High Efficiency Speaker Asylum Need speakers that can rock with just one watt? You found da place.

---

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ High Efficiency Speaker Asylum ] [ Return to Search Results ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

Midrange horn baffle and crossover

Posted by KanedaK (A) on February 5, 2020 at 00:46:58

Using EV/University SM120 mid horns with John Allen A55G drivers (an "updated" version of Klipsch K55V / K55M drivers made by Atlas / EV )
Bass horns are Peavey FH1 with K33E Klipsch woofers - probably Eminence Kappa 15C soon.

I have been using a 400Hz crossover with those for years - first passive 6dB (arguably that's not really a crossover and relies on the horns natural rolloff) now 24dB active

I tried 500Hz 24dB few times with a previous active crossover and didn't care for how it sounded, I was always coming back to the 400Hz crossover; 500Hz sounded muddy (might be different with Kappa 15C)

I've ordered my new crossover with a 400Hz 24dB xo card and I think it sounds great

HOWEVER, I'm aware that the SM120 horn has a 500Hz cutoff by specs sheet - which didn't stop EV to cross it at 400Hz/12dB on the Sentry IV. Arguably a PA speaker, but one that is regarded as having a good sound and being used by some audiophile whose WAF isn't too picky.

But a couple days ago I posted on a Horn speakers facebook group and got plenty of comments regarding the inadequacy of my horn/crossover interaction.

Namely, my SM120 horns should be baffle mounted (they are, but the baffle is less wide than the horns mouth as those protrude on the sides; I used to have LaScala bass horns and I made the "top bin" the same width as the bass horns) - I'm not against the idea of using a real baffle but I'm a bit reticent seeing how LARGE a baffle would be to actually be efficient? I can't have a baffle that protrudes 10inch on each side of the bass horn, that would definitely bring me some serious WAF issues

Also, 400Hz seems to be a very bad crossover frequency, with one guy saying that I shouldn't go lower than 800Hz without baffle and 650Hz with baffle, which is IMHO way too high with a bass horn such as the FH1

On Klipsch forum a lot of guys are using the sM120 horn as an upgrade to the infamous Klipsch K400, everyone uses the stock 400Hz crossover and everyone is happy with the upgrade; most are just using the horn on top of their existing bass bin without any kind of baffle mounting.

So I'm wondering: should I be more scientific and listen to the pros, or should I just trust my ears? measuring with a basic RTA app I see no catastrophic dip around crossover frequency and I always thought "if it sounds like a real piano, a real voice, then it is good" - a very unscientific approach but in the end it's my system, not a prototype for a commercial product.

I did however, just now, ordered a couple other XO cards to try in place of the 400Hz / 24dB:
-400Hz 12dB
-500Hz 24dB
-500Hz 12dB

I guess the 500Hz XO frequency won't be an upgrade without a change of woofers, from K33E to Kappa 15C, but I figured, as I'm planning to swap the woofers anyways, I may as well try it.

Also, I seem to recall the FH1 polar response at 400hz exactly matches the EV SM120 horn, which probably isn't the case anymore when you go higher in frequency.

So should I trust the specialists, or should I just trust my ears and stop worrying about it? ( It's not just MY ears, but every audiophile who came by said it sounded good, and if there was some criticism here and there, it wasn't related to any subjective dip in level around 400Hz, so if it's there, I guess nobody can hear it).

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Signature Sound

[ Signature Sound Lounge ]

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---