Posted by DMoore [ 71.39.40.4 ] on February 01, 2007 at 19:59:52:
In Reply to: Re: Basshorns - Pros and Cons posted by Wayne Parham on August 29, 2006 at 11:47:48:
I think the one thing to consider between the above mentioned horn designers is that either they are into designing specifically for the PA market where portability is the major concern, or the Hi-Fi (domestic) market where perhaps appearance is the main concern with a built-in footprint size constraint, but generally speaking, not both. There are very few "crossover" designs that I can see. It makes sense that they also tend to stick with what they know and what they know works for their particular application.
I watch all of the horn designers/manufacturers as to their general practices and especially what they are doing within their targeted niche to give their design an edge compared to the competition. It seems that the design goals for PA are actually quite different than the goals of Hi-Fi. For now, I'll throw HT into the Hi-Fi group.
One thing I derived from reading about PWK is that he tended to stay with what worked - he didn't tend to take risks, developed some preferred characteristics and used them repeatedly, so his designs seem related to each other even at a cursory glance. I also like the fact that he tended to publish and in those patents and AES papers, he attempted to teach others about what he was doing and why - anyway, I don't regard it as mere advertising, too much usable information for that IMO. I suppose it lent credibility to his designs, but since the particular designs were being sold, the actual proof was in the performance that anyone could hear.
So with that in mind, I find I also like Edgar, for the same reasons. He is pretty conservative in his designs, too.
The interesting thing is that Klipsch is heading for the HT market with their horns. Halfway between PA and Hi-Fi, I think that is the future of the horn market, too. That's not to say that the PA market is going to go away, but it probably won't grow for horns either.
The dedicated home theatre room is one place where perhaps a large speaker footprint IS not only acceptable, but even expected, or even actually DESIRED! We can only hope...
DM
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