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Horns - Necessary to complete the Audiophile Journey?

Sal1950

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At least, Klaus Speth's 5-way Goto system is (re)movable.

This bass horn, which was finished last month in Japan, isn't:

Now that is what you call dedication!
 

BDWoody

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Kw6

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Hi Kevin h,

What would be end game horn speakers for you?
 

ol_mcdonald

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Recommendations?

I was kind of eyeing the Klipsch La Scala, or maybe even the Klipschorns.

I have owned several pair of Klipsch Heritage speakers so I am biased, but, If you have never owned horn loaded speakers don't start with LaScalas! They are basically a PA speaker with a very pronounced mid range and no real bottom end (<50hz). Klipschorns are a better choice with different mid range horn and more bottom end. The Belle Klipsch (which I believe are discontinued) are the domesticated version of the LaScala with a less industrial appearance. They appear on the used market frequently and are gobbled up pretty quick.

I cant say they are a great value new, they are expensive. I bought mine many years ago (1984) and have been pleased with them and have upgraded/modded several times over the years. Choose those words carefully in Klipsch forums, they/ll crucify you for saying upgraded. Its not a concours d'elegance automobile so I do as I please!

I would suggest you audition some of each before or buy where they can be returned freight free (if there is such a place). The Klipschorns have decent bottom end extending to 35hz but I still run a sub. Good luck continuing your journey.
 
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Ro808

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I dived into horns with something similar but with 12" woofer and cheaper chinese drivers, bough ex-demo from the distributor at 40% off.
Started with this 2-way:

9AnexSq.jpg


Then converted it into this 3-way adding a Visaton horn tweeter and replacing the original horn with a tractrix.
(the overly-tall horn stand is a temporary prototype, made of Ikea leftover plywood drawers)
COC0Ld1.jpg


Then got fed up with the permanent work-in-progress tweaking and as it needed a new woofer and was getting too expensive I sold them.

Opera Consonance M12, not a bad concept, but the execution seems to be sub-par.

First of all, I'd measure the Chinese drivers individually to verify whether these are actually up to the task > I expect not.

The horn appears to be a clone of the Arai A480, albeit with a "dirty" throat and without vanes.
Even an original Arai A480 should not be used from 500Hz, but rather from 900/1000Hz.

A proper round-to-square horn adapter may improve performance, especially if the Chinese driver is ditched in favor of a FaitalPro HF10AK,
aka the poor man's TAD TD2001.

I'd probably also replace the woofer with a FaitalPro specimen.
Naturally, the crossover must be revised after these modifications, or: dump the crossover and go active.

This is what the interior of an A480 is supposed to look like:

69553130_2539794592738619_8312565191707459584_n.jpg
 
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tuga

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Opera Consonance M12, not a bad concept, but the execution seems to be sub-par.

First of all, I'd measure the Chinese drivers individually to verify whether these are actually up to the task > I expect not.

The horn appears to be a clone of the Arai A480, albeit with a "dirty" throat and without vanes.
Even an original Arai A480 should not be used from 500Hz, but rather from 900/1000Hz.

A proper round-to-square horn adapter may improve performance, especially if the Chinese driver is ditched in favor of a FaitalPro HF10AK,
aka the poor man's TAD TD2001.

I'd probably also replace the woofer with a FaitalPro specimen.
Naturally, the crossover must be revised after these modifications, or: dump the crossover and go active.

This is what the interior of an A480 is supposed to look like:

View attachment 85111

In that room narrow dispersion was preferred so I went 3-way and bought the round tractrix for the compression driver and a horn tweeter.
I considered replacing the original chinese woofer with a Monacor but ended up selling the Consonances instead.
Too much hassle for someone with very young children living in an apartment with few tools and a tight budget...

Here are the specs sheets for the chinese drivers:

3056621649_020cf2bac2_o.jpg
3057458378_1d8f49d620_b.jpg
 

Kvalsvoll

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First thought was, "they look very nice, those must be good", but from speccs the Bl is veeery low, this type of bass driver usually has a Bl 2x this number, in the 20-30 range. And then we know from experience that drivers often deviate from presented specifications.

The drivers are crucial for performance in such a speaker, well, for any speaker, really. Replacing the drivers for better types is likely to make a significant difference here. I understand trying to keep the budget low to avoid spending a lot of money just to try something, but the problem is, that the result may not be good enough be of any value for the purpose of finding out whther this type of speaker presents a sound you like.
 

tuga

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This was the in-room response of the modified version (3-way, tractrix + horn tweeter), rubbish el-cheapo mic response in blue, side walls asymmetric.
Massive bass bin but didn't go low at all.

3205905269_da134ef3db_o.jpg
 

Ro808

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Thanks for the specsheets.

On paper these drivers are not bad, but judging from the specified T&S parameters (not necessarily actual, measured parameters), it's obvious the claimed system performance is fiction.

Opera probably dismissed Baffle Step Correction in order to claim the 97dB sensitivity.

The specs for the M12 MkII are somewhat more sensible:

Specifications:
Frequency range: 38Hz~20kHz
Nominal impedance: 8Ω
Sensitivity: 97dB
Drive units:300mm paper cone Woofer, cloth surround, aluminum diecast basket
510mm Dome titan.compressive alt driver, rear-radiant ,Neodymium magnet
Horn: Normal wood or piano wood,90 degree level extension.,
Cabinet: MDF plate, normal wood surface, phase inverter sonic structure
Crossover frequency:1000Hz
Dimensions: 950*430*500(H*W*D)
Net weight: 35kg

They also added vanes to the horn.

MkI:
post-4959-1170619820.jpg


MkII:


M12II.jpg
 
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bluesboy

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Is that a 511B or an 811B? I cannot tell how large it is. What driver is on it?


Not a bad idea -- well... except for the Klipsch part. ;)


DSC_0938 (3) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
(OK, OK... mine arent' nearly as pretty...)
Those are Lascala clones I built for a friend of mine who fell in love with with the hybrid Khorns I built using Altec 511B horns, 902 drivers and Beyma CP-25 tweeters. The Khorn clones use ALK universal crossovers. The Lascala clones use ALK custom designed crossovers to go with the Lascala bass bins. The Lascala clones use the same mids and tweeters as the Khorn clones.Stereo 7.jpgStereo 8.jpgStereo 9.jpg
 

mhardy6647

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Those are Lascala clones I built for a friend of mine who fell in love with with the hybrid Khorns I built using Altec 511B horns, 902 drivers and Beyma CP-25 tweeters. The Khorn clones use ALK universal crossovers. The Lascala clones use ALK custom designed crossovers to go with the Lascala bass bins. The Lascala clones use the same mids and tweeters as the Khorn clones.View attachment 138682View attachment 138683View attachment 138684
Gorgeous. Gotta love the OTL hardware, too.
Although... I will note, wryly, that The King was listening to himself on RCA LC-1As :)

1625250905003.png


(the LC-1A is also a mighty fine coaxial driver, I might add)
 

Valhalla

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An upgraded Klipschorns with BMS 4591 midrange compression driver behind an Edgar style Tractrix horn and Beyma CP25 tweeter with new X-over network is among the best speakers I've ever heard. Klipschorn bass bin is really something. You can literally feel the bass punch in your chest. Deep, tight, articulate, into the face point-blank.
 
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