GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site

In the Forum: Horn-Loaded Speakers
In the Thread: The Ridiculous Japa-Brazilian horn.

Post Subject: More on those Brazillian Horns!!...and Be Yamamura.Posted by DERRICK on: 9/20/2009

I bought those tweeters for Be Yamamura (second hand from Paul at Wembly Loudspeakers, in London) I also took Be to Heathrow Airport to take a plane to Brazil to install one of his truly superb VT4c stereo amps!   It was the morning of a great wind storm which brought London to a halt. I met the 'Brazilian' in London but have not heard those particular horns. I DID hear the prototypes, now in Italy.   They were great with heavy rock music but less impressive with accoustic classical. They were extremely fast dynamics,good imaging and a lot of get up and go. They were the first of a line of big horns, the very first pair went to the editor of an Italian music magazine. The eventual made from cork models developed after Be had moved to Italy were a totally different speaker, though of similar shape. They first used Lowther drivers with much modification, rear loading the bass and front loading the mid-range treble with an assymetrical multi-horn. The total system was made with all external and internal surfaces from natural cork.

I will attempt to load some pictures in the next week or two of the later horns. I have to work out how - this is my first post to your site.

These speakers were eventually made in a very tall type with a driver which Be specified and which had novel concepts such as a carbon fibre spider.

Be made a very big contribution and never was happy with less than the best he could make, and when he had learned what he wanted to learn he moved on to the next distillation of his knowledge and talent. His amplifiers were initially all DHT SETs using mainly 211/VT4c tubes, but later he moved to current output designs. I still have one of these and had a 211 with brass and carbon Western Electric VT4c tubes. (Most had ex German Luftwaffe Telefunken tubes.) for a couple of years.   Almost everyone much preferred this amp to the Ongaku from Kondo san.

Although I think that Romy has voiced some fair criticisms (bearing in mind that he has not heard these speakers and his given full bloom self expression(!!), I am sure that he would moderate his opinions if he were to hear them).   Mind you, Be would be the first to criticise these alloy + bronze horns for listening to the music which Romy seems to prefer!!

I am not going to go further into this matter of the 'Brazilian-Horns" ..... other than to say that the bass drivers were original Western Electrics 15" units, again much modified.

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