What are the Top Horn Speakers in the World Today? Vox Olympian vs Avantgarde Trio vs ???

[andromedaaudio]

I thought the same about cable discussions.

True but the absolute winner is still Analogue versus Digital on WBF .
Hard to beat that one

 

[Hornsolutions Swen]

True but the absolute winner is still Analogue versus Digital on WBF .
Hard to beat that one

To be honest, I don’t really read that much here. For me, it’s more about the entertainment factor. If I truly want to learn something, I turn to other sources—whether it’s in the workshop, the music room, or through conversations with people whose opinions I value and whose expertise I respect. Debating whether digital or analog sounds better would be the last thing on my mind.

Best Regards S

 

[bonzo75]

Why are Horn / Set threads always a battle field ?

Which aren’t

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

many with heavy investments need to defend their choices

 

[Al M.]

many with heavy investments need to defend their choices

True. But also, people have different listening priorities, tastes and perceptions. Unfortunately, some still think there is or should be a "universal audio truth" for everyone.

 

[Audiohertz2]

One of the main reasons why one loudspeaker feels fatiguing after 60 minutes while another still sounds relaxed after six hours is, imo relatively straightforward. The human brain must assemble acoustic information, as mixed by the sound engineer, into a coherent soundstage in fractions of a second. This soundstage includes the spatial arrangement of instruments, such as drums behind the singer, bass on the left, or backing vocals on the right. This reconstruction becomes increasingly difficult the more reflections occur from walls, ceilings, or floors.

The brain’s task is significantly easier when fewer reflections are present or – to return to the topic of horns – when the proportion of direct sound increases. Conventional loudspeakers typically have a direct sound share of about 2-3%, while electrostatic speakers achieve only around 0.6 to 1.5% under usual room conditions.
With a direct sound share of approximately 30% or more, as found in perfectly tuned horn loudspeaker desigs, the brain has less work to do in processing the soundstage. As a result, the listener perceives the sound as more pleasant, especially during extended listening sessions. This is one of the main reasons why people who have experienced a perfectly tuned horn loudspeaker system often describe its sound as having a unique sense of ease and clarity.

Of course, the reasons you mentioned are also entirely correct.“

Interesting as most consider most horn speakers heard as the most fatiguing grain in your face run out of the room horrible..!

The 1% which survive to produce good sound , tend to sound like good panel speakers …!

Go figure

 

[Audiohertz2]

They all sound great! Three different flavors -- each represents clearly the sonic preferences of their owners.

Too much detail here Ron to take in on one read …

 

[Audiohertz2]

These are not your photos, if you were honest you shared your playback photos. You live in Tehran and never visited munich show or USA AG dealer.

The funny thing is you even do not read Romy posts, read the link.

Romy believes Wilson Alexandria is as dynamic as 106db horns and wilson alexandria crossover is not first order so those non-sense theories like high order crossover kills dynamics are not Romy’s ideas.

I am sorry experts like David @ddk are not here and you and kedar spread wrong information.

It doesnt kill dynamics, it is less dynamic …

 

[Audiohertz2]

Well, lucky you. You’re the only one who went to Munich and to the US AG dealer, and also the only one who has the experience of hearing Wilson’s flagships and AG and LV at private setups — yet you still don’t understand what dynamics really means or how it relates to efficiency. LOL.
Anyone who posts a picture here and shares an opinion that goes against your marketing interests immediately gets labeled as “fake” by you. Perhaps you should focus on selling the very brands you once harshly criticized.

Honestly, your statements are ridiculous. In your previous post, you said, “Romy and I never claimed the XVX and the new Wilsons are dynamic; I wrote that the new Wilsons are 7 dB less efficient.” So, contrary to what you said before, you’re admitting that sensitivity is indeed related to dynamics. Then how can you keep loudly proclaiming that TAD R1, with only 87 dB sensitivity, delivers the dynamics of horns? LOL

Sensitivity alone doesnt affect dynamics , unless new Audio laws limits one to 10 watts ..

 

[Audiohertz2]

many with heavy investments need to defend their choices

Because some with no investment tend to bash their choices ….

 

[Kozak170]

Sensitivity alone doesnt affect dynamics , unless new Audio laws limits one to 10 watts ..

I didn’t mean sensitivity alone either.

Sensitivity determines how much sound you get per watt of input power. Impedance determines how hard the amplifier has to work to deliver that power. The combination of these two factors, along with driver and crossover design, directly affects the real-world dynamics of a loudspeaker. So, a speaker that has relatively low sensitivity, combined with demanding impedance behavior and easily requires 400 watts just to come alive, simply cannot deliver dynamics in the same effortless way as true horn systems, or even high efficient cone speakers.

 

[Kozak170]

It doesnt kill dynamics, it is less dynamic …

Right, it doesn’t kill dynamics… it just strangles them so hard that their faint cries for help can’t even make it through that giant wall of crossover parts.

 

[PeterA]

Right, it doesn’t kill dynamics… it just strangles them so hard that their faint cries for help can’t even make it through that giant wall of crossover parts.
View attachment 157625

Good Lord, what speaker is that?

 

[Kozak170]

Good Lord, what speaker is that?

Marten’s top tier.

 

[bonzo75]

Marten’s top tier.

With so many components in the crossover, it needs to have top tier cost

 

[andromedaaudio]

Audiophiles love it .

 

[LL21]

Marten’s top tier.

Wow...wasnt that just released several weeks ago? Interesting photo. Here are the tech specs.

Main Tower
Frequency range	120-60000 Hz +-2dB
Power rating	600 W
Sensitivity	93 dB / 2.83 V
Impedance	6 ohms (3.4 Ohms min)
Type	5-way
Drive units	1 x 1” pure diamond tweeter 1 x 3” pure diamond high midrange 1 x 7” pure beryllium midrange 4 x 8” Crystalid mid-bass
Crossover frequency	First order: 120Hz, 370Hz, 1000Hz, 4000Hz

Bass Tower

Frequency range	17 - 120 Hz +-2dB
Power rating	1000 W
Sensitivity	93 dB / 2.83 V
Drive units	5 x 10” aluminium sandwich bass 10 x 10” aluminium sandwich passive radiator
Crossover frequency	First order: 120Hz

 

[Kozak170]

With so many components in the crossover, it needs to have top tier cost

Honestly, that’s not a crossover — that’s Duelund, Mundorf, and Audyn using the cabinet as their showroom.

 

[Audiohertz2]

I didn’t mean sensitivity alone either.

Sensitivity determines how much sound you get per watt of input power. Impedance determines how hard the amplifier has to work to deliver that power. The combination of these two factors, along with driver and crossover design, directly affects the real-world dynamics of a loudspeaker. So, a speaker that has relatively low sensitivity, combined with demanding impedance behavior and easily requires 400 watts just to come alive, simply cannot deliver dynamics in the same effortless way as true horn systems, or even high efficient cone speakers.

Agree on selection of drivers , design implementation and crossover design is (for all speakers regardless ) critical , Disagree completely, it will deliver every ounce of dynamics on a non pam pam amplifier..!

Once the loudspeaker system is capable of delivering the necessary peak db level it will deliver full dynamic expression of any recording. So whats critical is the ability to hit dynamic peak with the lowest distortion.

Criteria :

A. Large enuff surface area , which does require multiple drivers . ( 50% lower thd for every doubling of surface area )

B. Power Handling capability without compression.
C. Low Driver mass vs BL
D. Full power bandwidth 30-20K.
E. Proper crossover design with good Transfer function ..!

These are known knowns , not new to loudspeaker design, regardless of high sensitivity vs low sensitivity approach.

As to efficiency thats expressed in percentages so i think its best we stop following accounting principles by calling everything efficiency..

If everything else fails lets shoot for 1 acoustic watt ..

 

[Hornsolutions Swen]

Honestly, that’s not a crossover — that’s Duelund, Mundorf, and Audyn using the cabinet as their showroom.
View attachment 157626

That's definitely a really poor design.