Giant Custom Horn Systems - How they sound and issues with sonics

I definitely dream of one day building the ultimate system and room. I see what some of these crazy guys do with truly giant custom horn installations and they make me drool, but (like most of us) I've never had an opportunity to hear one of these crazy systems (see pics).

But I'm guessing at least a few of you have and others probably possess some theoretical engineering knowledge around the issues these giant horn systems might create, but I've never seen a thread that discusses the sonic pro's and con's of these systems.

Would love to hear some thoughts (even if it is just some pontificating on theory) regarding these types of installations. Let's discuss.

 

AudioTekne horn speaker 4 way with woofer ALE 4000 and driver ALE DE serie
All woofer box made in carbon block and ALE horn with Carbon Block outside
This is at home of mr Imai
I listen many times one same but with better driver,the ALE DEP serie and is the most natural horn speaker i listen in my life

 

 

 

Full range horn sound (20Hz-20kHz) with low powered SET amps can be done, but you need to overcome several mechanical and electrical issues. Very large horns as well as extremely efficient and sensitive drivers are needed that provide a delicate compromise between low resonance, motor strength, cone weight, suspension characteristics etc.

Don't underestimate the Russians:

 

This system seems very good with Basshorn and GOTO driver,the best in Japan with ALE

 

So far, the best large horn systems I've experienced are from G.I.P. Laboratory.
Someday, I have to listen to LV Vox Palladian + Vox Basso, a classical horn system that originated from the old Vitavox Thunderbolt cabs and which has been expanded and finetuned for over 30 years.

 

Full range horn sound (20Hz-20kHz) with low powered SET amps can be done, but you need to overcome several mechanical and electrical issues. Very large horns as well as extremely efficient and sensitive drivers are needed that provide a delicate compromise between low resonance, motor strength, cone weight, suspension characteristics etc.

Don't underestimate the Russians:

Nice! That's very close to my speaker and some others like AER/BD Designs... I even use the same tweeter. Do you know what driver is used in the midrange horn?

 

AudioTekne horn speaker 4 way with woofer ALE 4000 and driver ALE DE serie
All woofer box made in carbon block and ALE horn with Carbon Block outside
This is at home of mr Imai
I listen many times one same but with better driver,the ALE DEP serie and is the most natural horn speaker i listen in my life

Awesome! This reminds me of Austin Acoustics speaker design, I think they use a version of ALE drivers too.

http://www.austinacoustic.net/

I heard their "small" system at RMAF with horn >800 Hz and I experienced the most realistic trumpet I've ever heard from an audio system.

 

Nice! That's very close to my speaker and some others like AER/BD Designs... I even use the same tweeter. Do you know what driver is used in the midrange horn?

I believe these are Voxativ, or Atelier Rullit Field Coils.


Doctor Horn with his toys:

 

Wow. DD welcome to the forum and with some of the best system pics

 

Wow nice hornsystems, makes me feel like an amateur, haha.

 

Wow. DD welcome to the forum and with some of the best system pics

Thank you!

Here's some more:










And finally a high-end orgy:

 

Man...what an entrance to the forum! Amazing photos, D. Duttilleux!

 

And another in wall horn system:

 

Over the years I have developed a weak spot for horn speakers (still own several direct radiatiors though), but the larger the horns the more difficult it gets to have a seamless transition without annoying phase, delay and other issues. Some people are real artisans in the field, many of them live in Asia where several dedicated communities and companies are active (Silbatone, Goto, G.I.P., Kondo etc.)

A high quality, small full range driver in a properly calculated horn, could quite easily produce a very coherent and lifelike sound without major deficiencies.
Those in wall horns shown in the last image might be able to do that, assuming these are optimized for the room and, if necessary, the room is treated accordingly.

 

The Silbatone and GIP are among my favorite. Have you heard these ones posted above? And do you have horns yourself, if so which ones?

 

Over the years I have developed a weak spot for horn speakers (still own several direct radiatiors though), but the larger the horns the more difficult it gets to have a seamless transition without annoying phase, delay and other issues. Some people are real artisans in the field, many of them live in Asia where several dedicated communities and companies are active (Silbatone, Goto, G.I.P., Kondo etc.)

A high quality, small full range driver in a properly calculated horn, could quite easily produce a very coherent and lifelike sound without major deficiencies.
Those in wall horns shown in the last image might be able to do that, assuming these are optimized for the room and, if necessary, the room is treated accordingly.

It’s always been a question for me, looking at this in-wall bass horns, how do they deal with the phase issues.
Technically, bass horns should be closer to the listening position, than midrange, and further more, than HF drivers, in order to avoid time delay.
Unless they use DSP of some sorts, I’m not sure, how is this phase issue is being dealt with.

 

The Silbatone and GIP are among my favorite. Have you heard these ones posted above? And do you have horns yourself, if so which ones?

No, I haven't listened to any of the horns in the images above. These were stored on my harddrive and gathered from several websites.
In the last 15 years I moved around a lot and as some of you may know, it's not convenient to possess large, delicate objects that are easily damaged during transport.
I have some modified Ferguson-Hill mini full range horns with small subs that I use for desktop purposes, but these are nothing but children's toys.

Friends got me interested in DIY and I intend to build "something horn like" in the near future. Horn technology is almost rocket science and even though I have been reading horn theory and studying concepts for some years now, I think I am just beginning to scratch the surface.

There are many variations on the horn-theme, each with it's own specifics. Even something as tiny as a slightly curved faceplate for a dome tweeter shares some characteristics with big horns, although these are generally called waveguides.

It’s always been a question for me, looking at this in-wall bass horns, how do they deal with the phase issues.
Technically, bass horns should be closer to the listening position, than midrange, and further more, than HF drivers, in order to avoid time delay.
Unless they use DSP of some sorts, I’m not sure, how is this phase issue is being dealt with.

As far as I know, basshorns are more often than not dsp controlled, but there are many artisans able to develop a passive solution for these and other horn related issues.

 

... If your house isn't big enough to host your bass horns, why not sacrifice a part of your garden:

 

A high quality, small full range driver in a properly calculated horn, could quite easily produce a very coherent and lifelike sound without major deficiencies.

Indeed!

I'm very happy with mine, and it does bypass all of the spacing, phase and delay issues larger horn systems can have. Of course there are trade-offs, it can play fairly loud but isn't suitable for a theatre sized space, and the acoustic gain/mechanical impedance advantages of large horns is only partially present. But, this also makes it easy to integrate with a conventional woofer. IMO, it is a sensible way to go for a home system as it is easy to integrate into a living space given it's directivity and can be listened to at much closer distances.

I also think Danley's full-range tapped horn concept is excellent, but haven't played around with it as I don't need the SPLs they are capable of and want to keep things as simple as possible.