New speaker build - Altec/Onken

[t.antony]

Anil,

Earlier you had mentioned a steep fall after 50hz, was it present in your near-field measurements? I am experiencing a similar fall around 55hz at the listening position, but the near-field measurements are pretty decent. My room placement was less than optimal while taking measurements and I presume that has a big hand in the low frequency suck out. Before venturing into room placements thought of asking your experience in the same.

Have you had the chance of taking measurements with different placement options before bringing in the subs?

Regds..

 

[anilva]

Anil,

Earlier you had mentioned a steep fall after 50hz, was it present in your near-field measurements? I am experiencing a similar fall around 55hz at the listening position, but the near-field measurements are pretty decent. My room placement was less than optimal while taking measurements and I presume that has a big hand in the low frequency suck out. Before venturing into room placements thought of asking your experience in the same.

Have you had the chance of taking measurements with different placement options before bringing in the subs?

Regds..

All of my measurements are at listening position and not near field. The suck out exists for the room I guess and nothing to do with the speaker. I can say this because every speaker system that I measure has a similar suck-out.

Cheers.

 

[anilva]

Azura horns

Received my Azura horns from Australia. This is based on L'Cleach design made to specs of Lynn Olson for his 'Beyond Ariel' design posted on diyaudio.

This will mate to my Altec 288 HF drivers and will sit on top of Altec 515B Onken Bass cabinets.

Here are the pictures of the horns.

Cheers.

 

[corElement]

Hmm, I always imagined horns to be heavier and thicker but lately I've been seeing some horn designs which are quite thin and light but rigid I suppose.

In the context of reducing physical body vibration, don't horns like these and the ones I saw of lyrita horn speakers vibrate to a certain degree? Back loaded horns are more of an integrated design to the body of the enclosure but whats the logic/though with protruding horns like these?

 

[anilva]

Hmm, I always imagined horns to be heavier and thicker but lately I've been seeing some horn designs which are quite thin and light but rigid I suppose.

In the context of reducing physical body vibration, don't horns like these and the ones I saw of lyrita horn speakers vibrate to a certain degree? Back loaded horns are more of an integrated design to the body of the enclosure but whats the logic/though with protruding horns like these?

Back loading is typically for bass reinforcement and not treble. Front loading is usually used for HF drivers for high frequency throw. Both are different and tuned for different frequencies. There are enough and more primers for horns.

These horns are rigid and thick fibreglass material. They are heavy enough and need to be stand mounted and cannot just hang off the driver throat. In any case these don't handle low frequencies at all.

 

[stevieboy]

They look good Anilva!

Rajiv was mentioning some time back that l'cleachs should sound better than altec horns. Forget exactly why. Will be good to hear your impressions.

Regards

 

[anilva]

They look good Anilva!

Rajiv was mentioning some time back that l'cleachs should sound better than altec horns. Forget exactly why. Will be good to hear your impressions.

Regards

Altec multicellulars are probably better but suited more for long throw in a theater setup. L'Cleachs are good for home use. You cannot put them in a theater.

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

Anil, the horns look great. Looking forward to listening to them and the 288's when I visit B'lore next.

Rajiv was mentioning some time back that l'cleachs should sound better than altec horns. Forget exactly why. Will be good to hear your impressions.

Steven,as Anil has mentioned the Altec horns were designed for a different purpose. Mainly for theater and PA applications.They are excellent in these applications where wide coverage over a big area is needed. They need a large room to sound good. The LeCleach and Tactrix work in smaller areas, are more directional and are better suited for home/ HiFi use.

Regards
Rajiv

 

[stevieboy]

Ah yes that was it!

 

[santhosh]

Hi Anil,
How are the Azura horns sounding with your recently completed Pass F5 Turbo V2?

 

[anilva]

Hi Anil,
How are the Azura horns sounding with your recently completed Pass F5 Turbo V2?

Santhosh.

I have been quite busy at work as well as on domestic front. I need to go to SP road and buy 3/16" bolts for fixing the horns to the 288 drivers. I have just not been able to go.

The F5 Turbo amp is doing great. I need to replace the caps from 10000 uF to 15000 uF as there is mild ripple related hum from the power supply. I need to make it completely silent before I can say that the build is complete in all respects.

Cheers.

 

[anilva]

Finally managed to connect the Azura Le'Cleach horns to the Altec 288-H HF/Mid drivers. The LF is Altec 515B in a Onken cabinet.

Sounds just amazing. Crossover through active Behringer Digital xover feeding dual Pass F5 amps connected directly to HF and LF units.

The crossover points for Low Pass is 700 Hz, 18 dB/Octave and high pass is 24 dB/octave as suggested by Lynn Olson in his "Beyond Ariel" design and suggestions from Rajiv.

Very balanced sound and strong midrange and bass and crystal clear highs as well. The highest of high end may be a wee bit less due to lack of super tweeter, which may not be required for my tastes.

Attached are some of the pictures.

Cheers.

 

[stevieboy]

Looks lovely Anilva! The black onkken cabs and the white horn.

Regards

 

[jls001]

Wowww!!!

Looks fabulous. I am sure it will sound beguilingly good.

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

Anil,the speakers/ horns look great.

Sounds just amazing

Once you have heard the sound of the large format drivers there is no going back to anything else.

Regards
Rajiv

 

[santhosh]

They look great Anil, the midrange on the 288 is at another level all together!

 

[anilva]

When you hear quality recordings on this setup, I get to wonder how much better can one get than this quality of reproduction. I have heard quite a few around the world and I believe the sound coming out of the combination that is there today (Pass F5 and Altecs) is probably right up there. There may be preferences of sound (warmer, detailed etc.) and sound stage, but this combination does put out some good quality stuff. I am also aware one can improve on the phono cartridges, cd players, DACs, interconnects etc. etc. but I am sure they can at best make a difference in the last 1-2% of the sound quality for this setup.

One more thing left for my personal satisfaction is to MOD the Behringer with some quality components.

Cheers.

 

[GeorgeO]

Hats off Anil for pursuing your passion to this level..

 

[prem]

Hi great going Anilva.

 

[vin_eme]

They look great Anil, the midrange on the 288 is at another level all together!

Santhosh, once you are back, would love to have a listen of this setup. Hope Anilva will accommodate this request