Horns, what are they good for?

[er1kkull 10+ year member]

Dont see many folks with these things. could it be that they are huge for such a small thing....... are they really worth it in music quality to try and find a spot to put these things with out it looking crappy. what are the basics of a horn what they do so good?

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[paikiah 5,000+ posts]

ask Mark, he runs them.

Horns are ultra efficient drivers. The mounting sucks big time, but once you can find a decent mounting area (90% of the time below the dash), I think most would be happy with the result. Could be a tad loud though.

Oh, and horns can reproduce lower frequencies than a tweeter (i think)

Mark would have a much better explanation to this.

 

[ss3079 5,000+ posts]

I run the CD1Pro MH's...mounted under the dash. Used to run them off an Arc Audio 4150 with an attenuator, but they were soooooo loud. So I put them on deck power and they seem better.

http://www.imagedynamicsusa.com/website/products/horns.html

- Steve

 

[Mark_ab 5,000+ posts]

Dont see many folks with these things. could it be that they are huge for such a small thing....... are they really worth it in music quality to try and find a spot to put these things with out it looking crappy. what are the basics of a horn what they do so good?

You don't see many people with them for several reasons. They are rather esoteric firstly, they are rather pricey, and, as aformentioned, they are a ***** to get in most cars. Are they worth it? Depends on how anal you are about sound quality, what you're willing to sacrifice, and if you're competing or not. You can put them under your dash and make a faux grille for them or something and they look fine. Horns are basically just a loaded compression driver (piezo tweeter) attached to a horn body that acts similarly to what you'd see in stadium loudspeakers at concerts and things like that. Keep in mind, you NEED to EQ these, and they are very sensitive, so minimal power is required (or an attenuator).

 

[SPLThunder 10+ year member]

designing a good horn for a speaker can produce up to a 10 db gain over the same speaker w/o one. If you had a semi (ive always wanted to see this) you could make a horn for a SUB

 

[paikiah 5,000+ posts]

designing a good horn for a speaker can produce up to a 10 db gain over the same speaker w/o one. If you had a semi (ive always wanted to see this) you could make a horn for a SUB

won't most drivers have lack of compression or power to do this? Or was that less efficiency for a normal amp to push the drivers to do so...

also, I saw a subhorn made under an AV room (it was posted on the forum awhile back)

 

[SPLThunder 10+ year member]

won't most drivers have lack of compression or power to do this? Or was that less efficiency for a normal amp to push the drivers to do so...
also, I saw a subhorn made under an AV room (it was posted on the forum awhile back)

The basics of a horn are the horn has to be at least one wavelength of the lowest note played and the opening has to be 1/4 of that wavelength across. Ive never heard anythign about compression troubles if the horn is built right.

The only reason i know of that they arent used more in car audio is the space required. a driver playing 1130 HZ has to have a foot long horn. Not to many places to put that in a regular car.

 

[Omarvelous 10+ year member]

hmmmm....interested in these horns......

Needs space? Something i have! Advantages of a truck.

Was on the ID Max site, lookint at the CS HLDC Comp Set, it's a Horn and a Midbass.

Lets say i got this Horn set or maybe just the horns, would it make the tweeter almost not necessary?

Do horns require enclosures?

Are horns more vocal?

Will have more for you guys later

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Lets say i got this Horn set or maybe just the horns, would it make the tweeter almost not necessary?

The tweeter would be unnecessary if you got horns. Without equalization, most horns roll off around 12khz or so, so some people run super tweeters in their pillars. But if the horns are setup properly, tweeters are unnecessary.

Do horns require enclosures?

No

Are horns more vocal?

Horns are more dynamic and lively IMO. If you haven't heard horns before, it may be a good idea to try to listen to a pair before you lay out the cash for a pair. Some people love them, some people hate them.

With conventional speakers, you are generally listening just as much to reflections as you are the speaker. With horns, the sound hits you directly without all the reflections.

I just installed my Illusion Audio CH1 horns over the weekend......and OMG I am in love //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/veryexcited.gif.c26a15f316d23068607f36ddacd7a7ab.gif They get ungodly loud with less than 20w, and tonally they simply sound superb. Definitely needs some equalization (sounds a little harsh), but overall I love them so far.

 

[InhumanAcura 5,000+ posts]

My CD-1E's fit under my dash w/o any mod's...I give ID some props.

 

[Omarvelous 10+ year member]

hmm ok i'm understanding more.

Can i see a pic of the horn mounted Inhuman??

 

[Omarvelous 10+ year member]

what kind of music are horns designed for?

Like would it be good for rap/reggae? Thats mainly what i listen too.

 

[ss3079 5,000+ posts]

http://www.caraudioreview.co.uk/vbb/showthread.php?p=702631#post702631

- Steve

 

[Omarvelous 10+ year member]

what kind of music are horns designed for?
Like would it be good for rap/reggae? Thats mainly what i listen too.

or would it be generally good for all types of music??

And thanks alot for that link SS

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

All types of music.