That said, I do like to give a driver a chance. I think the horn has a greater effect than a driver used within it's capabilities, and by that I mean the driver can stand up to EQ.
Don't mind the top end hearing loss. I mean it. Yes, that range matters too but you've got a lot more listening/hearing experience and are trained to hear differences. That matters a lot more than the upper range. Over here, there aren't much Peavey products on the market, though I've got Peavey constant directivity horns for a very reasonable price from the UK, there was even a 1"/34mm driver in on it. Peavey, Pyle, Behringer and a lot of other brands are often disregarded as cheap crap but I've listened to a Peavey PA on a local concert (~500-700 audience) and I was very pleased with how it sounded. Of course that also depended strongly on the sound tech but I am as strongly convinced most of the companies around are able to manufacture decent sound equipment. OTOH, I don't just blindly approve of big names since I've been so often been disappointed by them.
That's exactly what I mean, big names do NOT grant good sound! It's stupid ppl think that provides them for sure with good sound. I mean, compare it to car companies (yes, I know, car analogies usually don't work) but think about it, the initial Mercedes A-Class went horrible on the Elch-test, the Audi TT spun off the road even on excellent, seasoned drivers etc., don't believe in big names, it does not mean anything anymore!
That indeed seems to be the perfect listening room. I'm happy to hear that you are blessed with a such good listening room, most folks can't have that and even aren't aware how much the room changes the sound!
The Heresy photos you used in the top post is a company here in Denver and I’ve seen all three of those pairs in person… they are very attractive, and there is a trend currently for speakers that are attractive in their own right as opposed to looking like matching furniture… I.E., this is currently “cool” and people are buying it.
Is it something to emulate? I think so. Will using the components you have to make something interesting and attractive be a good endeavor? I think so, yes!
Is it something to emulate? I think so. Will using the components you have to make something interesting and attractive be a good endeavor? I think so, yes!
Yes, I agree. For most drivers it's not that they are good or bad but a question on how good you can use them and how you match the rest of the speaker to it.
Well, I grabbed them from the net because to me they represent the image of a vintage speaker, a optical modernized vintage speaker and a fully modernized vintage speaker (with the flashy orange paint). It wasn't to talk about how they sound, just an example of the visual imprint. I don't intent to re-build them or to sell something they do. It was probably not a great idea to use these images, it was just to show what one of the more modern look could be and how different the 'same' speaker would look like. Since I won't sell anything and I'm not even on the same continent, I doubt they will experience any loss because of it rather than get more interest.
"just the looks" might seem intriguing but that's not my main goal. I'm more interested in the sound of vintage speakers and their design benefits, the broad baffle ie. delivers more authority in the low mids and having a 3-way instead of a now-so-much-popular 2-way promises to have the potential to a better resolution, higher dynamics and (well, possibly, depending on the build) better dispersion.
Modern measurement and xover simulation is so much better than what they had for the development of vintage classics (and you don't have to worry about production variation when you're only making one pair). Cheap drivers can sound good when used to their strengths. I bet you could make a good sounding version of whatever vintage architecture you choose.
You are right and thank you! I plan on making the speakers active if I don't have the parts laying around. I have tons of amp boards laying around and 4..6? DSP boards here too. I am sure I can measure and optimize the drivers range and XO and I'm thankful you think I'm capable to do the task. 🙂 I haven't decided to go active or not, it would be nice to use some of the tons of parts I have here but that's not the issue. I am happy to get encouragement and opinions, I don't mind if it's not about what I've thought about, a fresh idea is worth a lot, so please don't be disencouraged if I've said I don't like this or that. 🙂
If you are going horn/waveguide you could certainly go with vintage drivers with a modern waveguide. I have done this and it worked out well. Do you want a vintage/modern hybrid, a vintage clone or whatever works out with what I have? All of that will work.
Rob 🙂
Rob 🙂
That's intriguing, but I'd rather go with what I have. 😉 I'd like a reminicence of vintage speakers but I'm open to modern WG/Horns, I also have a lot of these laying round like the dayton 4,5", 6" and 12" WGs, some spherical horns and elyptical ones (not a great fan of the spherical ones though because of the dispersion). I also have several bi-radial horns.
Beides not being very neutral or smooth, the accidental passive radiator on the back (unbraced ⅜” plywood) really coloured the bototm
dave
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Hah! "accidental passive radiator on the back" 🤣
But yes, they've done tons of mistakes on their speakers, cutting more corners than were actually present!
The issue is, they've always done some things very well but completely ignoring other issues blatantly. JBL did also disregard some issues but never in these dimensions!
Nevertheless, Klipsch speakers got their fans and most of their vintage speakers got at least some properties that were remarkable, many modern of their speakers ignored a lot more categories, their ranking in the HiFi gazettes are probably only held up by their advertising spree. Not that their speakers are trash but almost all of them lack in one or more categories, usually FR or dispersion, resulting in them being good at some music genres but badly failing at others.
But yes, they've done tons of mistakes on their speakers, cutting more corners than were actually present!
The issue is, they've always done some things very well but completely ignoring other issues blatantly. JBL did also disregard some issues but never in these dimensions!
Nevertheless, Klipsch speakers got their fans and most of their vintage speakers got at least some properties that were remarkable, many modern of their speakers ignored a lot more categories, their ranking in the HiFi gazettes are probably only held up by their advertising spree. Not that their speakers are trash but almost all of them lack in one or more categories, usually FR or dispersion, resulting in them being good at some music genres but badly failing at others.
I dug a bit deeper in my speaker parts and I found a few screw-on drivers, one is a OEM labeled Selenium mid CD with a phenolic diaphragm, 2" VC, that should be good for 500Hz up to ~5k. As tweeter there are Pyle Pro PDS111 and I have found my Monacor MPT-142 too. Yes, that are piezos.
For the mid range I have as alternative 3 pair of 8" (one pair are Monacor Guitar speakers) and 2 pair of 6" PA speakers I could use. While searching I 'found' a pair of 10" PA drivers (they fell on my foot! Ouch!), quite high Qts as I remember. While stuffing them back into the shelf I saw two pair of other 10"s I don't know anything about, one pair got a soft plastic chrome dustcap and foam surrounds, the second are seemingly car woofers, foam zig-zag surrounds, no pole core bore.
What do you think?
For the mid range I have as alternative 3 pair of 8" (one pair are Monacor Guitar speakers) and 2 pair of 6" PA speakers I could use. While searching I 'found' a pair of 10" PA drivers (they fell on my foot! Ouch!), quite high Qts as I remember. While stuffing them back into the shelf I saw two pair of other 10"s I don't know anything about, one pair got a soft plastic chrome dustcap and foam surrounds, the second are seemingly car woofers, foam zig-zag surrounds, no pole core bore.
What do you think?