I want to build some horn's. 12 sided, something like these: Oswalds Mill Audio - Loudspeakers | OMA but don't have a clue as to which drivers go on the smart end.
Something small, and (maybe) low Q so that when you reinforce the LF range it doesn’t overwelm the HF. But how that works is highly dependent on the actual horn. Horns have typically a 3-4 octave bandwidth, a narrow conicall horn like those linked probably need EQ or a very careful match with the driver.
dave
dave
AFAIK, nobody publishes compression driver specs and not a quick process to measure them either AFAIK.
For point source [cone] drivers, the requirements can be figured out knowing the horn's XO points, throat, mouth, axial length, flare factor. We know from its shape the latter is conical, so either find the others to maybe find a suitable cone driver or design a horn that will at least work between these XO points.
GM
I made a pair. The compound angles are very difficult to calculate but you can use my drawing at the link below. It’s for a lowther. Regarding drivers, you need a low QTS driver. Something with a very powerful magnet with a rising frequency response, because the horn amplifies the lower midrange.
Joseph Crowe's DIY Speaker Building Blog: Lowther DX-3 Conical Horn
Joseph Crowe's DIY Speaker Building Blog: Lowther DX-3 Conical Horn
The smaller of the two wooden conicals uses a Cogent driver made by Steve Schell and Rich Drysdale but no longer produced.
As mentioned above it depends on the range you're after though I remember that Bill Woods, designer of the horns , used to say he liked the B&C DCM50 which was inspired by the old RCA MI-1428 - the improved development of which resulted in the Cogent DS-1428.
As mentioned above it depends on the range you're after though I remember that Bill Woods, designer of the horns , used to say he liked the B&C DCM50 which was inspired by the old RCA MI-1428 - the improved development of which resulted in the Cogent DS-1428.
Starting here because it's inexpensive. https://www.parts-express.com/pedocs/specs/294-600-bc-speakers-de10-8-specifications-44863.pdf
the OMA are gorgeous! Modern, industrial, artistic. Wonderful.
But conical horns, nogo. Lo efficiency, limited bandwidth, no CSD, strong beaming, HW-notches.... the worst of all.
But I totally understand one might gives optics a higher priority. I often do
efficiency: with a capable compression driver, still enough to match any but the most dedicated HE bass schemes
bandwidth: no worse than most horns, needs EQ because of constant directivity of course
beaming: ??? they display constant directivity dictated by the angle, Exp or Tractrix beams more. Driver or throat diameter will dictate when the conical horn actually starts to beam
Not saying they are perfect, no audio device is, but they certainly are plenty usable.
Good stuff.
I'm eager to see how you decide to mount the drivers. It's always been something with DIY conicals of wood that I haven't found a satisfactory answer to. I figure the the small drivers you are starting with might be easy enough to strap against the throat with bands attached farther up the length of the outside of the horn. But trying heavier bodied drivers like the old Altecs ,JBLs, etc., would be harder to make stable that way.
Bill Woods' answer was to terminate the throat end of the wooden horn in an aluminum casting, machined round at the last 1/4" and use a 1/4" thick mounting plate "donut" with edgewise set screws to hold it on to the machined casting once the drivers had been bolted to it. Doing the whole thing purely of wood though, that would be another story. Please let us know how it goes.
I'm eager to see how you decide to mount the drivers. It's always been something with DIY conicals of wood that I haven't found a satisfactory answer to. I figure the the small drivers you are starting with might be easy enough to strap against the throat with bands attached farther up the length of the outside of the horn. But trying heavier bodied drivers like the old Altecs ,JBLs, etc., would be harder to make stable that way.
Bill Woods' answer was to terminate the throat end of the wooden horn in an aluminum casting, machined round at the last 1/4" and use a 1/4" thick mounting plate "donut" with edgewise set screws to hold it on to the machined casting once the drivers had been bolted to it. Doing the whole thing purely of wood though, that would be another story. Please let us know how it goes.
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