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Any new horn flares to work with midhorn? [message #59287]

Fri, 22 May 2009 00:21

Norris Wilson
Messages: 361
Registered: May 2009

Grand Master

Hello,

Have any experiments been done with new horn flares over the H-290 and Pi wooden tweeter horn for mating to the Seven Pi mid-horn? Possibly an elliptical conical type, or waveguide/shallow horn been tried?

If so, what were your conclusions, were there any that stood out?

Thanks

NW

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Re: Any new horn flares to work with midhorn? [message #59288 is a reply to message #59287]

Fri, 22 May 2009 07:37

Wayne Parham
Messages: 18787
Registered: January 2001

Illuminati (33rd Degree)

I've worked with a lot of horn types, both in the past and more recently. I have found none that were better but lots that were worse. Some have sharp edges that cause discontinuity and impedance spikes, ultimately resulting in ripples in response. Some have the wrong coverage pattern, like too much vertical spread.

On the other hand, there are several horns/waveguides I would consider to be functionally equivalent, only slightly different in some respects like different FR (particularly at the low end), etc. Of the best contenders, the biggest problem I see are those that have too much vertical spread.

A horn or waveguide with tall vertical coverage suffers nulls right in the middle of the pattern. They direct too much energy at the floor and ceiling too, causing excessive reflections. Ceiling slap is a really weird sound. To be real honest, I don't understand anyone using one of those things in a room with traditional eight foot ceilings. They're terrible.

Of those that are closest in performance, those that I would consider to be functionally equivalent, they are fine as long as they are setup properly, putting the forward lobe out front. The depth is one of the things that sets the position of the forward lobe and subsequently, the position of the vertical nulls. To ensure proper summing at all places in the pattern, the crossover may need to be adjusted to account for any difference in depth. As long as that is accounted for, overall performance is very similar.