Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site


In the Forum: Horn-Loaded Speakers
In the Thread: Macondo copying: Horns troubleshooting
Post Subject: The horns will do duty as turntable stands...Posted by Romy the Cat on: 12/26/2006
I moved your post into a separate thread as I think your post about a subject, contrary to the thread where it was moved from was about the virgin fantasies…
 Ronnie wrote:
I thought I built almost copies of the Macondo upperbass horns, yet I've really only achieved quite questionable results. Impressive from time to time, but never free from gross problems.

I never liked an idea of copying loudspeakers. There is a community of people why build copies of famous loudspeakers but if you talk with the most advanced among them they admit to you that it is simple to copy design but it very difficult to copy Sound. You see, loudspeakers are like violins, there are so many minute things that affect everything that it virtually imposable to get identical sound. Take for instance the Tannoy GRF – what could be more simple then that? Screw in a driver and use a simple enclosure that any carpenter would cook for a day… But it never so simple and if you are familiar with the subject t that you know that as many of them out there as many different Sounds they have. I would not be in position to enumerate all reasons that would make them to sound different: too many of them but the fact reminds the same: identical drivers, identical designs but different sounds… Another example, everyone know Bruce Edgar who builds horns but not a lot of people know that Bruce never was able to make two identically sounding pairs of upperbass horns (it is not my observation but the observation  of very credible (from my perspective person) who very familiar with very many of Bruce installations)…

I think instead of coping loudspeakers it would be more appropriate to consider embracing and re-utilization some design ides. For this prospective there is nothing to “copy” in the Macondo upperbass horns. The horn is a very standard tractrix horn with 4” throat. If you forget about Macondo and calculate own profile then you will end up with the identical horn. All the rest are juts specific implementations and up to my knowledge only one person besides me copied the Macondo upperbass horns, it and he is here, in Boston.

I do not know what kind results you achieved and what methods you used but if you call the results questionable then you perhaps might be more specific and I might try to help you to debug the problem/s. Put down you observations about the sound of just one upperbass horns, without any other channels, with no crossover and with a back chamber wide open… Post pictures and if it poosble the frequency sweep.  It would be a good to start… so far you do not say that Macondo upperbass horn has questionable results but that a 4” into 115H straight Tractrix horn loaded with Fane Studio 8 has questionable result. I would like to stay behind of me statement that the above mentioned configuration should not be problematic. If you feel it is then let find together what might be wrong.

Rgs,
The Cat

Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site