You may think you've seen/heard it all - Rockport Arrakis, Mbl X-tremes, Magico Ultimate 3 etc, But you really haven't. Until now. That is, if you can get to the Science Museum in London.
They have lovingly recreated the Denman Exponential Horn, taking a genuine 30's vintage Western Electric WE 555-W field coil compression driver, powered by a custom 1W (!) amp, fitted it to the only original Denman horn part remaining in existence, and then recreated the whole Denman exponential horn, over a 28' (!!!) length, starting from 1" at the driver end and flaring to a final horn mouth of 7'1" x 7'1" (!!!!!), the whole thing suspended from the ceiling by multiple rigging.
It's not quite full range, specced at 30Hz-11kHz, but it's mighty close.
And tbh, who cares when you're in the presence of possibly the most glorious, near-religious audio experience ever.
Sitting in front of a near-full range, 49+ sq ft area mono point source, in effect acting as the greatest surround experience of your life, is pretty humbling, and is a sort of "what if?..." example as to where audio could have gone had spkrs not got smaller and smaller w/commercial and domestic demands.
The music program changes daily, comprising spoken word, digital copies of 78s of the time, atmospheric soundtracks, and varied electronica/sound collages, that really test the limits of the spkr, and expand what you thought possible from audio reproduction.
The sequence involving multiple guns/machine gun fire was truly frightening in it's ability to maintain iron grip/resolution in the middle of a total chaotic soundfield.
Similarly the sequences of electronica were totally immersive in terms of bass/ambient info present, and the spkr belied it's limits beyond 11kHz w/shards of treble information cutting thru and totally making you jump from your seat.
Even the surface noise from the 78s was hypnotically alluring.
The biggest compliment I could give the Denman was that a massive mono point source was more realistic than any 2-, 3-, 5-, 7-etc channel system I've ever heard, and the sheer verve and ambience-retrieval capabilities of the spkr made the whole experience beyond-palpable. You just could not move from your seat.
If you're anywhere near London, you MUST make the visit. My life has been changed by listening to it. Yours will too. And unlike a lot of things in our hobby, the exhibition is free.
Check it out on the BBC News website.
I left after an hour w/the biggest
on my face.
They have lovingly recreated the Denman Exponential Horn, taking a genuine 30's vintage Western Electric WE 555-W field coil compression driver, powered by a custom 1W (!) amp, fitted it to the only original Denman horn part remaining in existence, and then recreated the whole Denman exponential horn, over a 28' (!!!) length, starting from 1" at the driver end and flaring to a final horn mouth of 7'1" x 7'1" (!!!!!), the whole thing suspended from the ceiling by multiple rigging.
It's not quite full range, specced at 30Hz-11kHz, but it's mighty close.
And tbh, who cares when you're in the presence of possibly the most glorious, near-religious audio experience ever.
Sitting in front of a near-full range, 49+ sq ft area mono point source, in effect acting as the greatest surround experience of your life, is pretty humbling, and is a sort of "what if?..." example as to where audio could have gone had spkrs not got smaller and smaller w/commercial and domestic demands.
The music program changes daily, comprising spoken word, digital copies of 78s of the time, atmospheric soundtracks, and varied electronica/sound collages, that really test the limits of the spkr, and expand what you thought possible from audio reproduction.
The sequence involving multiple guns/machine gun fire was truly frightening in it's ability to maintain iron grip/resolution in the middle of a total chaotic soundfield.
Similarly the sequences of electronica were totally immersive in terms of bass/ambient info present, and the spkr belied it's limits beyond 11kHz w/shards of treble information cutting thru and totally making you jump from your seat.
Even the surface noise from the 78s was hypnotically alluring.
The biggest compliment I could give the Denman was that a massive mono point source was more realistic than any 2-, 3-, 5-, 7-etc channel system I've ever heard, and the sheer verve and ambience-retrieval capabilities of the spkr made the whole experience beyond-palpable. You just could not move from your seat.
If you're anywhere near London, you MUST make the visit. My life has been changed by listening to it. Yours will too. And unlike a lot of things in our hobby, the exhibition is free.
Check it out on the BBC News website.
I left after an hour w/the biggest
on my face.
