Controversial maybe …..Round Horns Vs Rectangular 

 

The last few years of trialing numerous horn shapes , I am at the conclusion that Round Horns deliver greater sonic shortfalls.  

May seem illogical as all instruments Horns are Round  etc , however as much as I have tried to integrate Round Horns , their overall  symmetry simply lacks.

To me their sonic signature , more so their Radiation Patterns remind me of Electrostatic  ELS speakers , they are great within that darn small sweet spot.
I noticed excess beaming plus most annoyingly due to their required large mouth size ,  one is handicapped  to integrate an additional Tweeter driver due to the excess distances apart of driver acoustic centres.
Mid and Tweet integration is most paramount. I cringe upon seeing Tweeters placed next to Mid Horn mouth edges. 
But hey , it’s all a fun DIY journey and each to their own in good time.

 

A post out of DIY Audio I tend to agree with:

 

Wavelengths hate symmetry. Here's a short list of reasons why round horns are inferior:

1) round horns have symmetrical radiation. Generally we prefer wide horizontal beamwidth and narrow vertical beamwidth.

2) round horns suffer from a dip on axis. The dip is caused by the symmetry of the device.

3) a fraction of the energy radiated by a horn is reflected back down the throat. AKA "higher order modes." In a round horn, those reflections are symmetrical.

4) For a given footprint, a round horn may have narrower beamwidth because the volume of the horn is 29.3% less than a rectangular horn. (Because a circle has a smaller volume than a square.)

There's probably some other reasons I forgot.

For my money, rectangular waveguides are the best choice. They break up the symmetry and offer the widest beamwidth for a given footprint.

I'm also a fan of taking it a step further and breaking up the symmetry all the way to the phase plug, like Voishvillo does in the JBL ring radiators.

 

Over and out V 

 

Master Crowes latest 🤫rig

Looks like you been busy and having fun V! 

 

For me, I don’t know if there is a right and wrong when it comes to different types of horns.  I’ve had the chance to play with a few. Listened to as many as I can.  I find everyone listens differently.   there’s  fans and believers of every type..  even among the professionals…
 

My current take (in this forever ‘journey’) is front end pairing (mainly amp and pre) with horns is ever so more important… I have to eat my words about ‘no more tubes’, as currently have gone back to running a full tube setup including a tube rectified, tube output dac. 😂

I have also boxed up the 8” b&c woofer that is feeding the bass horn. Image and definition has sharpened up a few notches.  The bass energy isn’t deep enough and the RELs are doing an ok job but I would like to shift the rack to the side and put the big tapped bass horn in its place.  I think that’s next steps 😊 

Love the look of your setup Tuyen!!

 

Are you using Martins round Azura 160 as well as the square wooden midbass horn behind it?  Could you have used the 160 and then the tapped horn below that?

 

6 hours ago, tuyen said:

Looks like you been busy and having fun V! 

 

For me, I don’t know if there is a right and wrong when it comes to different types of horns.  I’ve had the chance to play with a few. Listened to as many as I can.  I find everyone listens differently.   there’s  fans and believers of every type..  even among the professionals…
 

My current take (in this forever ‘journey’) is front end pairing (mainly amp and pre) with horns is ever so more important… I have to eat my words about ‘no more tubes’, as currently have gone back to running a full tube setup including a tube rectified, tube output dac. 😂

I have also boxed up the 8” b&c woofer that is feeding the bass horn. Image and definition has sharpened up a few notches.  The bass energy isn’t deep enough and the RELs are doing an ok job but I would like to shift the rack to the side and put the big tapped bass horn in its place.  I think that’s next steps 😊 

 

Add a few extra electronics, you can match the height for the TV, electronics and the woofs. 

1 hour ago, Lansche plasma guy said:

Love the look of your setup Tuyen!!

 

Are you using Martins round Azura 160 as well as the square wooden midbass horn behind it?  Could you have used the 160 and then the tapped horn below that?

 

thanks mate. 
 

using both the 160s and the bass horns. 

 

>10khz - goto unit sg-160 
>1.2khz <10khz  - tad td-4002 with 550hz azurahorn lecleach horn

>250hz <1.2khz - goto unit sg-505tt with 160hz azurahorn lecleach horn

<250hz - b&c 8pe21 mid bass driver with azurahorn 50hz bass horn

<60hz Couple or REL T3 subs managed by Velodyne SMS-1.  
 

mainly all first order cutoffs 

 

On 1/12/2025 at 10:19 AM, tuyen said:

thanks mate. 
 

using both the 160s and the bass horns. 

 

>10khz - goto unit sg-160 
>1.2khz <10khz  - tad td-4002 with 550hz azurahorn lecleach horn

>250hz <1.2khz - goto unit sg-505tt with 160hz azurahorn lecleach horn

<250hz - b&c 8pe21 mid bass driver with azurahorn 50hz bass horn

<60hz Couple or REL T3 subs managed by Velodyne SMS-1.  
 

mainly all first order cutoffs 

 

You been busy too , lots of changes since last time 🤙

 I like the look of the big Azura 160 residing in the ABH. 

Cool new Tube amps and trick LM 129 Pre ☝️ stand out nicely.

 

Re your ABH  , if your top boxes allow for a 12” wide driver , you can try some of my spare JBL E120 , that go off from 50hz up , 103 db efficiency up higher in the bandwidth , to see if any good.

 

Sizeable  job in moving your Rack elsewhere ,  be nice if your cables length allows the move.

 

Me Still keen on those you know what drivers one day 🍀

 

happy days V 

Merry Christmas to all hornophiles down under!

Haha! Love it Tuyen.

Happy xmas to you and yours.

LPG

Did anyone over in Perth get to hear this in November?

Azura treble, mid and bass horns

https://fremantlebiennale.com.au/event/wallflower/

< Responding to Sanctuary and set within the historic P&O Hotel, Wallflower Sound System transforms the Corner Room into a vinyl-focused listening sanctuary. Conceived by Matthew Thomas (Highs and Lows), Angus McBride (Remington Matters) and sound engineer Jay Brangis, this atmospheric space offers Biennale audiences a sound haven to dip in and out of – a celebration of good music and the role sound can play in bringing us into the present moment.

At its heart is a one-of-a-kind, handcrafted high-fidelity audiophile sound system, made from Australian timbers in Remington Matters’ Fremantle workshop. This system celebrates the warmth and depth of vinyl in contrast to the compressed digital soundscape we’ve grown accustomed to. Soft cushions and beanbags invite you to recline into the experience, incense burns gently, and curated vinyl selections shift the room into an intimate and immersive space of listening.

The Wallflower Sound System unfolds over two weeks with special guest DJs and curators spinning selected records. >

4 minutes ago, Ian McP said:

Did anyone over in Perth get to hear this in November?

Azura treble, mid and bass horns

https://fremantlebiennale.com.au/event/wallflower/

< Responding to Sanctuary and set within the historic P&O Hotel, Wallflower Sound System transforms the Corner Room into a vinyl-focused listening sanctuary. Conceived by Matthew Thomas (Highs and Lows), Angus McBride (Remington Matters) and sound engineer Jay Brangis, this atmospheric space offers Biennale audiences a sound haven to dip in and out of – a celebration of good music and the role sound can play in bringing us into the present moment.

At its heart is a one-of-a-kind, handcrafted high-fidelity audiophile sound system, made from Australian timbers in Remington Matters’ Fremantle workshop. This system celebrates the warmth and depth of vinyl in contrast to the compressed digital soundscape we’ve grown accustomed to. Soft cushions and beanbags invite you to recline into the experience, incense burns gently, and curated vinyl selections shift the room into an intimate and immersive space of listening.

The Wallflower Sound System unfolds over two weeks with special guest DJs and curators spinning selected records. >

Is that Martin’s bass horn as well? It look as though the vertical throat is hidden behind the curtains. Good stuff

One of the best I ever saw / heard.

Unfortunately, only 2 pairs exist.

Edited December 27, 2025Dec 27 by Gandra

1 hour ago, crtexcnndrm99 said:

Is that Martin’s bass horn as well? It look as though the vertical throat is hidden behind the curtains. Good stuff

Yes, he's offering plans just contact him.

https://www.azurahorn.com/

similar one I believe can be seen in Azura gallery

40 minutes ago, Ian McP said:

Yes, he's offering plans just contact him.

https://www.azurahorn.com/

similar one I believe can be seen in Azura gallery

Thanks Ian, I am familiar. Great to see one in for the public

Holy Christ

Looking for generous donations to purchase, just kidding.

Pretty sexy

Just dreaming V

23 minutes ago, La scala said:

Holy Christ

Looking for generous donations to purchase, just kidding.

Pretty sexy

Just dreaming V

The bass cabs look like these - Joseph Crowe mid bass

35 minutes ago, La scala said:

Holy Christ

Looking for generous donations to purchase, just kidding.

Pretty sexy

Just dreaming V

Pretty easy (and would be fun if you had the real estate) to diy something similar.

It's always a real trade off with horn size. Horns that are too big usually make everything sound .......big. Great for big stuff. Not so good for little stuff. Also the wavelength of that mid horn would be a real PITA with the obvious solution to go active for time delay which i'm not really a fan of.

Would still love to hear it though.

LPG

Crossover points for the big 3 way system above is 135hz and 1350hz, which is really quite different to how typically the giant WE15a horn is utilised (ie. let it run unfiltered, so it plays to around 8khz with the WE555 driver before starting to roll off).

With the setup above, the small center positioned high freq horn would be doing 1.35khz onwards, so my guess is it would actually have a more typical modern ‘Hifi’ styled presentation - focused and decent “imaging” (ie. not everything will sound big like the typical traditional WE15a setups that use the horn to play a much wider band). Personally does seem like a bit of a waste to use such a big snail horn for essentially such a narrow band (135-1350hz). Definitely not for the space conscious!

6 hours ago, tuyen said:

Crossover points for the big 3 way system above is 135hz and 1350hz, which is really quite different to how typically the giant WE15a horn is utilised (ie. let it run unfiltered, so it plays to around 8khz with the WE555 driver before starting to roll off).

With the setup above, the small center positioned high freq horn would be doing 1.35khz onwards, so my guess is it would actually have a more typical modern ‘Hifi’ styled presentation - focused and decent “imaging” (ie. not everything will sound big like the typical traditional WE15a setups that use the horn to play a much wider band). Personally does seem like a bit of a waste to use such a big snail horn for essentially such a narrow band (135-1350hz). Definitely not for the space conscious!

Rekon the Hornsolutions WE 15A upper limit is not chopped at all via their XO and is rolled off via Le Horn, just looking at the Ai guff on these.

Yes as you mentioned , otherwise 180 to 1350 hertz span for that big snail would leave you severely short changed.

My WE 22a hornsies seems happy from 220 hz > 5.6 khz / 12 db however bass below is retarded by 4.730 milli seconds to all align and dissapear and sound as one rather wonderfully.

Horn Solutions Crossover Points

• Masterpiece Series Standard and Reference: These models use a sophisticated analog crossover system, "The Networks," to manage frequencies between the drivers.

  • Midrange (120 Hz upwards): Handled by the Horn Solutions 15A horn with a proprietary 666 DB compression driver.

  • High Frequencies (1.5 kHz to beyond 20 kHz): Managed by the Elysio HT10 tweeter horn.

• Masterpiece Mini Series: This smaller series uses a scaled-down, but still premium, version of "The Networks" analog crossover built into the speaker design.

  • Crossover Points: The system manages crossover points at 180 Hz and 1,800 Hz. 

Good stuff V

Tuyen , should come over to ear off the homie system , lots of new innovations at play for perfection.

Edited January 15Jan 15 by La scala
correction

hi V,

Hope you had a good new years..

Yes must make time to come visit. Start of year been flat chat…. Hopefully get a break soon and say come say hello.

Someone asked Swen who is owner/designer of hornsolutions re crossover points for the masterpiece setup, he stated those points below.

New home theatre speakers. JBL studio 590. Horn loaded from 1.5khz onwards. A really well sorted dynamic sound. Heard them ages ago at the aus melb Hifi show and was really impressed.

A local pair came up for sale so had to grab them!

On 16/01/2026 at 4:41 PM, tuyen said:

New home theatre speakers. JBL studio 590. Horn loaded from 1.5khz onwards. A really well sorted dynamic sound. Heard them ages ago at the aus melb Hifi show and was really impressed.

A local pair came up for sale so had to grab them!

Decent for the money....

I listened to these a few years back.

For me the 1khz bell dip is quite audible, especially when you side by side the speaker.

That listening session stopped me buying a pair.

DSP linearisation would fix this though.

From ASR https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/jbl-studio-590-speaker-review.47269/

Resonance - its worth looking at the THD too

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?attachments/jbl-studio-590-tower-home-theater-stereo-music-speaker-near-field-frequency-responsel-measurem-png.306647/

Edited January 17Jan 17 by Grizaudio