I've just listened to Yes - Fragile with JBL 2426's attached and then Yes - Close to the Edge with Eminence PSD2002's attached. In both cases, the bass subsystem was a Professional Series four π and I am planning to do the same using a Theater Series four π Speaker tomorrow or the next day.I'm really impressed!
The horn is a prototype, and has a couple of known issues. It is a "proof of concept" and, as such, it is not to be expected to perform as well as later revisions. The flares are not perfectly shaped, and Bill had warned me about this before I received them. And the throat is not tapered as it should be, and modeling shows a specific consequence of this as an anomaly around 1kHz. But since I crossover above 1kHz, this particular issue doesn't affect the system and might not have been detectable, even by measurement.
I couldn't hear anything unusual in these horns at all. I'd gladly install these prototypes on my system and leave 'em there for ten years. So if Bill weren't planning to bring them with him to Lima, that's where they would stay. [grin]
When listening, the first song was always definitely "listening to the box." I have a habit of listening for specific things when trying a new design, and not really to the music. But to tell the truth, these horns don't require a lot of that. You know they are fundamentally "right" pretty quickly, and get back to listening to the music. There is no nasal quality, indicative of a peak in the upper midrange. And they don't "shout" at you either.
Steve Howe comes across crisp and clear on songs like Mood For a Day. You can hear his fingers slide across the strings, and practically see his facial gestures - If you've seen him live, you know what I mean. Jon Anderson's voice is pure as you would expect on songs like And You and I.
When the 2426 is installed, the horns sound slightly more crisp, almost imperceptively, and it maybe just because I think they should be. The 2002's sound great too. There is nothing lacking in the top octave with either driver, although as I said, the 2426 seems to have just a bit more sparkle with cymbals.
One thing that surprised me is that even far off axis, the output at all frequencies is good. Since the throat isn't tapered on this prototype, it is more directional than later versions but that is not immediately evident. In fact, to tell the truth, I could barely tell. As with any design, there is more energy directly on-axis than there is off-axis. But the off-axis performance is quite good, and will improve further with later versions having a tapered throat.
Of course, I used the standard π Speaker crossover, and this horn clearly responds well to this type of network. It can be considered to be a direct replacement for the CH-3 or H290 horns and there will be no need to modify the crossover in any way.
All-in-all, I am very pleased with the performance of this horn. Its response is good and it sounds very pleasant. Dispersion is excellent, especially considering the fact that the throat isn't tapered. I can already tell that this will be excellent for anyone needing an 800Hz horn.
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