A nice homey video with a friendly feel to it; & despite the distortion from the improperly set recording level on the gentleman on the left, this is a solid effort for your first time video.🌹 Lots of love & lots of luck with it!🤗
It's my first time watching ya guys and I liked your video so I gave ya guys the good ol subscribe and like. Look forward to seeing more from you. Have a happy holiday and happy new year.
Glad I found your channel very informative. I’ve been a fan of horn speakers since mid 70’s when I head some Klipschorns at the stereo store. Hope to hear your thoughts on horn speakers available today.
So glad I stumbled across your channel. Current AL Valencia 846a owner and previously owned a pair of AL Magnificents which because of military duty assignments I had to sell back in 1975 along with an all tube McIntosh system. My current purchase of the Valencia’s was based on Art Dudley’s articles which spoke clearly to what I was looking for in sound.
Well, our next episode (planned for few days after Thanksgiving) will cover Tom's modified Santanas which we call Super Santanas. The Santana and the biflex driver get a bum rap and can sound very good.
Thank you for a very informative video. I was familiar with parts of the Altec story but you filled in the gaps and detailed the time line. Looking forward to future sessions where you might detail some of the modifications successes and fails.
I am blessed to own a pair of EV white whales (HR-9040) with massive DH1AMT compression drivers. Paired with modern waveguided Ti comp tweeters, LaScala bass bins, and a powerful B&C commercial cinema sub, all DSP/actively multiamped, they are delivering sound quality I never thought possible, let alone affordable. Would love to have you in for a listen if your travels take you to Colorado!
I build and modify Altec speaker systems and their crossovers. I have settled on biamplification for my home system. I really like the sound of a tube amp for the high end and solid state for the low end. I damp my horns by pouring in/on paraffin wax over the exterior surfaces. Cheap and easy and smells good if you go with scented wax. I would like to see a comparison of vintage compression drivers versus the new technology available today. Thanks, and keep of the good work.
CHLG, Thanks for the great history lesson. From Western Electric, to Altec, Altec-Lansing, to JBL (James Lansing's company), to Altec surrounding movie theaters to THX sounds moving in.
You guys are great!!! Wonderful history lesson on Altec and JBL. Thank you. And thanks for mentioning Art Dudley (RIP) and his Altec Flamencos. He loved those speakers and took a lot of flack from the audiophile community for it. The old horn speaker designs seem to connect the music to my brain like nothing else. I'm looking forward to more videos.
Good chat....love the content....was nodding my head all the way through. I had a cabinet maker friend build me a set of La Scala copy cabinets which i equipped with Crites drivers and cross overs. I filled the sub woofer gap with the Sunfire Super Junior sub. It has done a great job and seems to keep up well with the horn woofer by being a smaller 9" driver while having a very powerful amp. I haven't gone to ear splitting levels but I've aired it out pretty good a few times and I've got to say I think it works very well. Keep up the good work guys!
I remember listening to klipsch in the 80's. The dealer stated that Altec-lansing 14/10 and 14/12 did a better job of integrating horns and dynamic woofers than klipsch did.
Looking forward to seeing & hearing your system. I love talking & hearing about high sensitivity gear. When it’s done right there’s no better. (For my musical taste anyway 😊)
Our second episode has been out for a few days. We are still experimenting with the mics but you can clearly hear the difference between the two systems,
David, Depending on the placement of your speakers and the kind of room treatment you have implemented. I would start by reducing the port opening to 70 square inches and live with that for a month. If you feel you need more bass, go ahead and reduce to 50 square inches. At the end, what you like in your room is what matters.
Nice to see two friends having fun together. I built a pair of Speakerlab Khorns (6) years ago after I retired. You might enjoy seeing the Weebly web site my Grandson made documenting the build with Photos. Thanks
It was the introduction of Dolby Prologic and later digital sound on film that changed the loudspeakers almost overnight in cinemas. Prior to this, most cinemas only had mono optical sound. At best you just about made 100 to 150hz at the low end and 8-9khz HF. This was from the optical track on film, so speakers did not really need to be any better, and they were not. They were very efficient however, which meant many cinemas amplifiers were only 10-15 watts output, maybe 30-50 for very large halls. 1000-2000 seats. The main issue with 2-way speaker in these cinemas was they crossed over typically @ 500-600 hZ just at the point of human voice. So, the tone of voice would change as the frequency of the voice was raised and lowered as the voice shifted from the LF to the HF As Dolby, DTS etc came into the spotlight, these old speakers could not handle or reproduce the wide 30hz to 20khz now required or even play at higher levels. Entre the 3way speaker. A typical line up would be 2 x 15 inch bass units crossing over at around 250hz feeding up to a midrange horn often using a 6-8 inch driver feeding a horn. HF would then take over at typically 3 khz into a malty, or single cell horn. The crossovers would be active types built into the amplifiers. This combination would be truly HiFi, producing a very low distortion, high power sound system. As for using the old mono stuff in the home, WHY?? no bass no HF. Cabinets poorly made with no damping at all. All stuff from the past was not good. Good in its day of course, but these days modern loudspeakers are infinitely better in every way.
What a great idea for a TH-cam channel! There's so much history and so much engineering design with the different compression drivers and horn profiles. I'm really looking forward to hearing about your experience with a different Horn loudspeakers. Hopefully you'll be playing some music as well! I currently have a pair of Bruce Edgar Titans and a pair of Carfrae Little Big Horns, and I hope that you'll be talking about these in your future episodes!
I once used Edgar saladbowl horns with JBL 2420 drivers. Bruce came to a couple of our Chicago Horn Club meetings and was a wonderful guest with many great stories, some about old PWK (Paul Klipsch).
Good show ,honk,honk from horn land,i could understand your audio just fine and didn't expect the smooth silky magic of your rough voices to tickle my ears but i am tickled by the contents of your show .good job
Thanks to the great video I enjoyed it the room you recorded and looks like my room filled with cool junk I got some Altec 14 I think they're 14th I haven't seen him in like 10 years too much junk in the way but I'll get to eventually I build speakers and repair electronics for 55 years I'm an old timer I like horn speakers I did listen to some bookshelf because it did sound good and the base was good have a great dayKeep watching
Quite a few years ago I scored a pair of Renkus Heinz 2 way cabs with a 15 inch JBL bottom end and a Renkus Heinz multi cell horn and a R.H. driver. They sound phenomenal. I had them in my lounge for many years until I moved, now they are being used as my far field monitors in my little recording studio. I can't fit them into my lounge at my house, there's a door in the road, most inconsiderate. So my lounge is all JBL on a 7.1 surround system, except for the subwoofer, which us an old Cerwin Vega HT-S 12. Can make the whole house vibrate at rock and roll levels.
Wow! I'm glad this video showed up on my TH-cam. I Love horns, and have a pair of Electrovoice Sentry IV's. I also have a pair of Altec 288c drivers with the small 4 cell horns which I acquired free from a church that I believe was used as their original PA system. Also love Klipsch and I'm glad to hear you mention Danley; Danley Sound Labs are really something special, would love to hear your thoughts on their products too some day.
Hey, guys this was a great video!!! Can you guys talk about picking the right JBL woofer cone replacement and horn driver. Like the d130 woofer. Also would you guys go over the Hartsfield and the drivers that they came with.
Well done, guys. I grew up in McHenry, and in the late 1960s, I discovered that there was a speaker company on Route 120 not too far from Volo. You could walk in and buy scratch-and-dent drivers there. It was called Heppner Manufacturing. They invented something called a Dorrn which was a domed tweeter in a short horn configuration. I had no idea how to make a crossover or anything properly, but that didn't stop me from buying huge fifteen-inch woofers and attempting to make systems with them. When personal computers became available I bought an Amiga 500 and purchased a bass box program and I suddenly was able to make woofer boxes that worked.
So refreshing hearing your perspective on how motion pictures, for the most part, introduced high-fidelity and stereophonic sound to the general public with Westrex and RCA systems. I am so tired of audio content always pointing to the STAR WARS generation for introducing high-quality multi-channel to consumers. They forget about Cinerama, CinemaScope and Todd-AO sound quality in the 50's.and 60's being the true sound innovators. 70mm 6-track sound for roadshow movies like OKLAHOMA!, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS and CLEOPATRA can match the fidelity of any modern film soundtrack. Only subwoofer technology has made any major strides. I would argue that Westrex multi-track recordings with directional dialogue panning was a far better "gimmick" than Dolby Atmos is today. I think "Voice of the Theatre" sound is still distinctly impressive, but then again, I'm just an old school Hi-Fi guy myself.
My first exposure to high fidelity was in 1959 when I was 10 years old. My Dad took me downtown to see the roadshow showing of Ben Hur, which was 70mm anamorphic with 6 channel magnetic sound. I remember the opening blasts of the overture music (the score, by Miklos Rozsa is IMO possibly the best ever, equaled only by Korngold's The Sea Hawk) like it was yesterday. To this day changes to my system must pass the Ben Hur test.
Thanks for a great video highlighting horn speakers. I remember a college party back in the early 1970's that had a pair of Voice of the Theater speakers playing rock music of the day. It seemed like the band was there with you. I don't know what they used to drive them or what turntable, but they made an impression on me for sure. I had built several pairs of speakers with horn tweeters and crude attempts at reflex cabinets with 12" woofer/midrange speakers, but my student budget was too small to buy top end drivers and crossovers were a mystery to me.
1970s? I am guessing a Japanese receivers of some sort. Subscribe to our channel, we plan to cover of few high value speakers and DIY systems in upoming episodes.
Listening to you guys I'd never know you were from Chicago. LOL I'm originally from Joliet. Moved to California in the 60s to work in the audio industry. Cheers!
i own some recentelly restored to original specifications studio monitiors that my father when in 1970 assembled a home studio ,with quality components and this speakers were the Altec Lansing that you show in the start of the video or seen in the litle rectangles next to the video you´re seeing, those are now conected to a early 70´s yamaha C1 or C2 control and power amplifier, the sound of big boxes is several times better than modern litle powerfull speakers, as it was told this new ones were better but at one´s home isn´t as good as a listening room and they need more space to work and release 100% of their quality, if i wasn´t right why new old style speakers cost a lot of thousands of € or dollars , from brands like Tannoy, JBL ,Mission Klipsch, etc. the litle ones seem to not alone spread the flow of sound as efective as huge speakers with the same power
Maybe you should show your audience like a wave guide baffle that I designed over 30 years ago that’s used in a lot of speakers today. Good luck on your new channel.
All horns are wave guides but all wave guides are not horns. I believe Earl Geddes said that. Not sure we want to touch that topic right now. Perhaps you can share jpgs of your baffle?
Also forget to refer the JBL liason to altec lansing as the L in JBL means Lansing, which were some of the biggest i ever seen JBL speakers as studio monitors ,very similar to a home speakers well known from Pioneer Exclusive series 2401 twin speakers, the younger of this 70´s Exclusive series is a turntable known by many called the P3 ,bought in 1979, i still prefer big box speakers and i have some as my father spent in the 70´s a fortune in audio components that are now mine and i have now a colection of hi-fi components being the oldest from late 50´s, i have older but not in my colection but still in use a early 40´s philips radio very nice built with quality materials in the style known as ....(i keep forgetin`things)with diferent types of wood and litle metal insertions in the furniture "Art Deco" is it?a know style, very nice . the better done furniture from ghis brand is very expensive and so nice that still today it looks very good above new simple styles of design, like a huge table and a bookshelf or any other aplication as i have it filled with records and bellow the opening wooden doors have drawers in some section , the shelfs are protected with doors that are a big two pieces of old glass wooden framed, why it protects old records and music i have in diferent formats , humidity destroys all and this type of furniture allows one to see them and at the same time protected to heat or humidity
Believe I saw a "Voice of the Theatre" in the thumbnail, had to look... memories of being a DJ in my youth - the 70's! Man, it's hard to believe the SIZE of the stuff we used to lug around. I know you see this as better quality, but still. my main sound system today is a pair of AirPods.
I'm using a 12 inch car subwoofer in a proper vented box with 250 watt plate amp and it's sufficient to compliment my homebuilt khorns. My ears couldn't take anymore.
I own a theater from 1947 and had an rca horn loaded speaker. It fit in a cubbyhole behind the stare and was bi amped to the projector room. I sold the speaker and the amps way back. Way too big and only one. A past Tennant left 2 Peavy horn loaded speakers i added piezo horn tweeters too and crossed them off the midrange horn. They sound great.
I have heard one RCA speaker and it was bigger than a JBL paragon. I have also heard the RCA LC1s but in Jensen Imperial cabinets. They sound great but unfortunately exceedingly rare and out of reach of us mortals.
@ChicagoHornLoudspeakerGuys A guy paid me 1200 for it. It had a huge horn and a 15 inch horn loaded woofer. I think it ran on maybe 20 watts. I needed the money and it was in my way.
@ChicagoHornLoudspeakerGuys I think this is what i had. - Mi-9486 15-Cell Horn MI-9497 adaptor Mi-9458 compression driver MI-9457A Bass Bin MI-9449 Woofer
We plan to feature a EV based DIY horn system in the near future. Unfortunately neither one of us owned any EV commercial/consumer systems at the moment.
The A5s you saw in the video used to be an A7-500 that was in the Milwaukee School of Art. I swapped the 511B/808-8B with the 1005B/288C and then swapped out the 288C with the 288-16G. Please check out our second video.
Hey guys! I’m in the Chicago area and I design speakers. I’ve worked with horns from JBL and others. Let me know if you guys need any help with crossovers. These old systems left a lot of performance on the table due to poor crossover design. I can really make them sing!
Well the best way is open battle and that does utilize horns I know! but to improve a speaker like that the woofer needs to be in a slotted baffle it works a lot better, you get more bass better mid range. you can just put a ring around the front of the driver so it's about an inch and a half more narrow, so it's a bit like an inverted cone. or you can cover the front of the driver completely, just cut out 4 long slots nearly touching each other and a 2-¾ gap and you still need the overhang of half an inch in circumference. And make a ring for the mid range and tweeter horn so it's protruding about 3 in
I enjoyed the history lesson, but I’ve never heard someone talk about how to adjust a crossover or compensate for driver time misalignment in bass reflect mid/bass cabinets and the horns on top. I align my VOTTs, but so may speakers are not aligned.
Well, I'll have to tell the story about the Eleanor Powell double taps over WE monitors at MGM and John Hilliard's subsequent discovery of time delay distortion.
Good eye, besides horns Tom and I are also fans of the classic BBC sound. You missed the Kef 103.4s to the left of the 104ab. The sound of the classic British speakers are timeless: KEF (Raymond Cooke era), B&W (John Bowers era), IMF (Bud Fried era) are some of the best speakers ever with their smooth sound and precise imaging. They unfortunate lack the excitement of horns and will never be mistaken for the sound of live music.
@@ChicagoHornLoudspeakerGuys firstly, thank you and Tom for your time to educate us with your breadth of knowledge....i do now see the 103.2's...of which i have 2 pair and of course the aforementioned 104ab's, of which i have a pair as well and shall'nt release them from my grip ever.......i may have to spring for some horn speakers...of the lots of speakers in current possession, i can't count one that has a horn though i have flirted with the KG 4's but never pulled the trigger and had some non horn Frazier's (known for horns)....i am at a point that most at my age are at...i enjoy what i have, concert level or not, all my systems(all vintage) sound great.....i am picking up a vintage GE console and a Curtis Mathis console this weekend and as a project, will extract the speakers (non horn) and the tube amps from the console (past help).....in any case, keep up the great work and we look forward to your future installments...
And just for fun if you ever run across a Yamaha dspa1 amplifier and it's cheap get it it's mind-blowingly good I picked up one about 10 years ago cheap and repaired it the solder connections are all cracked on the display it was $3,000 back in the day it's got the best high quality Parts in any surround receiver I don't use the surround I just run it into2 Channel it's fabulous have a great day
Thanks guys! I recently built a Cornscala and now hooked on horns. I want to get a pair of altec 19s bad. Any idea where to find a good pair around Chicago/Milwaukee area?
It's hard not to have a soft spot for an old Chinese-American guy with a New Yoik accent, who looks a bit like Mao Tse-Dong & sounds alot like Elmer Fudd.🤔😉
Jerry, no Bluetooth speakers. The A5 and A7 are speakers designed to be used in movie theaters. They are typically placed behind the movie screen. Please check out our second video to give them a listen. We have modified them a bit so the would work better for a home environment.
Thinking the same thing. This video is all about sound, need better mics. Especially big guy on the left, man that mic is harsh. Can't take it anymore. But I do like the video, the history lesson and just two older dudes enjoying the sounds! Thanks
@@AtropalArbaal-dk8jv Right but audiophiles want EVERYTHING to sound good recorded/amplified/live. Voice is no exception. The video was aimed at those who enjoy good sound. AM or FM? FM or Streaming? Streaming or your own Source? This is what we do. We were not putting the two dudes down, NOT AT ALL. But let me say if the video sounded good to you that's all that matters.
A nice homey video with a friendly feel to it; & despite the distortion from the improperly set recording level on the gentleman on the left, this is a solid effort for your first time video.🌹
Lots of love & lots of luck with it!🤗
It's my first time watching ya guys and I liked your video so I gave ya guys the good ol subscribe and like. Look forward to seeing more from you. Have a happy holiday and happy new year.
Glad I found your channel very informative. I’ve been a fan of horn speakers since mid 70’s when I head some Klipschorns at the stereo store. Hope to hear your thoughts on horn speakers available today.
So glad I stumbled across your channel. Current AL Valencia 846a owner and previously owned a pair of AL Magnificents which because of military duty assignments I had to sell back in 1975 along with an all tube McIntosh system. My current purchase of the Valencia’s was based on Art Dudley’s articles which spoke clearly to what I was looking for in sound.
Wow this is amazing, really looking forward to the diy stuff.
Well, our next episode (planned for few days after Thanksgiving) will cover Tom's modified Santanas which we call Super Santanas. The Santana and the biflex driver get a bum rap and can sound very good.
Very nice history and overview. Thanks!
Thank you for a very informative video. I was familiar with parts of the Altec story but you filled in the gaps and detailed the time line. Looking forward to future sessions where you might detail some of the modifications successes and fails.
We plan our next episode to be about fairly simple modifications to improve the often maligned Altec Santana with the 15" model 420 Biflex driver.
I am blessed to own a pair of EV white whales (HR-9040) with massive DH1AMT compression drivers. Paired with modern waveguided Ti comp tweeters, LaScala bass bins, and a powerful B&C commercial cinema sub, all DSP/actively multiamped, they are delivering sound quality I never thought possible, let alone affordable. Would love to have you in for a listen if your travels take you to Colorado!
I build and modify Altec speaker systems and their crossovers. I have settled on biamplification for my home system. I really like the sound of a tube amp for the high end and solid state for the low end. I damp my horns by pouring in/on paraffin wax over the exterior surfaces. Cheap and easy and smells good if you go with scented wax. I would like to see a comparison of vintage compression drivers versus the new technology available today. Thanks, and keep of the good work.
CHLG, Thanks for the great history lesson. From Western Electric, to Altec, Altec-Lansing, to JBL (James Lansing's company), to Altec surrounding movie theaters to THX sounds moving in.
You guys are great!!! Wonderful history lesson on Altec and JBL. Thank you. And thanks for mentioning Art Dudley (RIP) and his Altec Flamencos. He loved those speakers and took a lot of flack from the audiophile community for it. The old horn speaker designs seem to connect the music to my brain like nothing else. I'm looking forward to more videos.
Post Sam Tellig days, I miss Art's writing the most.
Wow I'm in Chicago and love horns, youtube was smart enough to push this video to me!
Thank you so much. Fascinating, as many of us are not familiar with horn- loading. Look forward to future episodes.
Glad to find your channel right when you have started!
Good stuff... I look forward to the next episode!
Episode 2 was released a few days aho. You can compare the A5 vs the smooth out A7.
I don't know how this video found me, but i sure learned a lot!
Me too!
Good chat....love the content....was nodding my head all the way through. I had a cabinet maker friend build me a set of La Scala copy cabinets which i equipped with Crites drivers and cross overs. I filled the sub woofer gap with the Sunfire Super Junior sub. It has done a great job and seems to keep up well with the horn woofer by being a smaller 9" driver while having a very powerful amp. I haven't gone to ear splitting levels but I've aired it out pretty good a few times and I've got to say I think it works very well. Keep up the good work guys!
Great stuff! My dad was a big hi fi guy. The theaters had the best sound even in the 40s.
Excellent Episode 🎉
Thanks for all the information, I'm very happy to listen to you guys.😊
Great start! Lots of good info!
I remember listening to klipsch in the 80's. The dealer stated that Altec-lansing 14/10 and 14/12 did a better job of integrating horns and dynamic woofers than klipsch did.
Looking forward to seeing & hearing your system. I love talking & hearing about high sensitivity gear. When it’s done right there’s no better. (For my musical taste anyway 😊)
Our second episode has been out for a few days. We are still experimenting with the mics but you can clearly hear the difference between the two systems,
great information.
Thank for charing, it would be great to hear more detail on how to tune the A5 and A7 cabinets to get lower frequency.
David, Depending on the placement of your speakers and the kind of room treatment you have implemented. I would start by reducing the port opening to 70 square inches and live with that for a month. If you feel you need more bass, go ahead and reduce to 50 square inches. At the end, what you like in your room is what matters.
You guys are great!🏁👍 Thank you. 🫡The bigger, the more musical.🎵 🎵 🎶😁
Horns forever!
Nice to see two friends having fun together. I built a pair of Speakerlab Khorns (6) years ago after I retired. You might enjoy seeing the Weebly web site my Grandson made documenting the build with Photos. Thanks
Nice show fellas!
It was the introduction of Dolby Prologic and later digital sound on film that changed the loudspeakers almost overnight in cinemas. Prior to this, most cinemas only had mono optical sound. At best you just about made 100 to 150hz at the low end and 8-9khz HF. This was from the optical track on film, so speakers did not really need to be any better, and they were not. They were very efficient however, which meant many cinemas amplifiers were only 10-15 watts output, maybe 30-50 for very large halls. 1000-2000 seats.
The main issue with 2-way speaker in these cinemas was they crossed over typically @ 500-600 hZ just at the point of human voice. So, the tone of voice would change as the frequency of the voice was raised and lowered as the voice shifted from the LF to the HF
As Dolby, DTS etc came into the spotlight, these old speakers could not handle or reproduce the wide 30hz to 20khz now required or even play at higher levels. Entre the 3way speaker. A typical line up would be 2 x 15 inch bass units crossing over at around 250hz feeding up to a midrange horn often using a 6-8 inch driver feeding a horn. HF would then take over at typically 3 khz into a malty, or single cell horn. The crossovers would be active types built into the amplifiers.
This combination would be truly HiFi, producing a very low distortion, high power sound system. As for using the old mono stuff in the home, WHY?? no bass no HF. Cabinets poorly made with no damping at all. All stuff from the past was not good. Good in its day of course, but these days modern loudspeakers are infinitely better in every way.
What a great idea for a TH-cam channel! There's so much history and so much engineering design with the different compression drivers and horn profiles. I'm really looking forward to hearing about your experience with a different Horn loudspeakers. Hopefully you'll be playing some music as well! I currently have a pair of Bruce Edgar Titans and a pair of Carfrae Little Big Horns, and I hope that you'll be talking about these in your future episodes!
I once used Edgar saladbowl horns with JBL 2420 drivers. Bruce came to a couple of our Chicago Horn Club meetings and was a wonderful guest with many great stories, some about old PWK (Paul Klipsch).
Thank U 🙂
Good show ,honk,honk from horn land,i could understand your audio just fine and didn't expect the smooth silky magic of your rough voices to tickle my ears but i am tickled by the contents of your show .good job
Thanks to the great video I enjoyed it the room you recorded and looks like my room filled with cool junk I got some Altec 14 I think they're 14th I haven't seen him in like 10 years too much junk in the way but I'll get to eventually I build speakers and repair electronics for 55 years I'm an old timer I like horn speakers I did listen to some bookshelf because it did sound good and the base was good have a great dayKeep watching
Quite a few years ago I scored a pair of Renkus Heinz 2 way cabs with a 15 inch JBL bottom end and a Renkus Heinz multi cell horn and a R.H. driver. They sound phenomenal. I had them in my lounge for many years until I moved, now they are being used as my far field monitors in my little recording studio. I can't fit them into my lounge at my house, there's a door in the road, most inconsiderate. So my lounge is all JBL on a 7.1 surround system, except for the subwoofer, which us an old Cerwin Vega HT-S 12. Can make the whole house vibrate at rock and roll levels.
good job guys!
Wonderful work guys. I have an Altec video coming up myself shortly. 😊
My dad built a Karlson cabinet for 15" woofer and an Altec-Lansing Voice of the Theater horn on top.
Pictures?
Wow! I'm glad this video showed up on my TH-cam. I Love horns, and have a pair of Electrovoice Sentry IV's. I also have a pair of Altec 288c drivers with the small 4 cell horns which I acquired free from a church that I believe was used as their original PA system. Also love Klipsch and I'm glad to hear you mention Danley; Danley Sound Labs are really something special, would love to hear your thoughts on their products too some day.
We are planning on an episode on Danleys for the home
Hey, guys this was a great video!!! Can you guys talk about picking the right JBL woofer cone replacement and horn driver. Like the d130 woofer. Also would you guys go over the Hartsfield and the drivers that they came with.
Well done, guys. I grew up in McHenry, and in the late 1960s, I discovered that there was a speaker company on Route 120 not too far from Volo. You could walk in and buy scratch-and-dent drivers there. It was called Heppner Manufacturing. They invented something called a Dorrn which was a domed tweeter in a short horn configuration. I had no idea how to make a crossover or anything properly, but that didn't stop me from buying huge fifteen-inch woofers and attempting to make systems with them. When personal computers became available I bought an Amiga 500 and purchased a bass box program and I suddenly was able to make woofer boxes that worked.
The mighty Altec 890C Bolero, one of the best "small" speakers ever, used a Heppner tweeter.
Thanks for sharing. Subscribed 🔔📯🔊
So refreshing hearing your perspective on how motion pictures, for the most part, introduced high-fidelity and stereophonic sound to the general public with Westrex and RCA systems. I am so tired of audio content always pointing to the STAR WARS generation for introducing high-quality multi-channel to consumers. They forget about Cinerama, CinemaScope and Todd-AO sound quality in the 50's.and 60's being the true sound innovators. 70mm 6-track sound for roadshow movies like OKLAHOMA!, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS and CLEOPATRA can match the fidelity of any modern film soundtrack. Only subwoofer technology has made any major strides. I would argue that Westrex multi-track recordings with directional dialogue panning was a far better "gimmick" than Dolby Atmos is today. I think "Voice of the Theatre" sound is still distinctly impressive, but then again, I'm just an old school Hi-Fi guy myself.
My first exposure to high fidelity was in 1959 when I was 10 years old. My Dad took me downtown to see the roadshow showing of Ben Hur, which was 70mm anamorphic with 6 channel magnetic sound. I remember the opening blasts of the overture music (the score, by Miklos Rozsa is IMO possibly the best ever, equaled only by Korngold's The Sea Hawk) like it was yesterday. To this day changes to my system must pass the Ben Hur test.
Very nice! Faces to go with our chats on AUB, AK and the Haven. RonSSNova
Interesting video, thanks for making it. Although, I feel like Bjorn Kolbrek and Thomas Dunker deserve a mention/credit for some of the content.
We thanked Tom Dunker and others at the end of the video. We'll make a point to again give thanks to those who helped and influenced us. Thanks.
Thanks for a great video highlighting horn speakers. I remember a college party back in the early 1970's that had a pair of Voice of the Theater speakers playing rock music of the day. It seemed like the band was there with you. I don't know what they used to drive them or what turntable, but they made an impression on me for sure. I had built several pairs of speakers with horn tweeters and crude attempts at reflex cabinets with 12" woofer/midrange speakers, but my student budget was too small to buy top end drivers and crossovers were a mystery to me.
1970s? I am guessing a Japanese receivers of some sort. Subscribe to our channel, we plan to cover of few high value speakers and DIY systems in upoming episodes.
Listening to you guys I'd never know you were from Chicago. LOL
I'm originally from Joliet. Moved to California in the 60s to work in the audio industry.
Cheers!
i own some recentelly restored to original specifications studio monitiors that my father when in 1970 assembled a home studio ,with quality components and this speakers were the Altec Lansing that you show in the start of the video or seen in the litle rectangles next to the video you´re seeing, those are now conected to a early 70´s yamaha C1 or C2 control and power amplifier, the sound of big boxes is several times better than modern litle powerfull speakers, as it was told this new ones were better but at one´s home isn´t as good as a listening room and they need more space to work and release 100% of their quality, if i wasn´t right why new old style speakers cost a lot of thousands of € or dollars , from brands like Tannoy, JBL ,Mission Klipsch, etc. the litle ones seem to not alone spread the flow of sound as efective as huge speakers with the same power
Maybe you should show your audience like a wave guide baffle that I designed over 30 years ago that’s used in a lot of speakers today. Good luck on your new channel.
All horns are wave guides but all wave guides are not horns. I believe Earl Geddes said that. Not sure we want to touch that topic right now. Perhaps you can share jpgs of your baffle?
More, more!
Episode 2 is attached to the end of this video, check it out.
👍👍 Hmmmmm...........I think I know these guys 😊
Also forget to refer the JBL liason to altec lansing as the L in JBL means Lansing, which were some of the biggest i ever seen JBL speakers as studio monitors ,very similar to a home speakers well known from Pioneer Exclusive series 2401 twin speakers, the younger of this 70´s Exclusive series is a turntable known by many called the P3 ,bought in 1979, i still prefer big box speakers and i have some as my father spent in the 70´s a fortune in audio components that are now mine and i have now a colection of hi-fi components being the oldest from late 50´s, i have older but not in my colection but still in use a early 40´s philips radio very nice built with quality materials in the style known as ....(i keep forgetin`things)with diferent types of wood and litle metal insertions in the furniture "Art Deco" is it?a know style, very nice . the better done furniture from ghis brand is very expensive and so nice that still today it looks very good above new simple styles of design, like a huge table and a bookshelf or any other aplication as i have it filled with records and bellow the opening wooden doors have drawers in some section , the shelfs are protected with doors that are a big two pieces of old glass wooden framed, why it protects old records and music i have in diferent formats , humidity destroys all and this type of furniture allows one to see them and at the same time protected to heat or humidity
Believe I saw a "Voice of the Theatre" in the thumbnail, had to look... memories of being a DJ in my youth - the 70's!
Man, it's hard to believe the SIZE of the stuff we used to lug around. I know you see this as better quality, but still. my main sound system today is a pair of AirPods.
That pretty much sums up the new generation: AirPods and headphones. Us horn guys like to "FEEEEL" our music too. Hope you take the plunge with us.
Would love some speaker plans for diy projects , would love some input on make some and what drivers you would suggest .
An episode focused on Jensen would be interesting. Any chance?
I'm using a 12 inch car subwoofer in a proper vented box with 250 watt plate amp and it's sufficient to compliment my homebuilt khorns. My ears couldn't take anymore.
I own a theater from 1947 and had an rca horn loaded speaker. It fit in a cubbyhole behind the stare and was bi amped to the projector room. I sold the speaker and the amps way back. Way too big and only one. A past Tennant left 2 Peavy horn loaded speakers i added piezo horn tweeters too and crossed them off the midrange horn. They sound great.
I have heard one RCA speaker and it was bigger than a JBL paragon. I have also heard the RCA LC1s but in Jensen Imperial cabinets. They sound great but unfortunately exceedingly rare and out of reach of us mortals.
@ChicagoHornLoudspeakerGuys A guy paid me 1200 for it. It had a huge horn and a 15 inch horn loaded woofer. I think it ran on maybe 20 watts. I needed the money and it was in my way.
@ChicagoHornLoudspeakerGuys i just looked, it was far larger i think maybe 5 feet including horn and 4 feet wide.
@ChicagoHornLoudspeakerGuys I think this is what i had. -
Mi-9486 15-Cell Horn
MI-9497 adaptor
Mi-9458 compression driver
MI-9457A Bass Bin
MI-9449 Woofer
I would be interested in the electro voice regency 3 cabinets . a horn loaded port design , I believe designed by Paul Klipsch .
We plan to feature a EV based DIY horn system in the near future. Unfortunately neither one of us owned any EV commercial/consumer systems at the moment.
@@ChicagoHornLoudspeakerGuys thanks I look forward to it
We had a single altec for movie speaker at the Kansas State Union when playing films in early 80s.
The A5s you saw in the video used to be an A7-500 that was in the Milwaukee School of Art. I swapped the 511B/808-8B with the 1005B/288C and then swapped out the 288C with the 288-16G. Please check out our second video.
How do the multicell horns sound compared to round tractrix horns?
Had 846b’s back in the day.
My DCMs got me hooked on horns.
They only have horn tweeters.
Hey guys! I’m in the Chicago area and I design speakers. I’ve worked with horns from JBL and others. Let me know if you guys need any help with crossovers. These old systems left a lot of performance on the table due to poor crossover design. I can really make them sing!
Well the best way is open battle and that does utilize horns I know! but to improve a speaker like that the woofer needs to be in a slotted baffle it works a lot better, you get more bass better mid range. you can just put a ring around the front of the driver so it's about an inch and a half more narrow, so it's a bit like an inverted cone. or you can cover the front of the driver completely, just cut out 4 long slots nearly touching each other and a 2-¾ gap and you still need the overhang of half an inch in circumference.
And make a ring for the mid range and tweeter horn so it's protruding about 3 in
@jedi-mic, interesting concepts. To make sure I am visualizing you ideas accurately, can you include a rough drawing or if available, photos?
I enjoyed the history lesson, but I’ve never heard someone talk about how to adjust a crossover or compensate for driver time misalignment in bass reflect mid/bass cabinets and the horns on top. I align my VOTTs, but so may speakers are not aligned.
Well, I'll have to tell the story about the Eleanor Powell double taps over WE monitors at MGM and John Hilliard's subsequent discovery of time delay distortion.
Thank you. I see your Kef 104ab in background....your thoughts?
Good eye, besides horns Tom and I are also fans of the classic BBC sound. You missed the Kef 103.4s to the left of the 104ab. The sound of the classic British speakers are timeless: KEF (Raymond Cooke era), B&W (John Bowers era), IMF (Bud Fried era) are some of the best speakers ever with their smooth sound and precise imaging. They unfortunate lack the excitement of horns and will never be mistaken for the sound of live music.
@@ChicagoHornLoudspeakerGuys firstly, thank you and Tom for your time to educate us with your breadth of knowledge....i do now see the 103.2's...of which i have 2 pair and of course the aforementioned 104ab's, of which i have a pair as well and shall'nt release them from my grip ever.......i may have to spring for some horn speakers...of the lots of speakers in current possession, i can't count one that has a horn though i have flirted with the KG 4's but never pulled the trigger and had some non horn Frazier's (known for horns)....i am at a point that most at my age are at...i enjoy what i have, concert level or not, all my systems(all vintage) sound great.....i am picking up a vintage GE console and a Curtis Mathis console this weekend and as a project, will extract the speakers (non horn) and the tube amps from the console (past help).....in any case, keep up the great work and we look forward to your future installments...
And just for fun if you ever run across a Yamaha dspa1 amplifier and it's cheap get it it's mind-blowingly good I picked up one about 10 years ago cheap and repaired it the solder connections are all cracked on the display it was $3,000 back in the day it's got the best high quality Parts in any surround receiver I don't use the surround I just run it into2 Channel it's fabulous have a great day
Thanks guys! I recently built a Cornscala and now hooked on horns. I want to get a pair of altec 19s bad. Any idea where to find a good pair around Chicago/Milwaukee area?
We plan to feature the 846B and model 19 in a future episode.
@ I look forward to it! Got a pair you want to sell? Hahaha
It's hard not to have a soft spot for an old Chinese-American guy with a New Yoik accent, who looks a bit like Mao Tse-Dong & sounds alot like Elmer Fudd.🤔😉
Please…that mic is giving me Tinnitus!!!!
Are you sure it's not bitchitus?
It's kind of ironic that a video about speakers has over modulated and distorted sound lol
We'll get better as we go along, no sweat.
it´s subscribed
Are those Bluetooth speakers?
You guys seem very cooperative, nice collaboration!
Jerry, no Bluetooth speakers. The A5 and A7 are speakers designed to be used in movie theaters. They are typically placed behind the movie screen. Please check out our second video to give them a listen. We have modified them a bit so the would work better for a home environment.
Good content however because you are sound guys you might wanna balance your microphones....JUST SAYIN'
Thinking the same thing. This video is all about sound, need better mics. Especially big guy on the left, man that mic is harsh. Can't take it anymore. But I do like the video, the history lesson and just two older dudes enjoying the sounds! Thanks
@@user-rg4xn3ib4c Thanks for the comments. We endeavor to improve as we go along.
This isn't a classical composition.
Just two guys talking about horns
@@AtropalArbaal-dk8jv Right but audiophiles want EVERYTHING to sound good recorded/amplified/live. Voice is no exception. The video was aimed at those who enjoy good sound. AM or FM? FM or Streaming? Streaming or your own Source? This is what we do. We were not putting the two dudes down, NOT AT ALL. But let me say if the video sounded good to you that's all that matters.
Your microphone needs to be closer to your mouth, both of your mikes make you sound muddle. Please fix your mikes!!