Radial Horn Flares

Has anyone seen any RADIAL horn flares about for compression drivers, like the JBL cast metal ones, that don't cost too much?. Does anyone make them anymore?. Any GRP flares available now?.

The very first ASS horns were radials TRH 570 1" entry. Thousands sold, and many are still about. I guess there are people who have them and don't know where they came from, not that that matters. Because they are not CD there should be some available somewhere.

ebay for lots of old radials every now and then (JBL, Martin, ASS, etc)

Terralec still make a few pairs, here's a 1" screw fitting:
www.terralec.co.uk/loudspeaker_parts/horn_flare/16762_p.html

Or you can make your own Wood/Fibreglass ones if you're handy, there's a thread on the other place with lots of links.
www.speakerplans.com/forum/forum_posts.a...17680&KW=radial&PN=1

BP Sound has a couple of old metal ones, bit scruffy, big, make him an offer.

Deadbeat wrote: ebay for lots of old radials every now and then (JBL, Martin, ASS, etc)

Terralec still make a few pairs, here's a 1" screw fitting:
www.terralec.co.uk/loudspeaker_parts/horn_flare/16762_p.html

Crossover @ 3khz or above Edited by: levyte357

@lev - still radial, is it not?

I noticed we all are thinking of baby-bum extended radials.

What about selenium and eminence's 'Flat-Front' style ones?

Thanks for some feedback gents, I guess that radials are not in favour any more.



@Tony, do you think that the quality of sound that is produced using the cd flares is the same, better or worse than the old style radials, or would you consider that it just seems 'different'.
Maybe it's just my ears being shot after years of abuse, but they just don't sound like they used to. I've also noted a distinct deterioration in the levels of the plots on hf horns, they seem to be all over the place, whereas the old plots would be a lot flatter.
The best plot I've seen for ages is for the porn horn hf flare. Now that's what I call a reasonable response!. Has anyone heard this, and if so how does it sound?. Anyone else have an opinion?. Is it time for a retro revival?.

Simon, When I did the first horn in '75, it was a radial type like a JBL 2345. there were no sims, but of course there was the theory. The horn we did was a tractrix formula rather than radial or conical formula. In those days the true value of the horn was to be able to reproduce the frequency response of the compression driver as accurately as possible. On axis we achieved this and we had even response around 180 degrees but this was only at 1K. as these horns go higher they start to drop of at the edges until you reach 16k, at which point the response has become quite narrow. However when you were on axis to the horn you had accurate response.
What I discovered when I did the CD horns was, that it is impossible to get an accurate reproduction of the compression driver on axis if you want constant coverage. This, like a lot of things in sound, is the compromise. Consequently, the on axis response starts of with the hi end not as high as it should be. But if the CD horn is good, at least you get the same response all the way round. This situation was picked up on the early days, which is why processors appeared with CD horn compensation in them.
As a matter of interest, when I did my 2 CD horns, I just used my turntable and spectrum analyzer, put pink noise in from 1K up, eq'd until the response was flat on axis and then carved away until the response became even through 180 degrees. Whilst doing this, I also learnt how to embellish the sound with different shapes in the horn. A wide open mouth horn will sound much more mellow than one with a tight throat, which will emphasize the top end more.
That's my take on it anyway. I hope it's clear enough.

Deadbeat wrote: @lev - still radial, is it not?

I was referring to the item for sale at Terralec, not all radials..

Warning:Blatant thread Hijack...

In lieu of Professor Von Rossells research above, was wondering if anyone has used narrow format 2" horn like Paudio PH 2723, that sounds as nice as the JBL 2380?

PH2723



JBL 2380
Edited by: levyte357

I've used Eminence TI2000 which looks pretty simialr to the p.audio. Does fine with the BMS 4590 but single-diapragm 2" units might show noticable HF rolloff since the horn is CD. You could always add an APT as a supertweeter.

Also, 60 degrees is a bit narrow unless you have more than one per side and can splay them.