Anyone here use horns?

[Hoodlum007 10+ year member]

What are the advantages besided getting louder compared to regular tweeters? How is the SQ on horns and are they even used for SQ set ups?

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[lilmaniac2 5,000+ posts]

I do when somebody cuts me off... oh wait wrong kinda horn

 

[Ford302Redneck 10+ year member]

I do when somebody cuts me off... oh wait wrong kinda horn

lol.

My goats use there horns all the time. Head butting and other **** they do.

 

[tcguy85 10+ year member]

some people here do.

 

[James Bang 5,000+ posts]

People win SQ competitions with them...

 

[mikey7182 10+ year member]

A local member here uses horns, and I am in the process of installing a pair of ID Mini horn bodies using B&C DE500 compression drivers. There are several advantages to horns, including a lower xover point compared to most tweeters, higher sensitivity, more depth, and higher power handling. I am running the Pioneer Premier TS-C720PRS components in my truck being fed PLENTY of power. They sound amazing. With that being said, the difference between my front stage and his was the difference between listening to something on the radio and actually being at the concert. I've got a lot of depth, great tonality, and a good stage, but there's something to be said about high efficiency drivers, of which horns are a part. In my truck, snare drums are loud, clear, and fun to listen to. In his truck, snare drums punch you right in the ****ing face and the kidneys at the same time. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif Hopefully that helps.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

The advantages can include controlled directivity and more easily equalized pathlengths which can lead to improved imaging and soundstaging, to many they have a more lively and dynamic sound, lower crossover point than traditional tweeters, installation can be easier, etc.

Are they even used in SQ systems? They've been used and continue to be used by dozens of SQ world finals champions and other world-class SQ systems. The original horn car, the RC/SW Grand National, remained undefeated throughout it's career....and this was back when actual //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/greedy.gif.5a53e6246569d7ab79867170f3b06629.gif could be won in competitions.

I liked my horns more than any other speaker I've had in my car. They were so much more lively and dynamic than any traditional cone/dome speaker I've heard that it really made the difference between sounding like a good reproduction of the music and sounding like you were there with the music.

Some people don't like horns claiming their tonality isn't as pure as traditional setups. I would agree on an intellectual level...there are some potential issues with many horn designs on the market that could present themselves. But listening to them....no complaints. Tonality was excellent, and the other advantages surely trumped any minor deviation in tonal accuracy. And the imaging out the box was pretty good....high and wide.

 

[PaulD 10+ year member]

they work very poorly on some cars and need LOTS of tuning time. RC's car was originally done by speakerworks, he replaced the compression drivers with ones that cost like $25k - a little out of the average person's price range.

As stated, good points were imaging and staging out of the box because of the awesome PLD's and great dynamics because of the efficiency. The bad point is that they tend to sound harsh. Honestly, I haven't seen anyone compete in SQ with them in YEARS.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

they work very poorly on some cars and need LOTS of tuning time.

Any stereo should realistically require LOTS of tuning time.

The level of tuning for horns generally isn't any more than for any other type of system. How much tuning is required depends on 1) what horn you are using, and 2) your desired level of accuracy.

I ran my Illusion CH1's with zero EQ and they sounded great.

RC's car was originally done by speakerworks, he replaced the compression drivers with ones that cost like $25k - a little out of the average person's price range.

Sure, they were the upper echelon of compression drivers....but I believe $25k is a bit of an exaggeration.

Also, even if it cost $25k for the compression drivers, it won over $60k in purses....so I'd say it was a worthy investment. I do believe it was the winningest vehicle in competition history as far as dollar winnings is concerned.

The bad point is that they tend to sound harsh.

Not if tuned properly.

Honestly, I haven't seen anyone compete in SQ with them in YEARS.

I guess I haven't really followed it the past year or two....but not too long ago people like Jason Winslow, Mic Wallace, Jason Ewing, Tony Pasquale, Chuck Music and the rest of Team ID were doing a pretty good job of placing highly if not winning world finals.

Not sure how active Team ID is now, but I would imagine there are still plenty of competitors using horns in competition.

 

[atsaubrey 10+ year member]

Tuning horns is not hard. Team ID is still around and 90% of us use horns. Horns do NOT sound harsh. Horns sound tonally accurate. Horns are STUPID effcient, 111db on mine. Some people say horns "sound in your face", exactly like a concert should. Any more questions?

 

[Horsemanwill 10+ year member]

in my opinion Horns are the best thing that happened to me. for years i've ran comp sets with tweets and mids galore and i've never had anything sound better then my horns. with a set of horns a good set of mids your front stage is done. that's it don't need anything more really. you whole stage is set. from the highs to the fullrange to the midbass. there are still lots of ppl using horns for competitions. as for eq all i use is what's in my head unit and that's it.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Team ID is still around and 90% of us use horns.

Good to hear //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Any more questions?

Yes.

Whatcha running?

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

I miss my horns //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif One of the few audio products I've ever had in my car that truly make me sad that I sold.

 

[atsaubrey 10+ year member]

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=343200

Click the link to my photobucket. I need to update it with later parts of the build though.

 

[Saint211 10+ year member]

Im not even into sq.... Im gonna be running some horns in my next setup.

Once I heard a pair I was like...**** I want those.

They arent necessarily harsh depending on how they are being used/placed/tuned... but can be very very loud.

It strange cause I've heard tweets off like 60 watts that sounded really harsh, but Ive heard horns off 500 rms that got EXTREMELY loud but not harsh at all. Thats not to say twwets aren't good we've all heard plenty of awesome tweets in our day...

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

As an "experiment" I bought 8 of the cheapo horns from PE, so $12 total and made 2enclosures for them that spread across the dash.

With some time spent listening/tuning I was rather surprised at how good I got them to sound. As good or better then 90% of the comps I've heard. When in the mood just bump up the EQ a little at 8/12.5Khz and they have a LOT of presence and each one was only getting 15watts.

Of course I have a HT full of Klipsch Legends, so I'm rather fond of horns...