DECWARE Folded Horn, Steve Decker notes of interest,
It is a 1/4 wave horn at 29.5 Hz, meaning it is a 1/2 wave at 60 and a full wave at 120Hz.
The bass from these speakers is insanely deep tight clean fast. The speaker can just stop and hang notes leaving you breathless. I am driving them with the SE84UFO25.
Two watts from a Zen Triode amp is just crushing it. The dynamics are hard to describe. Nothing at the AXPONA had this hit, and we are talking big big big solid state amps and equally and larger speakers. It's not even that loud, it just sounds like it because of the dynamics and presence. Two things that normally only come with pressure.
Even at normal listen levels I can feel the bass in the concrete everywhere in the building. Also the lowest and the fastest bass I've ever heard. It can start moving the whole building and then just stop and the building itself freezes until it is released.
The sound is perfectly neutral. It energized the room in a way only large horns can. This is even better than the full size imperial horns because it's faster and at 1/3 the width the standing waves in the room are reduced by 2/3rds and the bass is increased by the same amount.
The slam and the speed at which the notes stop is so over the top, I've never heard anything do it this well before. It actually made me realize with amazement that air is really fast!
Noise floor in the room is 36dB A weighted. Listening level in the chair is 95dB. I was shocked because it feels like well over 100dB.
You thought it was dynamic, but no. You have to come over and feel it pummel you chest while your ears are at the same time taking in a breath of fresh air, with zero fatigue or compression. I'd have to say it is the lowest distortion high SPL sound I have heard. Even the MBL at AXPONA didn't do this, although it gave it one hell of a shot.
Unlike many highly resolute speakers that get sharp sounding if you turn them up, these drivers are not like that, at least not in this horn which is the only cabinet I have tried. This combination sounds sharper at low volumes than it does at high volumes. In other words, as you give it gas, the midrange weight and midbass get really well developed and the overall top to bottom balance becomes perfection.
The finesse of these drivers going down to around 30Hz re-enforces the position that if you can avoid a subwoofer, do it.
The imaging is just phenomenal. Large wide arc that extends 8 feet past either speaker and massive depth, height. This is really kind of the biggest surprise considering their size. You really can't hear the speakers at all.
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