Posted by SteveBrown [ 64.24.228.54 ] on December 22, 2005 at 09:51:26:

Been having too much fun lately! Spkrman57 loaned me a variety of horns and drivers to try with my JBL 2226 bases, and to compare with my current JBL horns. First problem doing any A-B testing was getting a good mono signal so the same material is playing in both channels. Just using a "Y" arrangement really messes up the sound. So yesterday (having the day off) I knocked together a tube based mixer/preamp so I could blend both channels propertly. I added a switch so I could mute the left or right side easily from my listening position. Really makes comparing two speakers much easier!

On hand right now I have a pair of 811 horns, a pair of Martinelli wood horns, and a pair of plastic (Ron, I forgot the type of horn these are?). Also have on hand 802 drivers and JBL drivers. So far I'd say the 811's have the least amount of "air" or openness to the sound, and kind of rolled off. The Martinelli (w/802) and JBL 2426+2370A horn sound the best to me. Adding a ribbon tweeter above 10k on the Martinelli makes it the overall winner. Adding the same ribbon to the JBL was helpful, but the wood horn + 802 has nicer overall vocal and piano weight and tone sounds better. I had my wife (better HF hearing) try the same tests, she had the same conclusions. While I have more serious listening to do, the results have been interesting so far.

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