I've seen some pictures on the interweb of these kinds of speakers:-
yet on the box at the bottom is a speaker. So are the horns real? Are they just reflex ports or is there another hidden speaker at the base of the horn? Or are they fake? And if they're not, are they any good?
Thing is, if you look at this site, the speakers are written about as if they're very good. At least for the stage. I don't know what to make of them, but they don't seem to be marketed as paper weights. Not at that size...
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
yet on the box at the bottom is a speaker. So are the horns real? Are they just reflex ports or is there another hidden speaker at the base of the horn? Or are they fake? And if they're not, are they any good?
Thing is, if you look at this site, the speakers are written about as if they're very good. At least for the stage. I don't know what to make of them, but they don't seem to be marketed as paper weights. Not at that size...
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My suspicion looking at them is that they are a very unorthodox back loaded horn implementation.
I can't imagine they sound too good, but who knows..
I would not be willing to invest any significant cash in such a speaker, might be nothing better than a bizarre looking paper weight or pop art.
I can't imagine they sound too good, but who knows..
I would not be willing to invest any significant cash in such a speaker, might be nothing better than a bizarre looking paper weight or pop art.
My guess is that their small "Hi Fi" horns will boost the range around 500Hz quite a lot, and have no bass at all. If you estimate the horn dimensions and simulate a few Fostex drivers in hornresp, you might get an idea of what sort of performance you could expect.
For the bigger horns, the key phrases from the site you linked are "to use for musical instrument amplification" and "a special spatial effect is achieved".
NOTE: these wouldn't be too hard to DIY. I've tried the methods shown in this link. The cable ties make it surprisingly simple, but you do need a lot of scaffolding and patience if you want to make it pretty and keep the horn perfectly symmetrical.
doityourselfaudio: 140Hz Petal Horns
For some measurements of a "real" Hi Fi Fostex horn, see here:
Fostex FE-208 Sigma Fullrange Loudspeaker Measurements Data and Information Full Range
Even with horn boost, the generic horn has an uneven balance. It is very hot from 1-5kHz. You need careful matching of driver + horn + boundary loading to get a vaguely flat response.
For the bigger horns, the key phrases from the site you linked are "to use for musical instrument amplification" and "a special spatial effect is achieved".
NOTE: these wouldn't be too hard to DIY. I've tried the methods shown in this link. The cable ties make it surprisingly simple, but you do need a lot of scaffolding and patience if you want to make it pretty and keep the horn perfectly symmetrical.
doityourselfaudio: 140Hz Petal Horns
For some measurements of a "real" Hi Fi Fostex horn, see here:
Fostex FE-208 Sigma Fullrange Loudspeaker Measurements Data and Information Full Range
Even with horn boost, the generic horn has an uneven balance. It is very hot from 1-5kHz. You need careful matching of driver + horn + boundary loading to get a vaguely flat response.
Note that the horn itself will be affecting nothing at 1-5kHz so that is the driver response. The horn will only be affecting <300 Hz or so.
dave
Not really all that different from 50 years ago or anytime between then and now.
I remember seeing terrible stuff in the department stores in high school, along with great stuff at Henry's Radio in Brussels. (Lots of Kef and other speakers, etc.)
Good point. There will always be a midrange hole, when using that driver in a BLH. Maybe the Specimen guys are using less efficient / higher Qts drivers and getting less of a hole.
Looking again at Rutcho's graphs, I'm not sure what he has actually measured / why he bothers with the horn.
Overlaying the two graphs, the horn only has more output 600-1200Hz, and that's probably due to baffle differences. The rear loading is doing nothing (or nothing that his microphone can detect).
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I asked about these horns years ago and there just wasn't much interest.
I agree it's all about the looks. I imagine it would sound s bit tinny and hollow like an old style Victrola.
Specimen Gramophone style Horn Speakers
I agree it's all about the looks. I imagine it would sound s bit tinny and hollow like an old style Victrola.
Specimen Gramophone style Horn Speakers
I had a look at this, especially the connection to the speakers, like so:-
I don't know much about speaker design or the correct vocabulary, but it seems to me that it must be difficult to pump a lot of air through that small hole. And a lot of air is necessary for bass sounds isn't it?
I guess I was fooled by the quality of their web site and their customers like Blue Man Group, Franz Ferdinand and Beastie Boys. I've heard of those
Unless it's all lies... Yep. Those are (140Hz) midrange horns. I linked them for the excellent construction photos.
I guess I was fooled by the quality of their web site and their customers like Blue Man Group, Franz Ferdinand and Beastie Boys. I've heard of those
Unless it's all lies...
Again, this is important: "to use for musical instrument amplification"
For Hi Fi, you want accuracy.
For instrument amplification, a speaker doesn't need to be accurate. It needs to be whatever pleases the musician - for example, The Kinks used damaged speakers - on purpose.
Lots of guitar drivers have a tiny Xmax so they distort when fed 10 watts - on purpose.
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I am with you, they are beautiful!
I wonder who simulated the foghorn when it first appeared in Norther Europe - I cannot imagine how they calculated the impedance at the mouth piece, the flare constant, horn length and mouth area, there must have been incredible un-educated acoustic engineers at the time. Why do people think that what they do cannot work, because they are artists in what they do?
It is often said those in the knowing do. Those that don't know teach or present a technical paper
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