GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site

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

Post Subject: Trial and ErrorPosted by Kcct82 on: 8/25/2011

Hi Romy,
Well, this is my (and my dad's) first horn system so we're learning/building one step at a time. Our motivation is simple, to use horns as low as possible.
The very first DIY configuration was:TAD ET-703TAD 4002GOTO 505TTTAD 1603 Woofer
We used TAD's because we wanted to try Beryllium diaphragms, and GOTO because we thought it was able to go down to 200hz.
The 2nd Config was:TAD ET-703TAD 4003/JBL 476BeGOTO 505TTTAD 1101h in DIY 1/2 space 53hz exponential w/ 5in square throatTAD 1603 in DIY tapped horn
Since we wanted to go lower with horns, we did what we had to do, build it ourselves! (As far as we know, nothing of this size is available commercially) This config lasted 2 years while we learned more about horns and problems with our own playback/room. The biggest breakthrough came recently when we acquired a RTA. The Goto 505TT sounds good but it doesn't perform well below 400hz (the output drops significantly between 200-400hz) and our 53hz midbass horn is no good up to 400hz... In order to bridge the 200-400hz gap between these drivers we replaced Goto with a horn loaded 6in driver. The 6in performed well down to 200hz but lacks a bit of Goto's "snap" on the upper frequencies (it is crossed at 1.2khz). So after a while we came up with the idea of using a 6th channel to bridge the gap (200-400hz) between midbass and Goto.
The advantages of adding a 6th channel and vertical horn rack are:1) Vertical alignment for all drivers above 200hz (or lower if possible)2) Bridging the 200-400hz gap3) Bridging the perceived "speed" difference between 11" cone midbass driver and 2" diaphragm Goto driver4) Since Goto driver has a very small throat it would be best to use a shorter tractrix horn (around 250hz) to keep throat/mouth difference smaller and crossover at around 400hz (maybe 500hz, but need to listen first)5) Coupling the 6th channel to the floor in order to achieve greater bandwidth for our vertical column (120hz tractrix is the biggest we can go while keeping the mid range at ear level) .6) Improved imaging and sound stage (hopefully) 7) A clean look... yes, the Macondo is sexy Smile

I might have missed some info here and there but that's the jest of it.
Best Regards,Keith

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