Hi Mike,Yeah, the "J" or "C" fold are still popular, especially with the single driver crowd. It's an obvious layout for their back-loaded horns, just like prosound "scoop" cabinets. I'm just thinking outloud here, because I've been seeing a lot of negative references about "W" horns lately.
I've been working on the cooling system for a large basshorn, and the runs for the cooling lines would be cleaner if the horn were made with a "W" fold. It has hoses that go to a little radiator, and those could be easily mounted on the back of the horn if made a "W" shape. But the horn would have to be real long if folded as a "W", so I'll probably make it a spiral. Or maybe the "Z" fold like you do would be good too.
I'll focus more on the horn layout once I have the cooling system done. Right now, I'm testing to know how much volume will need to be in the cooling lines. They form a part of the rear chamber, so this is kind of important. We're still testing to see just how importtant. But once that is done, I'll want to make a horn that is a convenient size and easy to build and service with those cooling lines included.
I think the alignment of a basshorn - things like its throat, mouth, expansion and front and rear chambers - are more important than its configuration. The layout is more a function of real estate than of performance. But I thought I'd throw this out there to see if there were any other opinions.
Wayne