Horn Loaded 15-18"

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Just wanting to know... I have a kinda ****y pa, with a pair of home made 18in celestion bass cabs... basically they dont project and sound a bit soft, the bass doesn't carry (probably because the boxes were just 6 random pieces of wood!!)... I wanted some ideas as to horn loading, but sensible practical pa ideas? i've seen a few, but many seem to be a lot of wasted space...

Cheer's

Matt
 
Using your existing Celestion drivers in a horn cabinet, you could expect 8-9dB increase in level and much punchier sound. However, due to laws of physics, low end performance of horn loading is dependant on mouth area and horn length - therefore box WILL be large. For an 18", one of the most efficient designs I have seen is the Martin WSX bin - it packs a 7ft long length into a box 22.5" wide by 42" high and 42" deep. However, due to tight folds in its design, it is only good for 150Hz top end. If you need higher crossover than this, then a design using gentle bends is needed, which takes up more space.

To DIY a design, suggest you download Hornresp from http://www.users.bigpond.com/dmcbean/

cheers
 
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Hi,you can also have a look at this site which gives plans to build professional pa enclosures[mostly horn].
www.speakerplans.com But most horns are difficult to build because it takes time,effort and the right tools.
Also on this site there are plans for coupled cavity bandpass bass bins using 1x 18 inch which are easier to build than folded horns;give better cleaner bass than ported,and the bass travels further than ported enclosures,but not as long throw as a long throw horn like for example: the Keele W bass bin.
On Speakerplans, the 186 horn and 1850 horn are long throw and the super scoop 18 are medium throw.
Also to mention speakerplans.com has info on the right and wrong type of drivers suitable for horn loading,and advanced speaker building info,and various other tips.
As well as speakerplans.com there also is www.dancetech.com and in there pa section they talk you through building a horn loaded speaker professionally and successfully;since building a horn loaded cabinet is very different and much more complex than building a ported cabinet.
:hot: :smash:
 
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Chopping 20mm off the bottom of the 186 horn won't be that much of a difference, but anymore than 20mm would result in less bass as the horn flare would get smaller.
Also to consider is that: is your Celestion 18 inch suitable for horn use? Because this horn the 186, requires that drivers have an EPB
[Efficientcy bandwidth product] of 130 or greater.
EPB is how well the motor system [voice coil and magnet] can control the cone and stop it flapping about at high volume levels.
The higher the BL product indicates, the higher the motor strength.And also tight supensions are good for horns.

So could you tell me the model no of your 18 inch Celestion drivers?[located on the back or side of the magnet]

Since the only 18 inch by Celestion i know of is the Celestion Frontline 18 with an EBP of 140 which is suitable for horn use.
 
woah that has alot of angled cuts! as many as my 40hz horn..

EBP is the old rule of thumb way for horn usage.
all that denotes is higher frequency range capability.

high BL is good.

tight supensions are good for horns.
not necessarily.

the lab12 woofer is extremely high QMs,and its vas is 'normal' for a 12" woofer,and it has sealed box specs of 22hz Fs and Qts=0.4

Cheers!:)
 

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erm, i'm unsure... i'll have to get it out of the cab... but its a celestion greenback 18inch... its only low power, but packs a punch.... i think its 150watt.... thats why i want to horn load them... to get the best efficiancy from such a speaker.... and the other one is a fane... i don't know about this one either, as my dad found it under a stage when he was 19 odd... i'll try to get them out and have a look
 
wsx

hi there, hey centauri i saw the wsx plans, i'm interested, any idea what typre of driver would be suitable for this, i know that they come with phl's in them but these arent available direct , they only sell to speaker manufacturers, anyone tested the driver to see what its performance charecteristics are?


thanks in advance...


rich
 
Re: wsx

bwaarp said:
hi there, hey centauri i saw the wsx plans, i'm interested, any idea what typre of driver would be suitable for this, i know that they come with phl's in them but these arent available direct , they only sell to speaker manufacturers, anyone tested the driver to see what its performance charecteristics are?


At the time when I had access to these boxes, I was not set up to do speaker measurements, so I have no idea of the original's parameters. I have not taken the time to work out the various flare parameters to model this box in Hornresp, so not sure what other drivers will be suitable (although the EighteenSound 18LW1400 would probably work well) - I have turned my attention to 12" horn subs, so the idea of making copies of the WSX has been abandoned.

Cheers
 
wsx

i'm kind of new to this, i have access to a wsx, what tools would i need to gauge the performance characteristics of the driver?
are there any pc based software progs that will help?
the driver is a martin badged phl 18" 600w aes, looking at the phl site, i cant se any that match this exactly, leading me to assume that they are modified specifically for this cab.

any help appreciated..


rich
 
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