GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site

In the Forum: Horn-Loaded Speakers
In the Thread: Macondo’s Midbass Project – the grown up time.

Post Subject: A word of warning and some comments.Posted by Romy the Cat on: 9/9/2010

One of the emails that I receive is very interesting. The author warns:

“...when experimenting with throaths I found that if the compression is big, near 2 or higher you get some big, smooth, unfocused aqualung sound. You are never scared at listening to that sound, like being on some downers at the concert under the water. The same was true with compression drivers ( 2440 ) when experimenting with phase plugs and listening without one, or with pre WW2 WE type ( or quasi modern japanese renessance ).”

The observation is correct. Most of the bass horns that I head have that unfocused aqualung sound; I usually call it “sewer pipe sound”. I certainly do not want my horn to sound this way and I have my own theory why the most of the bass horns out there sound as poor as they are. I however never consider that a guilty party might be the compression ratio. I personally feel that a compression is irrelevant if the rest of the operation parameters of the driver and horns are taken care with respect to the given compression. I might be wrong but it is my position. A compression itself does not ruin sound the specific design decisions that can’t work properly with a given compression will most certainly ruin sound. So, even the warring is reasonable then I think the causality of the effect is incorrect. If I am wrong and if compression is devastating for bass then… this is why I am making the backs chamber in a way that the drivers mish be changed … Still, I hope that I will not have a need to do it.

The Cat

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