I love horn speakers, and agree with just about everything said by those who like them on this thread. One thing is interesting to me though. A couple of posters mentioned that horns have to be perfectly set up and placed, and I am wondering why, since this should not true in theory, and has not been true IME. You can pretty much put horns anywhere and they will sound pretty good (for instance, Cornwalls). Yes, there is of course an optimum placement, but they are generally much less finicky with regards to placement than just about any other speaker type. And yes, horns are directional, but the shape of the horn not only helps direct the sound to where you want it to go, but also helps keep it away from where you don't want it to go. So some types of room problems are either eliminated or are not nearly as bad. Also, though there is an optimum "sweet spot," if you have larger horns such as Altec A7's or Klipschorns, this "sweet spot" can be a pretty large area (depending on the size of the specific room), certainly a bigger area than most other speaker types. And if you are outside this "sweet spot," the sound is still much better than many other types (I have heard some others where if you move your head even an inch there is a radical change in sound quality - why anyone would deliberately design such a speaker is beyond me). In fact, ease of placement is usually given as an argument in favor of horn speakers, so I was surprised to see some posters imply otherwise. |
Unsound, you are definitely mistaken - many, if not most of the greatest symphonic recordings of the "golden age" were monitored with horns. To name the most famous example, the Mercury people most often used Altec A7's, driven by MacIntosh electronics. A great many orchestral musicians are of the opinion that horns come the closest to recreating the sound of a live orchestra. Electrostats come close as well, but do not have the dynamic range of horns in either extreme. I also agree with Atmasphere and Johnk that horns can image as well or better than any other type, something which indeed is very important for classical music. |
Hi Weseixas - you yourself listed several in one of your previous posts, and I already mentioned the Altec A7's, which I happened to hear again today as a matter of fact (my uncle owns a pair). Properly set up and driven with tube electronics, they cannot be beat for dynamic range, not only on the loud end but also and in fact particularly on the soft end; they image wonderfully, and most definitely come closest to a life-like presentation when we are talking about trying to reproduce the sound of an orchestra in a great hall. If that is not your cup of tea, that's cool with me. There are many fine speaker designs, some of which sound better for certain things than others, and one's taste in music will heavily influence your choice. As I said, a great many professional orchestral musicians who are also audiophiles feel that the old-school approach has never been equalled for reproducing the sound of an orchestra, let alone bettered. Much of it has to do with your third priority, "sounds natural." Horns driven by tubes do an astounding job of recreating acoustic instrumental timbres, and also do a damn fine job on the human voice as well. Altec, JBL, Klipsch - even if they are not your cup of tea, you have to admit they are extremely successful designs that have survived longer than pretty much anything else in the audio world. |
Hi Weseixas - I can't resist commenting on this part of one of your recent posts - "I do find musicians to be a funny breed, I'm sure there are many in the business with similar stories, regardless ...."
This, like many another comment seen fairly often on this site, seems to dismiss musician's opinions on audio out of hand, which is really quite bizarre when one really thinks about it. Perhaps you did not mean to do this, perhaps you did. I certainly do not deny that most of us are indeed a funny breed, LOL!
In response, I will quote another fellow musician who expresses many of our sentiments exactly. This was posted today on a different forum in a similar context (whether better equipment enhances a bad recording or makes it even worse). He is defining what constitutes good equipment, which he says is "gear that competently portrays performance elements of the music and not just the sterile sonic attributes of the recording."
IMO, far too many audiophiles concentrate only on the sterile sonic attributes, very often at the expense of the performance elements of the music. I have heard systems costing more than my house that contained supposedly state of the art equipment that simply didn't come close to the sound of acoustic instruments, and that no musician, therefore, would pay a dime for. We want to hear a cello that sounds like a cello, as in Weisselk's example you were responding to in your post I quoted. So do most equipment designers, for that matter, and I never see them dismissing the opinions of professional musicians. Of course, everyone has slightly different audio priorities, and I am not saying that you should necessarily agree with mine or any other individual's, I'm just saying that it is very odd to dismiss a musician's opinion because they are a musician. After all, a set of good ears is an absolute essential for our livelihood - we just use them a little differently, and a lot more often. |
Spain will prevail, if they play how they are capable, as I think they will. |
Both Altec and Klipsch are great. I would love to hear the Altec model 19's and hear what everyone is raving about there. My uncle's A7's sound amazing.
And yes, the Spanish will prevail on Sunday! Viva la Roja! |
Hi Macrojack - many of us cannot afford the current horn designs, even if they are "only" $5000. I think I paid about that for my entire modest system. No, it probably isn't the very best out there, and yes, I do wish I could hear some of these newer designs. However, no one anywhere near me carries them, so I don't really know when I am going to be able to hear them. As for Altec and Klipsch, their older designs still beat anything else I have ever heard in any store or home I have ever been in. That's not to say I am closed to another possibility at all, I am merely stating the fact. I have read quite a bit about these newer designs, here and on other forums, but I can only speak to what I have actually heard. I, for one, thank you for starting this thread and for trying to help spread the word about horn designs, which have really gotten a bad rap very unjustifiably. |
Thanks Duke and Johnk for the responses, very informative! It would be interesting to hear a pair of the model 19's sometime. |
To Johnk or any other person knowledgeable about Altecs - could someone briefly describe the differences between the Altec model 19 and the A7 Voice of the Theater? I am very familiar with the latter, as my uncle owns a pair, but I have never heard the former, and I keep hearing a whole lot of Altec fans saying they are the best. Why? |
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