seen one on craigslist, about a year ago.
$3500us.
from here -
http://www.audioanthology.com/audio2.htm
http://www.silbatoneacoustics.com/WE16A.html
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=western+electric+16a&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
20
$3500us.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
from here -
http://www.audioanthology.com/audio2.htm
http://www.silbatoneacoustics.com/WE16A.html
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=western+electric+16a&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
20
There is a set of WE15A plans for sale on Ebay rigt now. Thes seller describes it as an exponential horn design.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180334233261&_trksid=p2759.l1259
I think the 16A is also exponential, just need to see one for a day to take measurements and pics.
Here is an unrelated ad by Timbernation on Audiogon with a 16A in the background.
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/auc.pl?anlgtabl&1238722666
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180334233261&_trksid=p2759.l1259
I think the 16A is also exponential, just need to see one for a day to take measurements and pics.
Here is an unrelated ad by Timbernation on Audiogon with a 16A in the background.
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/auc.pl?anlgtabl&1238722666
Attachments
JLH said:
Actually, dual purpose. First purely academic, figure out how to design and build an exponential folded horn. The WE designs have a very gentle rounded shape vs modern horns with tighter folds for space savings. See the attached Carfrae Big Horn picture - unfortunately, Carfrae is out of business.
Second, to build a scaled version of the WE16A with a high-efficiency full-range driver (picture something similar to the Nelson Pass Klein Horn).
Attachments
I've heard the 16A horn with the WE555 one time, back in the early ninties, in a vintage speaker shop in Osaka, Japan, and it sounded nasty , lots of honk..... at that time, i didn't have any information about these, and was asking myself, why they were carrying this old , bad sounding stuff...and asking these crazy prices.... already at that time, they were asking more than 2 mio Yen.
below , two drawings, one of the 15A, and a similar one.
below , two drawings, one of the 15A, and a similar one.
Funny, I wasn't even looking for the 16A and I found these guys:
http://www.silbatoneacoustics.com/collection.html
What a crazy collection. Certainly now on my list of places to visit in Germany!
http://www.silbatoneacoustics.com/collection.html
What a crazy collection. Certainly now on my list of places to visit in Germany!
hello
I'm Aldo of Audioanthology. I've seen this thread by chance...
the 16a sounds good but not in the way the japanese audiophiles use it. the 16a needs further damping on the back and inside. Not so much actually , but necessary to dampen the resonance of the thin metal.
the 16a sounds really magical but not as clean and tight as a 15a.
I've seen that many persons buy the 15a plans-drawing on Ebay. I must advise that those drawings are not enough to make a 15a because it's just the side drawing and the top and bottom ratio is needed too.I've been able to manufacture 15a replicas just because I got an original piece and took all the patterns -and small details of attachments too.
regards
Aldo
I'm Aldo of Audioanthology. I've seen this thread by chance...
the 16a sounds good but not in the way the japanese audiophiles use it. the 16a needs further damping on the back and inside. Not so much actually , but necessary to dampen the resonance of the thin metal.
the 16a sounds really magical but not as clean and tight as a 15a.
I've seen that many persons buy the 15a plans-drawing on Ebay. I must advise that those drawings are not enough to make a 15a because it's just the side drawing and the top and bottom ratio is needed too.I've been able to manufacture 15a replicas just because I got an original piece and took all the patterns -and small details of attachments too.
regards
Aldo
I got to spend some listening time with 16A horns during my last visit to Korea.
First, you only need one. You can run one channel to each half of the horn. In this way, it is a single unit stereo speaker.
Since they use 555 drivers, a tweeter is required, so factor in the budget for a pair of 597As.
While not as amazing and impressive as 15As or 12As in my opinion, the 16A has a remarkable delicate and detailed character. Very engaging on string quartet and acoustic music. Also great for jazz quartet and the like. Very lively and vivid presentation.
Convincing life size scale. Neither huge like a big two or three way WE system or small like a ceramic cone modern speaker. The size/scale of the stage was a distinctive feature of this odd looking device.
I didn't try playing any large scale or loud music, so can't say whether they can pull it off or not.
The construction is thin sheet metal, but they mysteriously do not ring audibly very much, if at all. There is only a bit of thin felt glued on the center seam area of the mouth. I can't figure it out.
Good match with 46 amps...the 205D delicacy foregrounds the special qualities of the speaker.
The last thing I need to own is a horn the size of a small car, but if I saw one of these on Craigslist, I would be there in 5 minutes.
This is a rare horn and I believe that only a few dozen were made.
I put up a few other pics of WE theater systems I heard in Korea on a web page for interested parties to check out:
http://silbatoneacoustics.com/koreatrip.html
Out of all this gear, I would grab the 12A horns. They are insanely good...and they will fit through the entry doors of most listening rooms, unlike the 15A or 16A.
First, you only need one. You can run one channel to each half of the horn. In this way, it is a single unit stereo speaker.
Since they use 555 drivers, a tweeter is required, so factor in the budget for a pair of 597As.
While not as amazing and impressive as 15As or 12As in my opinion, the 16A has a remarkable delicate and detailed character. Very engaging on string quartet and acoustic music. Also great for jazz quartet and the like. Very lively and vivid presentation.
Convincing life size scale. Neither huge like a big two or three way WE system or small like a ceramic cone modern speaker. The size/scale of the stage was a distinctive feature of this odd looking device.
I didn't try playing any large scale or loud music, so can't say whether they can pull it off or not.
The construction is thin sheet metal, but they mysteriously do not ring audibly very much, if at all. There is only a bit of thin felt glued on the center seam area of the mouth. I can't figure it out.
Good match with 46 amps...the 205D delicacy foregrounds the special qualities of the speaker.
The last thing I need to own is a horn the size of a small car, but if I saw one of these on Craigslist, I would be there in 5 minutes.
This is a rare horn and I believe that only a few dozen were made.
I put up a few other pics of WE theater systems I heard in Korea on a web page for interested parties to check out:
http://silbatoneacoustics.com/koreatrip.html
Out of all this gear, I would grab the 12A horns. They are insanely good...and they will fit through the entry doors of most listening rooms, unlike the 15A or 16A.
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