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In the Forum: Horn-Loaded Speakers
In the Thread: The European Triode Festival’s horns
Post Subject: Altec 210Posted by nl on: 6/15/2008
Of course i am referring only to the horn part of a 210-type enclosure. Below the horn cutoff, perhaps around 70hz for the 210, the remainder is filled in with a wooly bass-reflex peak, which gives these boxes their characteristic fluffy, indistinct, crude and weak bass. This was OK in their time, since movie soundtracks didn't have much going on in that region. Theaters wanted good dialogue and apparently tap-dancing, instead of thrilling reproduction of the 30hz rumble of the footfalls of a computer-generated dinosaur.
Within that horn-loaded range, the 210/515 type combo does reasonably well, and produces rather more inspirational midbass than most direct-radiator type strategies. There is a reason why these designs persisted for roughly forty years, until replaced by smaller/cheaper/inferior sound systems (but with better low bass) to match the smaller/cheaper/inferior theaters built since 1985 or so.
So, as I said, it would be interesting to understand what one gains or loses by this method instead of something very difficult to implement such as a 10 foot long 70hz horn with proper compression loading. Much easier to time align as well, which is one of the reasons for their original development in the 1940s.Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site