I'll be surprised if posting images works on my first try, but here we go:
I've been working on this forever! and it's finally cosmetically "put together". It is a 2 way with a radian 475 in a 375 hz tractrix (the first few inches are actually a 6 degree conical to match the exit angle of the radian, then tractrix after that). Horn is cast in a mold from plaster, so I can easily cast duplicates. It is thick and heavy. Mated to a 12" dayton hf crossed at 500hz. The enclosure is ported, but i prefer to plug the ports with sewer plugs and run it sealed.
measures well, with woofer, equalized at listening position but measured at 1 meter in room:
tweeter/horn only unequalized, horizontal polar response
tweeter/horn only csd in room, floor reflection shows up early but it is very clean up to that:
The directivity falls quickly at 700hz, could be smoother there, but that also means that the directivity matches the woofer by 500hz. Polar response could be smoother, but a 2 way that plays 20-20k at insane levels with a SET from 500hz up, and huge solid state power below that has been a nice solution.
I've been to several RMAF shows and have heard a lot of gear over the years. I have not heard anything that can better this setup (partnered with a SET) when it comes to voices. They are haunting. Raising the crossover frequency destroys the charm. Resolution and imaging are also top notch.
It does require equalization, I use a minidsp 2x4hd with 48db/octave LR. I am of the opinion that the advantages of using a high resolution dsp far outweigh the disadvantage of the A to D, D to A conversion. Please chime in with any advice. Thanks, Craig Spieker
my last name is german, it's pronounced "speaker"
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I've been working on this forever! and it's finally cosmetically "put together". It is a 2 way with a radian 475 in a 375 hz tractrix (the first few inches are actually a 6 degree conical to match the exit angle of the radian, then tractrix after that). Horn is cast in a mold from plaster, so I can easily cast duplicates. It is thick and heavy. Mated to a 12" dayton hf crossed at 500hz. The enclosure is ported, but i prefer to plug the ports with sewer plugs and run it sealed.
measures well, with woofer, equalized at listening position but measured at 1 meter in room:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
tweeter/horn only unequalized, horizontal polar response
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
tweeter/horn only csd in room, floor reflection shows up early but it is very clean up to that:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
The directivity falls quickly at 700hz, could be smoother there, but that also means that the directivity matches the woofer by 500hz. Polar response could be smoother, but a 2 way that plays 20-20k at insane levels with a SET from 500hz up, and huge solid state power below that has been a nice solution.
I've been to several RMAF shows and have heard a lot of gear over the years. I have not heard anything that can better this setup (partnered with a SET) when it comes to voices. They are haunting. Raising the crossover frequency destroys the charm. Resolution and imaging are also top notch.
It does require equalization, I use a minidsp 2x4hd with 48db/octave LR. I am of the opinion that the advantages of using a high resolution dsp far outweigh the disadvantage of the A to D, D to A conversion. Please chime in with any advice. Thanks, Craig Spieker
my last name is german, it's pronounced "speaker"
Weird, they show up when I visit the page on my devices. They are urls copied from Google photos. Can anyone help?
I use 'Save Image As. . .' and then attach the image using the paperclip symbol in the 'Go Advanced' box. There are other ways, but I haven't mastered them yet! 🙁
Thanks! we'll give this a try.
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Excellent looks and finish, congratulations!
It must be fine for pop/rock and for those hifi'sts that want to localize every sound and click! I have heard many horn speakers that are too directive to my taste, but I represent minority here! Your speaker isn't an extrem case however. You get a glittering fairy sticker for running it sealed!
It must be fine for pop/rock and for those hifi'sts that want to localize every sound and click! I have heard many horn speakers that are too directive to my taste, but I represent minority here! Your speaker isn't an extrem case however. You get a glittering fairy sticker for running it sealed!
Congratulations! I think yours has taken even longer than the not-yet-existent "Beyond the Ariel," although I would wager that thread still holds the record for oldest, longest thread here 😀
Congratulations on achieving such a professional looking finish.
I believe that the accurate reproduction of voices is indicative of good loudspeaker design.
P.S. I wonder why your image of the speaker wouldn't rotate!
I believe that the accurate reproduction of voices is indicative of good loudspeaker design.
P.S. I wonder why your image of the speaker wouldn't rotate!
it seems the rotation was coded in the exif data but not actually rotated. something I can fix but I'm outside the 30 minute edit window.
wolf, this is the fourth woofer I've used in this design. the dayton has been in there for maybe a decade. I was surprised how much better it matched up with the horn crossed so high. It just sounds right.
thanks for the kind words all.
wolf, this is the fourth woofer I've used in this design. the dayton has been in there for maybe a decade. I was surprised how much better it matched up with the horn crossed so high. It just sounds right.
thanks for the kind words all.
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Thanks! I would be very interested in having someone else listen to them. The measurements look very good and to me the sound is exceptional. If anyone wants a pair of horns let me know and I can cast a pair for you from my mold. They do require quite some fiddling to mount the drivers on though so it really is a bit of diy. My only advice is to stick with the drivers I used. The horn has a 6 degree exit to match the radian 475. On the woofer, I tried a few and this one is the only one to sound "right". The woofer cabinet could be constructed any number of ways without huge differences in sound.
If anyone happens to be near north east south dakota, let me know if you want to come by for a listen. Craig
If anyone happens to be near north east south dakota, let me know if you want to come by for a listen. Craig
North East South - and here I am stuck out West. Your speakers check off all the vital boxes, including visual presentation.
Aw shucks! - If only you were in western South Dakota - I'd have come over just to listen to your Doris Day records!
Nice work! I like 🙂 Exceptional polars, a lot more "constant directivity" than tractrix horns normally show.
But something is wonky with the distortion measurement. I've never seen a driver with distortion spread so evenly over all components (2nd-10th harmonic). Are you using a calibrated mic? How high is your noise floor? If you use a new version of REW it measures noise floor first and shows it in distortion measurement like this (noise floor is brown line):
Also: can you show a CSD with a lot shorter rise time and window? Say 0.15 ms rise time and 4 ms window and 30-40 dB range?
But something is wonky with the distortion measurement. I've never seen a driver with distortion spread so evenly over all components (2nd-10th harmonic). Are you using a calibrated mic? How high is your noise floor? If you use a new version of REW it measures noise floor first and shows it in distortion measurement like this (noise floor is brown line):
Also: can you show a CSD with a lot shorter rise time and window? Say 0.15 ms rise time and 4 ms window and 30-40 dB range?