2-way horn-speaker? Or 3-way?

[jakja83]

Hi,

I am contemplating getting me a pair of horns and doing a DIY out of it. I am thinking something like this one:

AutoTech Tractrix-350 - AutoTech Horns - Horns DIY Sound Group

I am thinking about mounting it on top of some sort of bass-enclosure and then x-ing it over in a 2-way setup, but is this possible, and what are the downsides? I want it to have a certain WAF-appeal as well being a beautiful room with a view.

Is it possible to cross basses over that high and still get decent bottom, or it it better to go with a 3-way setup with a midbass driver covering the area from say 250 hz up to 1000-1500 hz and then having a smaller horn?

This is what I am thinking the bass-part might look like, and then I would make a bracket and fit the horn on top.

 

[pos]

That 350Hz tractrix will rapidely beam ( <60° ) above about 5kHz, so you will probably need a tweeter.

 

[jakja83]

Ok, so what type of horn solution can fit such a broad bandwith?

Is it wiser to craft a speaker that has a smaller horn from 1.5-1.8 khz and use a good normal dynamic midrange between 250 hz and the horn and then fill in underneath with an appropriate amount og lowend?


OOOOOOR:

Would another solution be to use a bigger horn and then have a smaller horn take over at around 5-6 khz with a wider dispersion?


Is a waveguide easier to use than a horn of that type?

 

[bvan]

The right 12" or 15" can easily do the 520hz recomended XO, say a Beyma 12p80nd or Acoustic Elegance TD15M/S etc, but you'd probably be limited to maybe 40hz on the lower end, but I'd still go this route, for 2.5 way with small horn covering the top octaves where the bigger horn starts to beam.

For me the biggest appeal of the horn sound is probably in the lower frequencies, so I'd vote 2 horns + 1 dynamic driver over 2 dynamic drivers and one small horn.

 

[jakja83]

I understand.

Problem is, I want to make something with a certain aestethic appeal as well. I am thinking in lines of Avantgarde's smaller models (Quite a mouthful, I know) so I will probably be limited to 10-12" drivers should I choose to pursue this project. Also, 4 horns with drivers is usually $$$$.

Another option is a smaller construction with two horns on a slim baffle and then having a couple of bass-enclosures separatly. Opens up for better calibration and less interaction when it comes to vibration.

 

[whgeiger]

If all-horn, it's 3-way

Hi,

I am contemplating getting me a pair of horns and doing a DIY out of it. I am thinking something like this one:

AutoTech Tractrix-350 - AutoTech Horns - Horns DIY Sound Group

I am thinking about mounting it on top of some sort of bass-enclosure and then x-ing it over in a 2-way setup, but is this possible, and what are the downsides? I want it to have a certain WAF-appeal as well being a beautiful room with a view.

Is it possible to cross basses over that high and still get decent bottom, or it it better to go with a 3-way setup with a midbass driver covering the area from say 250 hz up to 1000-1500 hz and then having a smaller horn?

This is what I am thinking the bass-part might look like, and then I would make a bracket and fit the horn on top.

>snip<

When you migrate to horn baffles, you trade bandwidth for efficiency and pattern control. If this is truly your mission, study the work PWK [1/3]
For horns, allocation of a decade of bandwidth per horn/driver unit, keeps you out of trouble (somewhat ).

Regards,

WHG

References:
Jubilee System (3-Way)
[1] http://images.klipsch.com/KPTJUBILEE535_635042121835280000.pdf
Base Horn
[2] <meta name="description" content="Klipsch audio systems provide the true audio/video lover a wide variety of high performance loudspeakers and loudspeaker systems for music and home theater entertainment centers, including iPod speakers, multimedia s
AES Paper (Jubilee)
[3] http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/storage/3/423291/AES-Jubilee.pdf
AES Paper (K-Horn)
http://www.pirkensee.de/Downloads/Klipsch.pdf