GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site

In the Forum: Horn-Loaded Speakers
In the Thread: Explain TAD ET-703 driver to me

Post Subject: Horns as equalization devicePosted by Vasyachkin on: 11/2/2008

Romy the Cat wrote:
I stepped away from the idea of horn tweeters. A horn is equalization devise that boost lower knee. If people need to spread a tweeter in MF then it is OK but in my case my tweeter sits at 12.5K and I do not need any gain at LF

i don't see horns as equalization devices. i don't even believe in flat response as a reasonable design goal for a speaker. i believe equalization should be done electronically.

to me horns are well, what they actually are - acoustical impedance transformers. means to boost efficiency.

i believe horns are needed at lowest and highest frequencies. at lowest because there isn't enough power (in your household wiring) to hit required SPLs without them and at highest because delicate tweeter voice coils can't hit high enough SPL without them.

ability to shape dispersion pattern is an added benefit. i would say horns are 70% about efficiency gain and 30% about directivity control.

and if horns, in their majority, roll off in the highest octave i do not believe that it is their inherent feature but rather details of particular implementation. many people can't hear past 15 khz and since horns are mainly developed in pro audio and pro audio is a practical business they probably just don't care about that last octave just like they don't care about the first one.

Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site