdf

    Loud & Clear, I highly recommend a visit to Kevin's to hear his ALE system. I haven't been the same since I was there.

  9. #24
    Senior Member Hoerninger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tomt View Post
    ... where could more info(and maybe pictures) of this driver be found?

    (besides the'fletcher.jpg')
    A picture of the Fletcher system you can find here (post 7):
    http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/s...&highlight=xxl
    The original is owned by Bell Labs.

    The German magazin "FACHBLATT Musikmagazin" published a series about horn speakers and the history of JBL in the eightieth (last century). They got a negativ by Bell.
    I scanned the picture from the magazin, you will hardly find a sharper picture - enjoy.
    ___________
    Peter

  10. #25
    Senior Member Steve Schell's Avatar
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    Hoerninger, thank you for the picture of the Fletcher Horn System you posted in the linked thread. I hadn't seen this one before. Would you be so kind as to provide a translation of the text below the picture?

  11. #26
    Senior Member Hoerninger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Schell View Post
    ... a translation of the text below the picture?
    Das Foto zeigt Mr.R.LINSLEY SHEPARD vor einem jener gigantischen Lautsprecher, die z.B. 1940 für Stereo-Experimente von der Philadelphia Academy of Music benutzt wurden. Dieser Lautsprecher ist vielleicht die wichtigste "Root" moderner P.A.'s (Courtesy of Bell Laboratories).
    This foto shows Mr.R.Linsley Shepard in front of one of those giant speakers, which had been used for example 1940 for stereo experiments by the Philadelphia Academy of Music. This speaker is perhaps the most important "root" of modern PAs (Courtesy of Bell Laboratories).
    ____________
    Regards
    Peter

    PS: The attached foto shows Mr.Douglas Shearer, Chief of Sound Department of MGM (Western Electric)
    Attached Images Attached Images  

  12. #27
    Senior Member Tom Brennan's Avatar
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    Shearer had a big clout at MGM, his sister was married to Thalberg.

  13. #28
    Senior Member Steve Schell's Avatar
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    Hoerninger, thank you very much for the translation and for the picture of Douglas Shearer.

    Tom, I did a little Googling on Shearer and found out that he originally came to CA in 1925 to visit his sisters. Norma introduced him to Louis B. Mayer and they began to talk about sound in film. He went on to have a 40+ year career at MGM and won more than a dozen Oscars. One summary of his life is located here:

    http://theoscarsite.com/whoswho/shearer_d.htm

  14. #29
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    Hello, I'm new here....

    1.) Does anybody know how to get a hold of Kevin Brooks of ALE compression driver distributor?

    2.) If the bass horn is long and have large mouth diameter, don't we have serious time delay?

    Thank you

  15. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by locanti View Post
    I just can't see Captain NEMO in the picture.Maybe is he under the woofer horn,crushed by the driver when he screwed it to the horn?
    LOOOOOOOOOL


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