GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site

In the Forum: Horn-Loaded Speakers
In the Thread: Dukane 5A540 Compression Drivers

Post Subject: Dukane 5A540 in EdgarhornPosted by skushino on: 2/21/2013

Adrian, I had Edgarhorns that have evolved since I bought them in 2005. In my current set-up, nothing remains of the original Edgarhorns as conceived by Bruce, other than the speaker system remains front loaded horns. I noticed the same sense of heaviness and lack of life you mentioned, and decided to listen to Dukane 5a540s in place of the JBL 2441s. Before sharing my comments on the Dukanes, I need to mention the Edgarhorns served as a fantastic laboratory for me to learn about horn loudspeakers. Basically, I agree strongly with Romy's observations of evaluating changes within the context of the entire system. Every change I tried seemed to be affected by or impact other facets of the entire loudspeaker system. Everything's inter-related - crossover points, attenuation, dispersion, etc.

Another note - my JBL 2441 compression drivers were, according to Bruce, NOS and calibrated by his driver guy before they were shipped to me. They were mounted to the standard Edgarhorn 350 Hz tractrix wood horns. So these were prepped prior to going in to my system. Still, I always found the sound to be generally too polite for my taste, lacking a sense of lightness I wanted.

I don't have deep experience listening to a number of midrange drivers. Other than the 2441 and Dukane 5A540, I had a pair of Vitavox S2s. These never worked for me, even after having the units inspected and prepped by a local JBL tech and then again by Bruce and Rich Drysdale. I believe the drivers may have been faulty - they didn't sound good at all to these ears.

The Dukanes are mounted on 600Hz tractrix horns and cross at 1k:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/High-End-Tractrix-Horn-Pavillon-Tuba-600Hz-/170918015548?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_212&hash=item27cb81f23c

They cross to full-sized 142 Hz tractrix horns on the bottom, and Fostex T-500 II on top. The improvement is easy to hear with a short, casual listen. Over longer-term listening, they continue to sing. I like these drivers. They bring the sense of sweetness and lightness I wanted.

At the end of the day, I couldn't say if the benefits resulted from the Dukane drivers or the smaller horns. If you're still seeking an alternate to your 2441s, you might consider auditioning the Dukanes. You may like what you hear.

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