With wine or any food or beverage there is no absolute, just personal opinion. But in audio there is accuracy and a well know set of criteria in which we can make judgment's free of bias and personal opinions. While this is just my opinion, it has served me well and I would never go back.There's no absolute truth.
I just observe (and eventually also have my own opinion/preference of course, which is constantly fed, and therefore evolves)
If you ever get the chance, try another (non-diffraction) horn/waveguide, passively corrected and powered by a SET amp.
I've often thought of trying a SET amp for my horns... but haven't done so yet. Partly because I can't really fault the class-A mosfet amp that I've been using for the past few years. But I may give in to the temptation to try one at some point, just to hear for myself.
XT1464 and PR614 are non diffraction horns > sound usually better/cleaner.
As for radial horns, advise you to give them a listen. My experiences are mostly positive, apart from 1 aspect: pattern flip > a disturbing phenomenon since I often walk around while listening to music.
I hope to live a while longer and have plenty of chances
I've listened to a lot of stuff. E.g. xt1464, xr1464 as close in price/quality horns (didn't change my diffraction damaged horns)) I had a tube SE amplifier and many different transistor or d-class, both in bi-amp and non. I even ran my horns with a DAC
And a bunch of commercial stuff like 4367, K2, Everest, Avantgarde, I don't know... Vox Olympian. Can you narrow down what exactly am I supposed to hear?
There is knowledge, ignorance, science, intuition and wisdom.
Although I endorse your statement, in my view science is first and foremost a quest, in which judgments/outcomes/theories must be falsifiable.
I hope to live a while longer and have plenty of chances
I've listened to a lot of stuff. E.g. xt1464, xr1464 as close in price/quality horns (didn't change my diffraction damaged horns)) I had a tube SE amplifier and many different transistor or d-class, both in bi-amp and non. I even ran my horns with a DAC
In my experience, large format compression drivers (≥ 3" diaphragms) tend to sound better in combination with SET, or tube amps in general.
Those amps dampen/reduce the hash in the top octave. Joseph Crowe a.o. has shown this.
You've listened to the Vox Olympians? (Not in combination with class D amps, I presume).
What did you think?
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I follow the Joseph Crowe content, but you know... I'm not complaining about the hash in the top octave. It doesn't sound like the best ribbon tweeters, sure, but it's enough quality for me. Much more I appreciate the quality of the midrange that you can get with 4'' compression driver crossed low (~600 Hz in my case). RCF 940/950 allows this, they claim the range from 500 Hz, and practically it is really feasible, especially at home volumes. By the way, more "hash" I heard from the non-diffraction 1464, I don't know why. Those who have practically heard the 950 mostly leave good reviews about this horn, it's not just my opinion.
As for different amplifiers... Okay, I believe that tube amps may be better. Honestly, I'm happy with my d-class and I got a very pleasant sound with it, and after many experiments (including tube amp - I don't want to go back to it at all))) I don't want to look for something better now. But that may change tomorrow
I got to hear them once in Munich and once in Warsaw. I visit exhibitions whenever possible, in Warsaw it's quite easy every year cause I live here (except covid pause, I hope it doesn't happen again)).
I'll be honest, both times I I wasn't yet a fan of the horns, and I just didn't know what to listen to. They sounded very good, but in those years I couldn't appreciate their strengths (or lack thereof, I don't know). I remember them as very expensive and beautiful furniture for a million with decent sound, to my shame
I remember much better the sound signature of all the JBL models, as well as the big Blumenhofer, polish Horns, Avantgards, and other horn speakers that had already fallen into my sphere of interest when I got into horns.
It seems we've got some things (experiences/preferences) in common.
I also use class D with my comp. drivers (currently 1"), but I'm tempted to try SET amps in the future.
The RCF HF950 is certainly one of the most advanced diffraction horns, without a sharp edged slot. In addition there's no narrowing/pinching in the horizontal plane of the throat/slot section. Therewith it approaches the inner workings of a Yuichi horn, only in the opposite plane.
I've only experienced this horn in the RCF TT-5 and these are among, if not the best full range PA speakers I've ever heard.
Someone rightfully stated: "The TT25A Mk II, and TT5A, are two of the few 15" two-way speakers that don't have that typical indistinct mid-range".
The coverage angles are larger compared to the XT1464, which implies that the sound intensity [pressure × particle velocity] should be lower at the mouth.
The 'beam' - often associated with 'horn sound' - is less concentrated, especially in the top octave, which may be preferable.
Finally, I couldn't detect anomalies in imaging, as with the XR1496.
I also use class D with my comp. drivers (currently 1"), but I'm tempted to try SET amps in the future.
The RCF HF950 is certainly one of the most advanced diffraction horns, without a sharp edged slot. In addition there's no narrowing/pinching in the horizontal plane of the throat/slot section. Therewith it approaches the inner workings of a Yuichi horn, only in the opposite plane.
I've only experienced this horn in the RCF TT-5 and these are among, if not the best full range PA speakers I've ever heard.
Someone rightfully stated: "The TT25A Mk II, and TT5A, are two of the few 15" two-way speakers that don't have that typical indistinct mid-range".
The coverage angles are larger compared to the XT1464, which implies that the sound intensity [pressure × particle velocity] should be lower at the mouth.
The 'beam' - often associated with 'horn sound' - is less concentrated, especially in the top octave, which may be preferable.
Finally, I couldn't detect anomalies in imaging, as with the XR1496.
There is a big difference. I buy wine to enjoy it, not to compare it to other wines. I am okay with buying TAD 2001 and will happily enjoy it but I won't crown it #1 today.
Yup.The conclusion again and again and again is beryllium IMHO
My system is the same. JBL 2384 with 2452 driver. I need to find the right source for Be diaphragms. Which front horn is that on the woofer? And were those John's paper horns in the earlier pic? I still have them and used them for a while. Superb midrange.
Agreed.
Okay, but why use AlNiCo? You can get better or similar performance with today's motors. I just built a DAC with TDA 1541, knowing full well its performance (and pedigree), but I am not going to say today's chips are worse engineered (some implementations may sound worse though). There are fantastic implementations of both and at least objective measurements of the conventional type using newer chips show better performance. Now, does it sound better? Does it merge better with other components in your system and whether you like the sound is a matter of preference (not engineering).
Thanks for that--I had not seen those. Those measurements do look pretty good, but the RCF850 isn't bad either. Really smooth, more extension on the bottom end, though not as smooth in the last top octave. Again, it probably comes down to system design. My preference would go to more extension on the bottom end, down to 500 Hz to get the crossover in a more optimum spot for a 15".
Regarding the discussion of SE Tube amps on horns. I have several amps f.ex. DIY SE300B monoblocks and PP Kt88/EL34 monoblocks as well as DIY First Watt class-A amps and DIY Class-D and a chip amp.
My 300B amps paint a lot larger than life scene and get confused on complex classical and rock. For acoustic music and jazz they are great. The PP tubes and the First Watt amps are similar although the tubes have this inner life that can be mesmerising. I can live with either. Some class-d and chip amps are to cold sounding on my horns (ncore, Neurochrome) while the ICEPowers and olders hypex UCD400 are warmer sounding on my speakers.
Regardless of having many amps to chose from, I have for a long time used: ncores on subs, and First Watt F6 or ICEPower 1200as2 on the VOTs. With active crossover on the sub and some suttle eq on the horns the amp discussion seems to dissappear and the convenience of class-d takes over.
I will at some time go fully active (miniDSP flex 8) and try a combination of class D on the subs, PP EL34 on the bass and SE300B on Mid (and tweeters if I need them) and compare with f.ex. ICEP 1200as2 on the subs and 2x ICEP 200as2 on bass and Mid (and tweeters if I need them, my tweeters are old jbl 075). It will be intresting, but I alread suspect the conveninece and reliability of the class Ds will vin.
My 300B amps paint a lot larger than life scene and get confused on complex classical and rock. For acoustic music and jazz they are great. The PP tubes and the First Watt amps are similar although the tubes have this inner life that can be mesmerising. I can live with either. Some class-d and chip amps are to cold sounding on my horns (ncore, Neurochrome) while the ICEPowers and olders hypex UCD400 are warmer sounding on my speakers.
Regardless of having many amps to chose from, I have for a long time used: ncores on subs, and First Watt F6 or ICEPower 1200as2 on the VOTs. With active crossover on the sub and some suttle eq on the horns the amp discussion seems to dissappear and the convenience of class-d takes over.
I will at some time go fully active (miniDSP flex 8) and try a combination of class D on the subs, PP EL34 on the bass and SE300B on Mid (and tweeters if I need them) and compare with f.ex. ICEP 1200as2 on the subs and 2x ICEP 200as2 on bass and Mid (and tweeters if I need them, my tweeters are old jbl 075). It will be intresting, but I alread suspect the conveninece and reliability of the class Ds will vin.
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Its behavior with other drivers may not give the same smooth FR. My friend uses the horn with Faital pro hf1440 and the combo requires more equalization. With the RCF 940/950 you can get it fairly flat in the passive without any problem. And it allows a low enough crossover that you don't have to worry about a lower frequency driver. It may not be the world's best combo, but in terms of the set of tradeoffs and overall quality, it's a great products.
About the look. It's typical PA stuff, the aesthetics conventional. And they come in different plastics, sometimes looking better or worse. But overall, I'm personally quite happy with its design.
Thanks for the good description of the features of the 950, I agree with everything, my experience confirms all points.
By the way, my friend here in Warsaw is about to start a project with a Joseph Crowe horn and I'm waiting to hear the difference with the 950, which he is also using now. I hope this will happen in the next few months, the horn is almost ready.