Precisely. Front horns are not all the same, just as not all vented boxes, sealed boxes etc. are the same, so there is no 'one size fits all' set of driver characteristics that will be ideal in every type. What you need ultimately depends on exactly what you are trying to achieve. For a given Fs, Vas, as your -3dB mass corner frequency (take 2Fs / [effective] Qts) lowers, the narrower the usable horn loading bandwidth becomes, and the larger the enclosure is likely to be. But this is broad brushstrokes: as noted, it depends what, precisely, you are trying to do.
Last edited:
Hi Gents,
Thank you again for the kind advice. Hi Kaffimann noted & understand as with Scott's reply
: A chambered back loaded horn is in essence best viewed as an extreme variation of a vented box or bass reflex. Ergo, if a driver is suitable for a vented box, it is also suited to a back horn. Contrary to widespread myth.
Here it is clear that I can choose a driver which works on vented box, plug in the parameters say in Hornsrep to optimize it's performance in a BLH enclosure.
I must apologies that I've drifted from my original question as Im hoping that you Gurus can tutor me more on horn speakers especially FLH which to me is a still a dark cloud.
Let's assume that Im looking for a 12 inch woofer to build a W bass bin with F3 of 50hz & upper cut off of around 400 hz. What specs should I be looking for in a woofer that's suitable, what I've read so far is Q lower then 0.35, low Vas & EBP of around 100 or so.
Perhaps all that I've read is no longer applicable for modern drivers .
Thank you again Gents for being so patient in tutoring me the noob.
Thank you again for the kind advice. Hi Kaffimann noted & understand as with Scott's reply
: A chambered back loaded horn is in essence best viewed as an extreme variation of a vented box or bass reflex. Ergo, if a driver is suitable for a vented box, it is also suited to a back horn. Contrary to widespread myth.
Here it is clear that I can choose a driver which works on vented box, plug in the parameters say in Hornsrep to optimize it's performance in a BLH enclosure.
I must apologies that I've drifted from my original question as Im hoping that you Gurus can tutor me more on horn speakers especially FLH which to me is a still a dark cloud.
Let's assume that Im looking for a 12 inch woofer to build a W bass bin with F3 of 50hz & upper cut off of around 400 hz. What specs should I be looking for in a woofer that's suitable, what I've read so far is Q lower then 0.35, low Vas & EBP of around 100 or so.
Perhaps all that I've read is no longer applicable for modern drivers .
Thank you again Gents for being so patient in tutoring me the noob.
Martin J. King is a good source:
Quarter Wavelength Loudspeaker Design
He doesn't sell the mathcad spreadsheets anymore, but there's a lot of good theory on there.
Another source for software: I think hornresp is pretty good.
The good part about hornresp is the relative ease and simplicity, I think it's a great place to start.
Quarter Wavelength Loudspeaker Design
He doesn't sell the mathcad spreadsheets anymore, but there's a lot of good theory on there.
Another source for software: I think hornresp is pretty good.
The good part about hornresp is the relative ease and simplicity, I think it's a great place to start.
Basically correct.
There are no gurus here. Anybody who considers themselves an expert on any subject by definition is not one.
What size, what sensitivity / efficiency & dynamic range objectives, what amplifier output impedance, what radiation space (i.e. is it for use away from boundaries, near a wall or corner), is it required to be impedance matched down to Fc etc.?
An effective Qt of < 0.35, a 'low' (definition unspecified) Vas are not requirements, though they can keep box size down to a point. I would also suggest that you make sure the driver itself has a reasonable response over the target range & to preferably an octave above it. T/S parameters only cover one part of behaviour. EBP is a quick & dirty approximation & is basically of little use; people read far more into it than it's worth so my standard advice is to forget about it.
All moving coil drivers since the originals work in more or less the same way as they always did; no real changes on that front.
Thank You again Kaffimann & Scott. Just read Martin's article on FLH getting to undertsand a little more.
Scott thanks for your comments & questionaires. Will have to digest & sleep over it. lol
2 horn speakers has always close to my heart La Scala & Altec A7 unfortunately I don't have a large listening space to house them. Hence my orginal thoughts of going 12inch BLH.
Once again thank you both kindly.
Scott thanks for your comments & questionaires. Will have to digest & sleep over it. lol
2 horn speakers has always close to my heart La Scala & Altec A7 unfortunately I don't have a large listening space to house them. Hence my orginal thoughts of going 12inch BLH.
Once again thank you both kindly.
Hi KaffiMann,
Are you a member of Martin's facebook groups? If so, does he offer any more modern design tools (than his old mathcad spreadsheets)?
Thanks,
Ian
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.