Best Horn Speaker under $250K?

853guy

Active Member
Aug 14, 2013
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Hi 853guy,
I think the Maxonic in Munich will be just Maxonic drivers in speakers made by Natural Sound. I don't think Maxonic will be there with their own speakers.

Hi Exlibris,

Ah, that's interesting. Thanks for the heads up.

Cheers!

853guy
 

Exlibris

Well-Known Member
Oct 7, 2015
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Canada
systems.audiogon.com
This weekend I had a chance to hear a pair of JBL 4344s from Kenrick in Japan.

What really struck me was how these speakers (on certain recordings) filled the air between the listener and the speaker plane. I’ve heard modern speakers do this (usually with high frequency air and sparkle or low bass) but this experience was qualitatively different – you experience all the frequency ranges filling the space and sometimes you actually feel them in a bodily sense (and not just the bass). Being with these speakers can be a tactile experience as well as an auditory and mental one.

I remember once being at an event where a musician across the room was playing a violin. I focused on the experience and I sensed: the location of the violin as ‘over there’; the sound simply being present in the entire room – energizing and filling the entire room; and (perhaps most oddly) the sound "in me" -- blurring the boundaries between me, the sound, and the space. To this last point – I’m not talking about a mental image but more like what you might experience with headphones. On a few tracks, the system with the JBL 4344s actually pulled off this last experience. It’s the only time I have ever experienced this when listening to a stereo and, honestly, I never thought it was possible. All I’ve ever asked from a system in terms of a bodily experience at the listening position is to be immersed in the music. This was more of a removal of the boundaries between the listener, the music, and the space.
The effect was recording-dependent and it probably only happened a handful of moments in the 90 minutes or so that I listened. I’ve always jokingly said that I’m not really interested in owning a stereo – I want a holodeck. Those moments were the closest I’ve ever come to that.

I couldn't live with the speakers because they didn't deliver in some other areas that I find important but I just wanted to report here on a few areas in which they did excel.
 
Last edited:

Robh3606

Well-Known Member
Aug 24, 2010
1,470
461
1,155
Destiny
This weekend I had a chance to hear a pair of JBL 4344s from Kenrick in Japan.

What really struck me was how these speakers (on certain recordings) filled the air between the listener and the speaker plane. I’ve heard modern speakers do this (usually with high frequency air and sparkle or low bass) but this experience was qualitatively different – you experience all the frequency ranges filling the space and sometimes you actually feel them in a bodily sense (and not just the bass). Being with these speakers can be a tactile experience as well as an auditory and mental one.


Hello Exlibris

Interesting how you describe them I have had a similar experience with them. They are a bit different from your typical system with less emphasis on pin point imaging. They can be quite fun to listen too.

Rob:)
 

Exlibris

Well-Known Member
Oct 7, 2015
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198
Canada
systems.audiogon.com
The main reason that I could not live with the JBLs is the tension I feel when listening. For some reason, it’s uncomfortable and I can’t physically relax. My body just wants to turn it off to get some relief. I'm not sure what causes that but I suspect it has something to do with the horn. The first time I ever experienced it was listening to Acapella horns in someone’s basement. I kept having to go upstairs to get relief from what felt like “pressure.”
 

CGabriel

Industry Expert
Oct 31, 2013
618
92
265
WA, USA
www.shunyata.com
Well if best horn speaker under 250k is the name of the game then I would like to add the Aries Cerat Symphonia. At 85K and a true 3-way I haven't even been able to reach its potential with best Aries Cerat electronics.

And it uses a Raal ribbon horn loaded tweeter from a compression free treble :)

View attachment 27673

View attachment 27674

Have you heard the Contendo? How does it compare to the Symphonia?
 

Believe High Fidelity

[Industry Expert]
Nov 19, 2015
1,665
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355
Hutto TX
ibelieveinhifi.com
Have you heard the Contendo? How does it compare to the Symphonia?

I have heard the Mk1 design in prototype stage and plan to hear the Mk2 next year when I head out to Cyprus next fall.

Differences between the Contendo and Symphonia are night and day on one hand and very similar on the other (confusing I know). Due to the design nature of the Symphonia you get many of the virtues of the Contendo, but in a smaller package,. In no way does the size mean the output of the Symphonia is lacking or cannot fill even the largest room with ease. This is where the similarities stop.

Given the Contendo uses a massive midbass horn not found on the Symphonia and double stacks the ribbon tweeter horn (just the tweeter section weighs in over 100lbs!!) you get what I like to call a revelation of detail that I have not heard in any speaker in any home or venue that even comes close. This is by no means an exaggeration.

The Contendo MK2 replaces the tower design of the bass section to separate bass horns similar to the Symphonia but with 4 times the output of each bass horn. For those who have heard the Taranto Son Sera track of the Flamenco stomps through the Symphonia know the bass attack is rock solid and you feel it in your chest and in the room with precision and weight. Then you can imagine that x4 and it is almost too difficult to grasp what that means.

Given this redesign and the already massive size of the horn section this needs a dedicated room one with a very large footprint and preferably built around the design itself. If you would like to make the trip with me let me know. You will be a changed man :)
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,411
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I have heard the Mk1 design in prototype stage and plan to hear the Mk2 next year when I head out to Cyprus next fall.

Differences between the Contendo and Symphonia are night and day on one hand and very similar on the other (confusing I know). Due to the design nature of the Symphonia you get many of the virtues of the Contendo, but in a smaller package,. In no way does the size mean the output of the Symphonia is lacking or cannot fill even the largest room with ease. This is where the similarities stop.

Given the Contendo uses a massive midbass horn not found on the Symphonia and double stacks the ribbon tweeter horn (just the tweeter section weighs in over 100lbs!!) you get what I like to call a revelation of detail that I have not heard in any speaker in any home or venue that even comes close. This is by no means an exaggeration.

The Contendo MK2 replaces the tower design of the bass section to separate bass horns similar to the Symphonia but with 4 times the output of each bass horn. For those who have heard the Taranto Son Sera track of the Flamenco stomps through the Symphonia know the bass attack is rock solid and you feel it in your chest and in the room with precision and weight. Then you can imagine that x4 and it is almost too difficult to grasp what that means.

Given this redesign and the already massive size of the horn section this needs a dedicated room one with a very large footprint and preferably built around the design itself. If you would like to make the trip with me let me know. You will be a changed man :)

Interesting! Just so i get this right, the Contendo mk I has a set of woofer towers, each with 2 x 15" cones. Now we are going to a separate horn woofer 'tower' for each channel? So still a 4-speaker Contendo?

And what exactly does this separate horn/bass tower look like? Like the bottom section of the Symphonia? or more like the gigantic round horn of the Contendo? Just trying to figure out if Mk 2 takes up less or more space in the room and on the floor. Thanks!
 

Aries Cerat

Industry Expert
May 30, 2015
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Interesting! Just so i get this right, the Contendo mk I has a set of woofer towers, each with 2 x 15" cones. Now we are going to a separate horn woofer 'tower' for each channel? So still a 4-speaker Contendo?

And what exactly does this separate horn/bass tower look like? Like the bottom section of the Symphonia? or more like the gigantic round horn of the Contendo? Just trying to figure out if Mk 2 takes up less or more space in the room and on the floor. Thanks!

Hello
Probably shouldn't of doing this,:) but here is a sneak peak of the prototype bass horn,in front of the midbass horn,for the Contendo.(midbass is 4 feet diam for size comparisons),the bass horn sits 2.3m away from midbass(mouth to mouth distance) at the picture.

The basshorn is 4m long folded tractrix,it's footprint is 75cmW X 90cmD each

The double active 16'' subs were retired,as these basshorns literally dance circles around them,performance wise,and you can drive them with the same amp that drives the main speaker as they are also 104db/W

Unfortunately these are also X10 more expensive to produce and finish(again carved-stacked ply construction).

Best
Stavros
 

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LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
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Great stuff, Stavros! Thank you! Very interesting...the footprint of these speakers is quite big. We can do our current big Wilsons, the big Rockports, and the big Apogee Full Ranges...might even be able to swing the 4-tower Pendragon that Ron has ordered or its replacement Kodo 4-tower...but the Contendo Reference looks like it will breach that maximum footprint. Nevertheless, would love to hear some day! Appreciate the sneak preview!
 

Aries Cerat

Industry Expert
May 30, 2015
356
601
333
Great stuff, Stavros! Thank you! Very interesting...the footprint of these speakers is quite big. We can do our current big Wilsons, the big Rockports, and the big Apogee Full Ranges...might even be able to swing the 4-tower Pendragon that Ron has ordered or its replacement Kodo 4-tower...but the Contendo Reference looks like it will breach that maximum footprint. Nevertheless, would love to hear some day! Appreciate the sneak preview!

Unfortunately,the basshorn's footprint alone is larger than an XLF sized speaker.But big horns are...big :) Will give our best to have it demoed next year,you know where....God willing

Cheers
Stavros
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,411
2,509
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Unfortunately,the basshorn's footprint alone is larger than an XLF sized speaker.But big horns are...big :) Will give our best to have it demoed next year,you know where....God willing

Cheers
Stavros

Yes, 75cm x 90cm is a bit bigger than an XLF footprint. And the big horn is about 1.2m across as i recall with total width closer to 1.5m? Big. As for hearing them...actually, i do not know where you are hoping to have them for audition. Any hint?
 

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