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I have a access to a set of Yorkville U15's with a Danley designed 60x60 Unity horn for mid and high http://www.yorkville.com/products.asp?type=29&cat=38&id=254. I was wondering if it would be worth trying to use the unity horn section from the U15s in place of the specified high and mid horns on the 7pi? What issues would I run into? The mids are high passed at 350hz to the 15" driver. I see three possibilities: 1. Get rid of the U15's bass driver and use the existing 2226. 2. Swap the U15s bass driver for the 2226. 3. Use the existing U15 enclosure, placing it on top of the cornerhorn with the U15's bass section on top of the unity horn. I'm not sure how well the U15 bass driver would integrate with the 2226. This is just a crazy idea I got so it could be completely off base. If this does not adhere to the spirit of this forum, please disregard.
I'm not a big fan of the Unity design concept, at least where sound quality is concerned. Wave propogation inside the horn is unusual, with drivers placed along the walls, which causes all sorts of internal reflections. An even more basic issue is summing, and I've always questioned the ability of the designer(s) to get that part right. I've never seen a Unity (or Synergy) that measured particularly well, having response anomalies from the internal interactions. I think that's why sales brochures for those kinds of speakers show response charts with smoothing applied, and even then you can see dips within an octave of crossover. When shown at higher resolution those prove to be destructive interference notches. Lots of stuff going on inside that kind of device, so it's no wonder there would be multiple interactions, many constructive and many destructive. It's just not a concept that appeals to me, at least not for hifi. That said, there have been a handful of people here that have combined Unity tops with cornerhorn bass bins. Conceptually, it could be used to replace the midhorn/tweeter of the seven π cornerhorn. I think quality would be better if you stuck with the original design and stayed away from a Unity, but since you have access to them, it can't hurt to give them a try. I propose trying both. Build the seven π as designed, and listen for a while. Then swap the Unity for the stock mid/high and compare the sound. Let us know what you think.
Thanks for the honest assessment, Wayne. I haven't had a chance to listen to them yet, but I will probably play around with it at some point.