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.

 

This is the European representative for G.I.P.

I seem to remember a Dutch friend sharing some less than favourable experiences with the company owner, so be prepared.

 

Hi,
FYI all in DIM ('68 a. l.)
Full 5 way horn (home brew) ...
Patrician IV / WE66A / Iwata 2" / Iwata 1" / Beyma
X-over actif , LR 24dB/oct
2x5 way DC-amp (bjt clause AB ... some times SE300B)
Its all music ...
Karel

 

Very impressive Karel!
Did you build/turn/cnc all the horns yourself ?

I just read this webpage posted by bonzo75 with a short review of Karel's System.

Drivers used in this 5-way full horn system:
Low horn: PATRICIAN IV, oversized Klipschorn (driver EVM18B), going up to 250 Hz
Low-Mid horn: WESTERN ELECTRIC WE66A (adapted for driver JBL2482), from 250 to 1200 Hz
Mid horn: Iwata 2? (driver S2 Vitavox or S3), 1200 to 6k
High horn: Iwata 1? (driver B&C DH250 … very nice) > this should be the B&C DE250
Super High horn: Beyma.

 

This is the European representative for G.I.P.

I seem to remember a Dutch friend sharing some less than favourable experiences with the company owner, so be prepared.

I talked with him on the phone one time , hé has a particular vision on how audioreproduction should be Just like a lot of Hornlovers i reckon.
They look like NOS drivers probably pricy , but if i would make a 3 way Horn the FR would be a lot better then most ive seen , for good blending of drivers you need a measuring tool.
Karel i live in Brussel at the moment, id love to hear those horns at one time.
Henk jan

I Stay close to Parc josaphat

 

Very impressive Karel!
Did you build/turn/cnc all the horns yourself ?

I just read this webpage posted by bonzo75 with a short review of Karel's System.

Drivers used in this 5-way full horn system:
Low horn: PATRICIAN IV, oversized Klipschorn (driver EVM18B), going up to 250 Hz
Low-Mid horn: WESTERN ELECTRIC WE66A (adapted for driver JBL2482), from 250 to 1200 Hz
Mid horn: Iwata 2? (driver S2 Vitavox or S3), 1200 to 6k
High horn: Iwata 1? (driver B&C DH250 … very nice) > this should be the B&C DE250
Super High horn: Beyma.

Karel has been at this since the 70s. Many DIY guys have learmed from him and his friends

 

If you search across the many DIY forums worldwide, you'll find plenty of measurements.
Below is a quote from a german manufacturer of large SATO and WE horns. The measurements are from individual large horns without bass horn:
If you manage to fix delay, phase and other issues, these horns are not that difficult to integrate with a basshorn and super tweeter.


"On this Graph you can see the Frequency response of the WE66 (green) and the Satohorn (black). The Satohorn is a little bit more linear, the WE66A has the deeper LF and a bit wider Sweetspot.

Both Measurements are taken with the same driver in 400 cm distance from the horn mouth. So the normal reflections of the walls, floor and ceiling are already visible."


View attachment 39795


The following measurement shows the compression driver we are actually using.

1.Magnitude frequency response

2. THD r2

3. THH r3


View attachment 39796


And an image showing some of their products:


View attachment 39798

Awesome post, very elegant horns in a pleasant room decor; simple without distraction. I like the color tones too.

 

Hi, a friend told me that this forum is talking about our horns and drivers. I'm a little bit confused about what's written here but if there should be any questions, I realy like to answer them.
That's my actual project.


As you can see, it's also an Installation which uses the Room as the horn extension.

Entrance to the amplifier section


Best Regards Swen

 

Inside the throat of the Basshorn, the WE66A will be implemented. And inside the WE66A, the HT16 Tweeterhorn will be installed. By this we can generate a total concentrical Arrangement on the sound axis.

 

Looks nice welcome to WBF?

 

Looks nice welcome to WBF?

Thank you.

 

Anybody has a proper freq plot (in roomresponse) of some of these sota Giant hornsystems.
If they have a bad transition somewhere or rolled of highs OR lows it would be easily spotted.

Attached the measurement of my room. Taken at the listening position 380 cm away from the hornmouth

 

Yeah looks Nice swen , but also looks a bit to good to be true.
I wouldnt design a loudspeaker with arta .
I want a calibrated independent signal generator.
I see its a 1/6 Octave measurement, i like to do the same measurement with my Clio fw system and then see how IT looks.
Can you give me soms off axxis response 15 30 45 degree s.
If IT is stil a straight Line you have designed a miracle, lol

 

Yeah looks Nice swen , but also looks a bit to good to be true.
___ but it is like it is. There is just one PEQ at around 70-76Hz of 3dB to get a bit more Kickbass.
I wouldnt design a loudspeaker with arta .
Why? I use Arta and Carma to measure the system and room.

 

Can you give me soms off axxis response 15 30 45 degree s.
If IT is stil a straight Line you have designed a miracle, lol[/QUOTE]
On Axis 0.0

20 degree

40 degree

80 degree


And here you can see the same for our HT16 Tweeterhorn

The max tolerance is 1.6 dB on the complete response from 1.6KHz to 20K

 

The same Tweeterhorn with a TAD 2002

 

IT looks like the arta takes a lot less measurement points along the way.
How does the arta send a signal through your Ls terminals?
Could you explain the measurement proces to me?
Connections etc. IT works using a computer soundcard?

 

The same Tweeterhorn with a TAD 2002
View attachment 39835

Are you using DSP?

 

Calibrated Rode condensor mic , Scarlett 4, laptop with Asus Soundcard. I'm pretty sure that I learned measuring in the last 35 years .

 

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...-a-plug-and-play-loudspeaker-measurmentsystem

 

Well a cliomeasurement looks a lot different and its more a professional design tool