Why not horns?

06-28-10: Gawdbless
We: will you not share what speakers you listen to and that what floats your boat?

I have heard a few of the speakers you list, and I would say my Impulse H1's can be held in the same company as any of them and, any speaker regardless of price or type of speaker whether it be a planar or boxed sealed type without fear of deemed second rate.

We:

Well have to admit , i have never heard of them , much less heard them , yeah , so you are right , i did find this description.....

# Impulse H1: The big hit, and an evolution from the HT1, H2a and H3 models to the archectypal 'Impulse' truncated horn design. Folded exponential bass horn, tractrix midhorn with driver open to rear. Sensitivity 94dB/W, 8ohms. Drivers: 8.5" Seas bass; 4.5" Seas mid; Focal TD90K tweeter.
# Crossover ponts: 800Hz; 4Khz; 2nd order summed response.
# Size: 1100mm H x 350mm W x 685mm D
# Finishes/ cost: Approx. £2,800: built to order, customer-specified veneer with cloth inserts.
# Weight: if you have to ask...
# Available 1988 - ?

Reviews:Jimmy Hughes in HiFi Answers, February 1989. It's a bit of an odd review, for a rave write-up...
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 (GIF format, 120-220K per page)

http://www.acoustica.org.uk/impulse/impulse.html

If this is your speaker ?

If it is, then it is not the typical horn stuff now is it, Yes i can see this speaker sounding much different from what macrobaby has....

I have also disclosed that i was involved in the audio field for years, we sold speakers at the high-end, so i listen to my own stuff and since we have always done di-poles (dynamic driver versions since 88 and ribbon hybrids later) I do have different versions of speakers available to me from mini-monitors to full large scale ribbons for listening....

Currently my main is a 3 way, 4 column full ribbon in both the bass, mid and highs, not planer magnetic as apogee used to be or maggies currently .

They work for me and work for most who have had the pleasure in hearing them, including my recently converted Horn speaker friends....

Again to each his own , i know what i hear and like between the different speaker topologies and ribbons done up right works for me, I'm sure yours work for you and sound good 2, as it does for many others here.

Enjoy the journey ....

Regards,

Macrojack, thank you for the introductions. Though I think these respected Audiogoner's are quite capable of introducing themselves. In fact, Atmasphere and Duke have already introduced themsleves many times over the years, JohnK hasn't been quite so upfront, but after awhile his threads do reveal his background.

As JohnK's products are custom made ones, comparing his speakers to other designs or even to other horns is like comparing apples to Pitahya/Dragons.

On this very thread Atmasphere has said that some of the worst sounding speakers he's heard were horns, and he is still dubious when confronted with new ones. While Atmasphere has always been forthright in his posts, we can't dismiss the fact that horns are particularly compatible with his products.

Duke has on this very thread posted that horns have common characteristic coloration's that some seem to be more sensitive to than others. Duke has also championed the virtues of speaker designs other than horns.

I have had many discussions over the years here with both Atmasphere and Duke, sometimes we agree, sometimes we don't, but, they are always polite and respectful. JohnK and I have had more limited discussions, but I don't believe they were ever disagreeable.

Are we to take the word of a stumbling audio schlub who declares in absolutes that he has discovered "the best midrange sound reproduction currently available" from horns without any hint of balanced reporting on a thread that begins with; "Why not horns?". This a public forum and those that disagree with your slanted opinion aren't on our way out. Those that appreciate the true concept of a forum, needn't thank us for staying in.

Another member (Mapman) cross referenced another thread that seemed relevant to this one. When I went to that thread I posted something with the caveat that I was "just kidding". Perhaps I wasn't clear enough in regard to the reference. Mrdecibel assumed it was aimed at him, and he cross referenced his objection here. I offered apologies if I unintentional offended him on both threads, and by e-mail. Mrdecibel accepted and appreciated my offering of an apology, and replied that he was still leaving this thread because he wasn't enjoying it. Now if you had actually read the follow ups, you would have known what ever slights that were felt were unintended and apologies were offered. The word that seemed to cause such hurt is apparently not in everyone's vocabulary, so I'll offer a definition here:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oxymoron
You can now understand now harm was intended. In that you have made many absolute claims with little to support them, one can only ask who is being pompous? If you were aware of the out lined previous chronology of events and the meaning of the words used, one can only ask who indeed is aiming for good will and forward progress?

Perhaps we should really get back to: "Why not horns?". If you just want to have a circle jerk with some other horn enthusiasts, you should use a different thread, and please title it in such a manner to give warning to the rest of use who don't care to participate.

If you don't want to hear from those who don't care for horns, you shouldn't title your thread; "Why not horns?" Of course if you really wanted to consider "costs and other objections" you would welcome the objections.

I really don't appreciate you inviting people to e-mail me.
Grandstanding? You started this. Once again, you seem to have forgotten Newton's third law.

Moderator of this thread? Pompous, grandstanding? Ha!
Being just another audio schlub is good enough credentials for you, but you require something more commercial for everyone else? I'm confident that those contributors whose credentials you've espoused would have the diplomacy to not to criticize manufacturers of alternate designs, and by the same token I would expect those manufactures of alternate designs to exercise the same professional courtesy. While professionals that identify themsleves as such, are very much welcome here, this forum is by and large made up of consumers and hobbyists, and in the end that's probably for the best. If you truly want to illumination, you wouldn't promulgate such a slanted perspective, which only casts a shadow on alternate points of view.

The tone of this thread could improve dramatically if you could keep on topic and not make such judgemental personal attacks.

Gawdbless, I philosophically disagree with you, as I don't believe it's reasonable to expect speakers to "enhance music". If a speaker accurately portrays a recording for better or worse, I think it very fair to blame the recording in some instances. If one needs to tamper with a recording to make it palatable, I think there are better devices with much more specific controls available to those that feel the need for such things, than speakers. One good example of a recording that that can sound a bit hard is Miles Davis' "Sketches of Spain".

I'm with Unsound on this one, except for the comment about Sketches of Spain. I have original vinyl on that and its got no harshness at all, so long as the system I am playing it on can track it. It *does* have a lot of energy...

Atmasphere, thanks. Not to belabour the point, but, I don't think "Sketches" is harsh, but it does sound as though the mike is right in front of the bell of the trumpet, hence hard. Truth be told my speakers are not too forgiving of such things. Interestingly enough, I consider the Threshold to excel in reproducing horns. Perhaps, it didn't transfer to digital disk too well? A bit of odd sound staging with this recording, deep and narrow. All in all, a bit unique, if not down right weird. Love the music though.

Weiseas, yes the very same as the reveiwers, although Mr Hughes has done a few modifications to his pair over the years that he has owned them.I have not done any mods to my pair.I believe he also uses the Townshend super tweeter with them.