How Horns work!
- Thread starter Purité Audio
- Start date
Purité Audio
Trade: Purite Audio
If you are really interested in hearing a wide range of loudspeaker designs then a visit to the Munich HiEnd is worthwhile, everything is there ,and for the last handful of years Silbatone have brought along various original WE horns, which are always fascinating .
Keith.
Keith.
Tony L
Administrator
Lindsay's Electro-Voice Patrician. The picture really doesn't do the size justice, I suspect you could get both your speakers into one of them without evicting the priest that probably lives there. There's a 20" plus a 12" woofer in there along with some horns!
Purité Audio
Trade: Purite Audio
It has become the best show, everyone makes a huge effort, most of the UK manufacturers launch new product there, you can hear the finest ( most expensive) equipment from everyone .
There is also the spin off HiFi Deluxe show ,and private demonstrations dotted around Munich.
Once you have heard them you can denigrate from a position of authority!
Keith.
There is also the spin off HiFi Deluxe show ,and private demonstrations dotted around Munich.
Once you have heard them you can denigrate from a position of authority!
Keith.
S-Man
StrivingON
I cannot remember which speakers you were using at the Northampton show a couple of years ago, but I do remember you were playing an Abba song when I was there. I also remember a distinct "The train arriving at platform 3 is..." sort of sound. I guess it's just not possible to get 4 to 5 meters away in a small hotel room. I have to assume you were using adequate cabling
Good Lord. They do look like they belong in the Rector's Vestry, don't they?
Paul R
pfm Member
It's good for trends, particularly if the room is adequately sized. As yours was. You had free choice of how to present your speakers. If I cannot draw a tentative conclusion, then what's the point?
Paul
Tony L
Administrator
It's primarily a bit of fun and a social meeting point, one shouldn't take it too seriously. There's no way I'd ever make a proper assessment of an item in such an environment and that includes for instance your ATCs on your stacks of Mana - the only conclusion that could possibly be drawn from such an installation is it may or may not be representative of the sound you personally like. It has little if anything to do with the capability of a product to deliver what I may seek myself. At the time I heard Lindsay's EVs he was driving them with some huge old JBL solid state PA amp that looked in dire need of a service/rebuild to my eyes. It was not something I'd personally partner a vintage high-efficieny horn speaker with, so as far as I'm concerned I've still not heard Patricians yet. They are a legendary speaker in the horn world and one I'd very much like to hear one day, but ideally driven with a nice grunty class A tube amp, say a Mc 275 or something similar would be appropriate IMO, and properly installed in a suitable living room. I love Scalford though, just the ability to hear such items in any context is well worth the price of admission IMO.
If you're not hearing things "properly", then I don't see the point.
The Model T Ford is a legendary car...
YNWOAN
100% Analogue
I think more emphasis has to be placed on the "fun and social" part of Tony's post - if that means nothing to you then the 'point' of such a show may well be minimal. Personaly speaking, I have been to all the Sclaford shows and am likely to attend all subsequent ones - it's quite a unique event and certainly well worth the trouble of going.
Radfordman
pfm Member
Just had a thought, this is dangerous, the human ear is a horn.
I've obviously heard horn loudspeakers, equally obviously not all of them. As S-Man points out, there can be a "The train arriving at platform 3 is..." effect. I don't need to taste a poo sandwich to know I won't enjoy it.
Tony L
Administrator
...and a 1950s Rolex is just a legacy watch that will never be even remotely as accurate or useful as an iPhone. To be honest I'm surprised you still don't get what this website is all about even after so many thousands of posts here (most of which only underline this deep lack of understanding). I'd have thought a collector of vintage Rolex would eventually figure out that this is a site for people who view audio kit with exactly the same mindset. If you really want to bang on endlessly about how great you think ATC monitors are and how super-clever you think you are for writing a cheque for a pair then Grearslutz would probably be a more suitable place (it's an excellent forum). pfm exists for people who have a love and deep understanding for all audio kit, ancient and modern, it is not a place to brag-on tediously about one's guru-led choices.
pure sound
Trade: manufacturer/distributor
Although it's very funny when said 'guru led' choice is so Marmite.
That's fine, but the pretence that the vintage stuff is as good as the current state of the art is not fine. If you need to spend £250k and fill your room with equipment to get an allegedly good sound from horns, doesn't that tell us that the horn technology has severe limitations?
I'm well aware that mechanical watches are not as accurate as quartz, and would never pretend otherwise.
I'm well aware that mechanical watches are not as accurate as quartz, and would never pretend otherwise.
What are you talking about? The story behind my ATCs is that I bought a s/h pair from JW over a decade ago. He had been recommended them by James Henriot, funnily enough. This is how knowledge works - it's passed from person to person.
Several visitors to my house have subsequently bought ATCs. My friend with the Focal Utopias is examining his options. Am I now a "guru"? Of course I'm not.
YNWOAN
100% Analogue
Well said.
I've heard most (perhaps all) of the speakers mentioned in this thread including Lindsay T's vintage sarcophagi and active ATC's (which I did like) and would rather listen to what I use now over all of them - but there's no need to bang on about ones personal choices like a broken record.
pure sound
Trade: manufacturer/distributor
I'd go along with that. An old design like the ATC's falls a good way short of one of the larger Cessaro or Avantgarde models to give a couple of examples. (No I don't sell any of them).
Re the Marmite comment, it wasn't rhyming slang, it's just that the speakers you happen to like aren't to everyone's taste. That's all.