Differences Between Folded Horn Speakers and Transmission Line Speakers


I've been looking at various DIY speaker builds and came across a folder horn speaker and I've also seen transmission line speakers. I've tried to google the differences in the two, as they look similar, but I suspect that there are differences. The only visual difference that I've noticed (I've only seen one folded horn, so the comparison pool is very small) is that the folded horn seem to have a larger opening than the transmission line speakers. Maybe it's just the one speaker that I saw, so I don't know that would always be the case. I'm hoping someone on the forum is much more knowledgeable about these things than I am. 

mcraghead

Showing 1 response by panzrwagn

@russbutton  Great explanation of horns, but i would add that a 40Hz horn quarter wave is just over 7Ft, so a full-range horn is impractical in most domestic settings.

The Klipchorn 'cheat' of 1/8 space loading the woofer is so room variable that its hard to predict the actual perfomance. In a purpose-built room the LF can perform admirably, but the MF and HF are still mediocre compared to other higher quality horns. 

Where our opinions diverge is on Transmission Lines. Properly calculated and damped they are capable of superb bass. Yes, they give up the backwave reinforcement and so are lower in efficiency, but unless you are designing a low-power or max output system, that's not much of an issue. They are larger and more complex (expensive) to build than a traditional ported or sealed design which accounts for much/most of their lack of popularity commercially, but relative popularity for DIY projects.