Visit to Audiophile Bill to hear his horns project
- Thread starter spiritofmusic
- Start date
It was morbid curiosity since they were suitable for up to 8” full range drivers. They are so big, it would have needed to be an outdoor or converted stable type thing.
My imagination can go wider but can’t house the contraptions I dream about. Maybe if we move
My custom designed 3 way field coil horns. Over 100 dB sensitive, can reach over 105 dB at listening position with the 7W Kondo Souga. Active transmission line sub is not pictured.
Bill Woods conical horn in maple.
Suravox 11” field coil upper base in LaScala style walnut horns.
Fostex t500a MkII super-tweeter.
First-order crossover with Slage autoformers to fine tune high and mid-range.
Field coil is the way to go, especially with horns (if you can find the drivers). The midrange is the RCA 1443, which goes from about 300 hz to over 7000 hz! Nothing sounds like it, especially with vocals.
Also pictured are the vacuum tube power supplies (not shown in the first photo, which uses solid state PSUs).
Bill Woods conical horn in maple.
Suravox 11” field coil upper base in LaScala style walnut horns.
Fostex t500a MkII super-tweeter.
First-order crossover with Slage autoformers to fine tune high and mid-range.
Field coil is the way to go, especially with horns (if you can find the drivers). The midrange is the RCA 1443, which goes from about 300 hz to over 7000 hz! Nothing sounds like it, especially with vocals.
Also pictured are the vacuum tube power supplies (not shown in the first photo, which uses solid state PSUs).
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Thank you!
I posted here in case the Bill in this thread is Bill Woods. I don’t think so, because Jonathan Weiss of Oswalds Mill has literally forbidden him from sharing his insights - the insights that Jon himself has taken credit for… but that’s another story!
Hi Surge1,
Loving your speakers - very awesome build and design. Love to see more pictures and details if you get a mo.
I am another “Bill” indeed - not Bill Woods
Best regards.
Thanks guys.
This journey started when I read about and heard how well designed horn speakers can do everything well. I used the Living Voice and Oswalds Mill horns as inspiration.
Oswalds Mill (OMA) used to host DIY events, where talented speaker and amp designers would gather and share ideas. One of the meets discussed the RCA 1428/1443 midrange field coil driver from the 1930s. The unanimous consensus was that it’s the best midrange in the world, with a very wide useable range of approx 300-7500 hz.
What really intrigued me was that they were (relatively) affordable: I paid about $5K for mine on eBay and a few thousand for the Bill Woods conical horns. So for under $10K, I had what many experts consider the best midrange in the world.
These were better than the OMA AC1 and Imperia horns, in the critical midrange. Those speakers cost about $80K and $400K, respectively.
This journey started when I read about and heard how well designed horn speakers can do everything well. I used the Living Voice and Oswalds Mill horns as inspiration.
Oswalds Mill (OMA) used to host DIY events, where talented speaker and amp designers would gather and share ideas. One of the meets discussed the RCA 1428/1443 midrange field coil driver from the 1930s. The unanimous consensus was that it’s the best midrange in the world, with a very wide useable range of approx 300-7500 hz.
What really intrigued me was that they were (relatively) affordable: I paid about $5K for mine on eBay and a few thousand for the Bill Woods conical horns. So for under $10K, I had what many experts consider the best midrange in the world.
These were better than the OMA AC1 and Imperia horns, in the critical midrange. Those speakers cost about $80K and $400K, respectively.
That's great, I've heard these drivers in an OMA speaker at RMAF many years ago. They were at another level vs almost everything else there. So were the speakers, which had a 15" woofer and ribbon tweeter in a Cherry wood cabinet.
To complement the RCA 1443s, I went with the Fostex t500a MkII horn super-tweeters, for no other reason other than this is what Jeff Jackson used in his Experience Music flagship horns. Those horns had a similar, but modern replica midrange as the RCA, so I knew the tweeter would pair well.
Note the wall mounted field coil power supply and amp, very cool!
Note the wall mounted field coil power supply and amp, very cool!
My media room is small (~13ft. X 14ft), so I definitely didn’t have room for upper bass horns that are not folded. Hence, I chose a LaScala style enclosure, since it was tried and tried true and looks good. We used a modern Supravox 12” field coil driver.
Josh Stippich at ElectronLuv was the master builder. He really does amazing work. It’s a shame he doesn’t do this full time.
Josh Stippich at ElectronLuv was the master builder. He really does amazing work. It’s a shame he doesn’t do this full time.
The sub is a transmission line design by Josh. Super fast, clean, and doesn’t take up a lot of space… really happy with it. It has a built in 500W plate amp.
The cross-over is 1st order, with David Slage(sp?) auto-formers to adjust the high and mid-levels, to better tune the speakers to the room.
Also note that the angle of the RCA midrange can be adjusted, as can the position of the tweeters, to achieve time-alignment at the listening position. Very important!
Also note that the angle of the RCA midrange can be adjusted, as can the position of the tweeters, to achieve time-alignment at the listening position. Very important!
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