front loading alpairs!?

[soundnovice]

have any one tried front loading the alpair 10.2s?
will this be a good idea?

[chrisb]

Originally Posted by soundnovice

have any one tried front loading the alpair 10.2s?
will this be a good idea?

you mean as in front loaded horn?

[Scottmoose]

Presumably. Although technically they could be used in a BP or Karlson.

Anyway, assuming front horn, like the above, there's no technical reason why they couldn't be. Whether it's a good idea or not depends on what it is you're trying to achieve (and how well designed the horn is to attain whatever the design objectives are, of course ).

[soundnovice]

since alpair 10.2 is a fullranger, lets assume it as similar to compression driver (ignore specs differences) and many CDs are front loaded(horn loaded) or waveguide loaded, for wider dispersion(dont know what other advantages it have). so by front loading alpairs, can we achieve improvement in performance (perhaps wider dispersion and higher sensitivity). ofcourse we will have to xover to alpairs at the xover point of waveguide/horn.

[Richard Ellis]

There was this guy who had some giant plywood horns running a 4" Fostex...........he had a video on YT for awhile but took it down, so many people were asking him so many questions, then it was gone. He really didn't answer any questions.


__________________________________________________ _______Rick.........

[Scottmoose]

If it's who I think it was (almost certainly Derek) that's probably because he didn't design it. It was done by a chap in Europe somewhere, and was what he described as a dipole horn, since the driver front loaded a fairly short, large terminus horn, but had no compression chamber to the rear. Technically not the best performer I've ever seen, and LF support is mandatory since the horn was only tuned to get down to the lower-midband.

[Richard Ellis]

True, it was open in the rear.......It did have a rich & detailed voicing....as he made sure to record it on video with the best audio he could muster.......You could hear the changes in tone clearly as the camera slowly walked around to the back of the horn. I have indeed contemplated such a horn for a pair of 6X9s I have..........Coordinating wood cuts, dimensions, "Can I move it within the house with given dimensions" With my long-term 12B4 amp in development, the problem of low power, "What I have to work with" takes hold. The idea of horn loading for SPL gains............plus it would look way cool...Thought about naming it "Big Blue" in honor of the Giant Crane that fell......& painting it blue.


__________________________________________________ __Rick.......

[Scottmoose]

SPL increases in such cases will be offset by the absence of any loading to the rear of the cone, so I would be careful about assuming too much. From a technical POV, it's not an especially good idea -ideally, you'd want to reactance annul it with a properly designed rear-chamber.

[adason]

Originally Posted by Richard Ellis

There was this guy who had some giant plywood horns running a 4" Fostex...........he had a video on YT for awhile but took it down, so many people were asking him so many questions, then it was gone. He really didn't answer any questions.


__________________________________________________ _______Rick.........

I have seen those youtube videos, its gone now
but its very similar to ferguson hill...
Ferguson Hill Loudspeakers - YouTube

[adason]

here is more
Ferguson Hill Speakers FH001 - YouTube