Subject:

Comments:
: Rodger, as with many things, sound is somewhat subjective. There are a couple of different schools of thought when it comes to speaker loading. There are those that feel horn loading low and mid frequency drivers tends to sound somewhat "honky," like you think a horn would sound. The trade off is that you gain efficiency. But often, drastic EQ is needed to correct the issues that horns present. The other school, is that front loaded designs sound better. The trade off is less efficiency, requiring more drivers and power. : Not to be to critical of Bose, but when it comes to truly pro sound reinforcemnt, I wouldn't give to much creedence to their marketing. They are considered to be pretty low end by the real concert sound companies. I think they're fine for consumer audio, though I'm not a fan even in that world. And while I agree that JBL and Altec were real pioneers of their time, there have since been huge advancements in sound technology, though the basic physics are the same. I wouldn't drive a Model T Ford to go cross-country if someone put an Audi A8 in front of me ;-) My feelings on the horn technology is similar. I wouldn't even have horn loaded HF drivers it weren't essential for pattern control, but it is. You might want to read of on Rat's Evolution page as far as why they chose not horn load anything except the HF drivers. : As for "conventional" or non horn loaded low frequency drivers not being able to reproduce notes under 200Hz, that's nonsense. It happens every day, all the time. : Cheers, : Greg : : : I concure with your apprehension. But I was also thinking that with HF compression drivers, and the fact that they're generally horn loaded, bending them around <b>might</b> not be as bad as with LF drivers. Guess we'll have to wait and see. : : : : : : Cheers, : : : Greg : : : : Not yet, I am curious but also apprehensive. I am a bit skeptical of 'reflected sound' but that is just based on not liking the way folded horns or any other 'non direct radiating' sound source sounds. : : Greg... I have nothing agaist speaker arrays, Bose has some great 901's, and has been using arrays for years. Listen to their 'Wave' radio presently on the market, employing a folded horn design, only on a smaller scale, but is giving them high reviews in the Stereo Today research mag. I myself am fully focused on folded horns on the low end. I am presently in the process of building a pair of K-Horns for my winter basement project. I have been researching speaker enclosures for years, and trying to understand all the priciples of why.... these guys like Paul Klipsch, Jim Lansing and his brother Altec ran into their shops in the middle of the night with their pipedreams... These are the guys! We owe these guys... they did all the work. RODGER : : On reflective sound.... This is misconstrued, the word here should be CHANNELED, audio waves expand as they leave the driver, folded horns capture these waves and let them expand in the chanber to reach their specific length, before releasing them into the free air space or the listening room, hence... notes you've never heard before because they got dissipated through conventional speakers that cannot reproduce these frequencies because it is impossible for a speaker cone to move the distance it would take to reproduce a note under say...200Htz. : : I would like to hear from you guys and share notes....RODGER

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:

Please use the new Rat Message board located at http://ratsound.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi