What is a horn loaded enclosure? I have heard of them before, and I was browsing PartsExpress.com, and the term just kept coming up. So if you guys would like to enlighten me, what is a horn loaded enclosure, and what are some of the advantages and disadvantages of such a setup?
Replies (7)
cplkittle on 12/24/2006 08:50:31
There are two enclosures referred to as horns that I know of, but you never seem to run across them..
The standard ported box can be referred to as a horn enclosure if the port gradually increases in size.
The other is called a folded horn. This is basically a 4th order bandpass where the ported side vent gradually increases in size.
swez on 12/24/2006 11:21:31
The "Wicked One" from Deware Engineering is a very good example of folded horn engineering. Note the complex chambering and vent structure.
http://www.decware.com/whorn.htm
Corner loaded horn enclosure:
http://decware.com/newsite/cornerhorn.htm
Swez
Ash on 12/24/2006 14:00:32
They are quite complex & cumbersome and are mainly used for DJ/Pro sound applications. There are a few designs like the Decware one Swez mentioned, but I don't think they are necessary in car audio. Impressive maybe, but definitely over the top in build.
Victor on 12/24/2006 15:50:22
Horns, Very few people actually care to know about them...
They are a classic example of how one can acoustically increase the amplitude of sound without altering the electric signal or power.
A Horn consists of the following parts..
A Rear chamber which encloses the back wave of the speaker..
A compression chamber, where the front wave is compressed
A Expansion Chamber where the compressed wave expands,
And a Horn Mouth, which opens to the exteriors of the enclosure into the listening envisonment..
I would disagree with kittle regarding a ported box being a horn loaded enclosure if you gradually increase the port dimension..
A horn loaded enclosure specifically only acoustically amplifies the front wave and not the rear wave unlike the ported enclosure.
Calculating and constructing a horn loaded enclosure if very very complex and though, a rare few have the knowledge and ability to successfully construct a horn loaded enclosure.
I got a lotta research material reagrding the same, If you are interested i could mail them to you, but it needs a good knowledge of physics , math and sound basics to understand them...
Victor...
ShootuhMcBustaCap on 12/24/2006 17:14:38
I'm interested in that just to increase some generel audio knowledge. I want to get into designing my own home theater/ prosound towere and subwoofers, I have been expeirmenting with tweeters and the like all week as I came across a cache of old home audio tower speakers I forgot I had.
swez on 12/24/2006 20:49:22
As Victor mentioned, these are very complex enclosures to design and make properly. They are often very efficient when designed and built well. However, the key to getting above average performance is time alignments and horn throat impedance modeling.
Plan on lots of research time and you may have to purchase build plans too. The guys who do this well, spend many hours on the drawing board and fabrication time. This is an order of magnitude harder to design and fabricate, than the typical car boxes most use.
One good thing about using these ideas in Home Theater applications, the low frequency drivers are often extended range model subs with high Vas values. One can choose wide angle horn mids and tweeters for added dispersion characteristics. Some horns can go well down 500 Hz.
There are also coaxial horns available from Pro Audio dealers as well. The efficiency levels on most Pro horn systems are over 103dB @ 1 watt. Depending on power handling, they can get pretty expensive too.
One of the best places to browse would be the Parts Express catalog or web site for speaker building kits, components and you name it.
http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?WebPage_ID=30
Swez
ShootuhMcBustaCap on 12/24/2006 23:06:23
Thanks guys, this should get the old brain food satisfied for a while. Time to have some fun!
Replies (7)
cplkittle on 12/24/2006 08:50:31
There are two enclosures referred to as horns that I know of, but you never seem to run across them..
The standard ported box can be referred to as a horn enclosure if the port gradually increases in size.
The other is called a folded horn. This is basically a 4th order bandpass where the ported side vent gradually increases in size.
swez on 12/24/2006 11:21:31
The "Wicked One" from Deware Engineering is a very good example of folded horn engineering. Note the complex chambering and vent structure.
http://www.decware.com/whorn.htm
Corner loaded horn enclosure:
http://decware.com/newsite/cornerhorn.htm
Swez
Ash on 12/24/2006 14:00:32
They are quite complex & cumbersome and are mainly used for DJ/Pro sound applications. There are a few designs like the Decware one Swez mentioned, but I don't think they are necessary in car audio. Impressive maybe, but definitely over the top in build.
Victor on 12/24/2006 15:50:22
Horns, Very few people actually care to know about them...
They are a classic example of how one can acoustically increase the amplitude of sound without altering the electric signal or power.
A Horn consists of the following parts..
A Rear chamber which encloses the back wave of the speaker..
A compression chamber, where the front wave is compressed
A Expansion Chamber where the compressed wave expands,
And a Horn Mouth, which opens to the exteriors of the enclosure into the listening envisonment..
I would disagree with kittle regarding a ported box being a horn loaded enclosure if you gradually increase the port dimension..
A horn loaded enclosure specifically only acoustically amplifies the front wave and not the rear wave unlike the ported enclosure.
Calculating and constructing a horn loaded enclosure if very very complex and though, a rare few have the knowledge and ability to successfully construct a horn loaded enclosure.
I got a lotta research material reagrding the same, If you are interested i could mail them to you, but it needs a good knowledge of physics , math and sound basics to understand them...
Victor...
ShootuhMcBustaCap on 12/24/2006 17:14:38
I'm interested in that just to increase some generel audio knowledge. I want to get into designing my own home theater/ prosound towere and subwoofers, I have been expeirmenting with tweeters and the like all week as I came across a cache of old home audio tower speakers I forgot I had.
swez on 12/24/2006 20:49:22
As Victor mentioned, these are very complex enclosures to design and make properly. They are often very efficient when designed and built well. However, the key to getting above average performance is time alignments and horn throat impedance modeling.
Plan on lots of research time and you may have to purchase build plans too. The guys who do this well, spend many hours on the drawing board and fabrication time. This is an order of magnitude harder to design and fabricate, than the typical car boxes most use.
One good thing about using these ideas in Home Theater applications, the low frequency drivers are often extended range model subs with high Vas values. One can choose wide angle horn mids and tweeters for added dispersion characteristics. Some horns can go well down 500 Hz.
There are also coaxial horns available from Pro Audio dealers as well. The efficiency levels on most Pro horn systems are over 103dB @ 1 watt. Depending on power handling, they can get pretty expensive too.
One of the best places to browse would be the Parts Express catalog or web site for speaker building kits, components and you name it.
http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?WebPage_ID=30
Swez
ShootuhMcBustaCap on 12/24/2006 23:06:23
Thanks guys, this should get the old brain food satisfied for a while. Time to have some fun!
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