GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site

In the Forum: Horn-Loaded Speakers
In the Thread: ... again on GOTO Unit drivers...

Post Subject: Dot, dot, dot... maybe's more honest...Posted by twogoodears on: 8/31/2009

I agree the "period" closing needs more words, Roman.
The P.A. horns/drivers were mounted in stadiums, convention centers, maxonic halls, cinemas, theaters, everywhere was needed a broad music or speech dispersion, trouble free operation and high S.P.L.

All the "VINTAGE" movement was possibly born when people who run cinemas and theaters and stadiums audio systems overhauling, instead of dumping these huge, dusty drivers and ugly cork/bitumen tamed horns tried them at home.

Walt Bender of Audiomart and HiFi Town fame was among the first who listed the worthy vintage, ex-industrial gears having some audio appeal for the loft owner, cool Newyorker... still a penny-pincher affaire, no hypes, salon price tags, back in the hey days...

Japanese audio scene and the French, Jean Hiraga's leaded connection, where also important in establishing a collector guide... WE, Altec, JBL became mainstream U.S.A. vintage... only by chance RCA, Stephens', University and the like remained out of the list.

Same happened for UK's audio: Haden Boardman and Nick Beasley were among the promoters of Quad, Goodmans, Garrard and Leak... Vitavox' and Wharfedale (and more...) remained, luckly, quite underground and well kept secrets, with price-tags accordingly down-earth.

Japanese audio collectors were buying old Marantz and MacIntosh, as an Old World Treasures of the Past... giving to West the integrated amps we all knew back in the '70s.

Back to the (ex) P.A. drivers and horns... they were cheap, only drawback was being HUGE... a friend of mine was paid - yes: he didn't paid, but was paid as mover - for picking up from a Rome ol' cinema, a dusty but nicely preserved WE 15-A horn and WE 555 with Tungar P.S.U. and WE 43 amp... the above goodies are now worth Y 50.000.000+ or so in Akibahara district in Tokyo!

They're classic, well built, no-frills industrial design built for trouble-free operation for decades...

... but not high fidelity gears!

So: what's high fidelity? I'll be not able to explain in full, BUT my personal ideal of "high fidelity" is: detail, dimensionality, emotion, transparency and trueness in music and sound reproduction in the average room through ANY gear will please your ears and eyes for technical and/or aesthetic features, BUT always having the music as a finality. Something very personal, anyway...

In my experience, the (ex-)industrial drivers, sounded "right" when compared with mid-fi small to mid-sized enclosures, like the top quality single speakers like Goodmans' Axiom 80 or Siemens' KL-405 and KL-307 or Vitavox DU-120 sounded much more open, detailed, lifelike, transparent and pleasant. They sure lacked low bass or bat-like highs, but sounded true to music.

To go a step ahead, enter the Goto, ALE, YL, Audio Tekne (ALE again...) - they still are capable of the subtleties, the airy, transparent, life-like beauty of the above (and others sought after wide-band speakers), WITH the dispersion in room, untiring like only acoustic music does and authority only horns can give.

It's absolutely possible to obtain great results with Altec, JBL, RCA and the like... but the level of naturalness and detail reacheable with those japanese, ultra-light diaphragm and fluxes is more in the realm of the magnifying lenses - like going at a concert without your eyeglasses.

You hear music, of course, but you're not listening to the concert in full, at 100 percent of your capabilities.

... thus the name I fondly gave to my system (like for your Macondo): music in Gotorama... sounds silly, but so true to reality.

The above only an attempt to elaborate on the matter... no "period", this time... the "dot, dot, dot" is still open, of course.

Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site