Western Electric 16A Plans

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audioanthology

Member
Joined 2009
audioanthology.com
Joe Roberts said:


First, you only need one. You can run one channel to each half of the horn. In this way, it is a single unit stereo speaker.

Since they use 555 drivers, a tweeter is required, so factor in the budget for a pair of 597As.

While not as amazing and impressive as 15As or 12As in my opinion, the 16A has a remarkable delicate and detailed character. Very engaging on string quartet and acoustic music. Also great for jazz quartet and the like. Very lively and vivid presentation.
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Joe , I agree with you...

I ran my 16a in stereo with 2 GIP 597a for a while , now in mono with 1 GIP 597a only.
I use my 16a for listening to Jazz , vocals and small ensemble classic. until the listening volume is not high , great delicate sound and no resonance. but once you increase the volume , then the metal resonance gets in... the 15a doesn't have this problem.
BTW I added further damping to my 16a ( some more thin felt inside and some foam compressed between the back of the wings and backwall).
I listened to my 16a with 46C too and the sound was not so OK... actually the 16a plays a lot better with a good WE350B PP in triode operation

Aldo
 
Joe Roberts

Joe Roberts

Member
Joined 2006
junkyardjukebox.com
Yo Bear:

The 16A has some rather sharp bends.

The 12A and 15A don't have "sharp" bends, per se, but the pressure wave must flow almost 360 degrees around a circular path.

I can't imagine that this is the best path for HF transmission, but what do I know, I'm an archaeologist. Midrange on any of these three horns sounds very fine.

Either way, you are looking at the mass rolloff of the 555 diaphragm @ below 5k or so, so get some tweeters!
 
A

audioanthology

Member
Joined 2009
audioanthology.com
the 15a and 16a sound is largely affected also by the smoothness of the inner surfaces.

the 16a ( which is very smooth metal inside) sounds pretty clean on the top end.
the 15a's more rough wood acts a filter instead

btw both horns requires the damping felt at their mouth to smooth a certain hi-freq ( 5-6khz) hardness . they are mechanical filters.

a tweeter crossed at 4-5khz is mandatory.

about the 15a building plans, I repeat , drawings are uneuseful.
since I plan to stop the 15a manufacturing ,I possibly could sell a kind of kit for DiYers to make a 15a , with templates, many 1:1 drawings of attachments, fitments...extensive instructions...

But it's a long complicated job to prepare such a "kit" and so I don't think it will come cheap...people wants to pay little money for WE replica horns, they don't undertand that it's a huge complicated job. WE it's not cheap, today it's more true than in past years
 
M

moosemp

Member
Joined 2009
Aldo, I fully appreciate your work on WE horns and understand the whole enthusiasm engaged. Hrns look wonderfull on your website. I hope we will stay in touch , I am really interested in plans and templates.
I would be happy to meet you in Italy during hollidays!

And for all Friends- do you know somebody in Europe who owns WE horns and would agree for a visit and some listening?

cheers!
 
C

carolus

Member
Joined 2005
moosemp said:
......in Europe who owns WE horns and would agree for a visit and some listening? ...
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Hi,
You ave the (good) "intention" to built your own (couple) horns ..... Fine.
If you are in the neigbouroud near Brussels, you are welcome in my easy lazy listening chair.
It's a simple and DIY 5-way horn (modest) concept:
Klipsch 18 inches, WE66A (a-not-real-factory WE), Iwata 2 inches & 1 inches .... Passif filter and with (DIY) OTL-amp in Vesalius style ....
Horns (good tuned) give great music ...
Important: WAF = 9/10 .... I love her
Allez, salukes.
Karel

One musical note for (horn-lover) Aldo (Audioanthology):
Aldo, congratulations for your practical knowledge building WE-horns and your magnifique site?
And I agreed with you: "it's a complicated job" .... I start (in hobby) my horns in '68 before the internet-age.
 
A

altecmicke

Member
Joined 2012
i would like to get my hand on som old blueprints over a western electric 15 a horn if some one can copy some of theas to me i would be an werry happy man i
have allredy some old horn speakers at my home but it would be the top of the line for me white an western electric clon
!
 
W

WEmania

Member
Joined 2013
korneluk said:
Hello,

I am searching for plans and/or dimensional information to build a replica of the Western Electric 16A horns.

TIA. Any and all help greatly appreciated,
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Because of WE 16A horn is very rare and too high price on ebay recently, I made some units of the replica and have shared with the WE mania in South Korea on this year 2013. The replica is made as exactly same as an original and reproduces front stage sound like an original. If you have further interests, please email me to we16ahorn@gmail.com. Thank you.
 
S

SoundHeritage

Member
Joined 2018
moosemp said:
And for all Friends- do you know somebody in Europe who owns WE horns and would agree for a visit and some listening?

cheers!
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Moosemp,Hi!
If you are still interested in listening to WESTERN ELECTRIC 16A HORN and probably compare it with Klangfilm Bionor, JBL Paragon, Altec A7+Horn 803+RCA LC-9A and many more ( including turntables EMT 927, Thorens Prestige etc..) We have a huge collection of rare vintage Audio equipment to test and to listen. Check on our webpage what else we have - everything is available for listening, comparing. You can book the room and the collection is yours for a whole day.
Soundheritage.club — THE GUIDE TO THE WORLD OF THE IDEAL SOUND

PS.: every item in the collection is ORIGINAL, no replicas.
 
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