I thought that the vanes I carved out last weekend were pretty good, until I snooped further at LansingHeritage and saw samples of horn projects by those guys. They're nuts and I was seriously humbled by their level of craftsmanship. But like they say, "When in Rome..." I will not be out-analed.

One piece of info I took away was that the vanes are actually sweeps of 25 1/4" radius arcs. This gave me an idea for a new approach to carve the vanes. Build myself a new jig based on a 25 1/4" radius circle jig. Instead of trying to cut 1.5" of material at once with a template and laminate router bit, this jig allowed me to make multiple passes with a straight plunge bit. Much faster and easier! And the vanes turned out smooth and razor-sharp.

The outer surface isn't finished yet, but the horns were assembled and functioning. Not going to say much about the sound yet. We all know that all audio component requires break-in (kidding). The crossover was built for the 2380A horns I haven't adjusted the the L-pad components yet. First impression is that the smith horn sounds smoother with less "bite" than the 2380A. Then again, it could be the crossover.

The new horns do however have a much wider sweetspot. With the 2380A, I was limited to one spot on the couch. With these horns, I can sit anywhere on the couch. Unfortunately, you have to be sitting. Vertical dispersion sucks. Stand up and you notice a change in sound.

more to come ...

Gar.

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