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I have difficulty choosing between Image Dynamics horns and Dynaudio 3-way. Does anyone has experience in them? Can PhazeAudio tube amps drive them to the best quality sound?
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I dont care for horns even a slight bit, so, I'll recommend you to ANY component system. I've not heard a set of horns that outperformed even the cheapest set of components. Yes, your tube hybrid should run either pretty well.
------------------ STILL waiting to hear a GOOD pair of HLCD's!!
If it dont fit, force it... if it breaks, it needed to be replaced anyway...
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Well IMO like with any speaker and with SQ in general what sounds good to one might not to another. I got the change to sit in what is going to be the over all points champ in USAC Debbie and Dwane Varadan's Integra for a good 45 mins + while Dwane demo the car for me. It sounded good in the respect of staging and imaging. I prefer the sound of a good staged component system more though. There is a distinct difference. A horn is something I would not consider buying till I heard some. And from what I have been told they can be a bear to eq and get right.
------------------ _____________________ Member of "Team Underconstruction" Can you say 172dB outlaw 160's+ legal in a yugo? We can:-) 1999 USAC Finals Qualifier Usac Sactioned Judge -----Judged----- 1999 Spring Break Nationals 1999 Midwest Regional 1983 Camaro-152dB old system..new system on the way. -Irc Chat Room- chat.talkcity.com ports 6667,6668,6669,7000 Room Name #auto-audio I am the room coordinator for this room. Stop by sometime and say hi...We are busy after 9:00cdt usually.
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Read my post above...Teh Varadan's...Spelling might be off on that are the current points champs for USAC. They are the first vehicle to get 600 points in USAC and have been to and did VERY good at shows. But they also have a KILLER install. Just cause they won or anyone else for that matter with a certain brand or type drive means you will.....Just keep that in mind...
------------------ _____________________ Member of "Team Underconstruction" Can you say 172dB outlaw 160's+ legal in a yugo? We can:-) 1999 USAC Finals Qualifier Usac Sactioned Judge -----Judged----- 1999 Spring Break Nationals 1999 Midwest Regional 1983 Camaro-152dB old system..new system on the way. -Irc Chat Room- chat.talkcity.com ports 6667,6668,6669,7000 Room Name #auto-audio I am the room coordinator for this room. Stop by sometime and say hi...We are busy after 9:00cdt usually.
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I use image dynamics horns, and I love them. The imaging is perfect, the transients attack you, and if installed and eq'd right the overall sound quality is 2nd to none. They do take time to set up, it's not just through them in and call it a day. You will have to take some serious time. You don't always need a 1/3 octave EQ to get them right. I used an Audio Control EQL and did fine.
As far as people who have used horns and won: Earl Willis, Mark Eldridge, Andrew Otwell, Harry Kimura, Todd Mattsbura (Spelling) 99% of all SpeakerWorks Winners, Richard Clark, Eric Stevens, William Bibb, Jim Adams, Just to name a few
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I'll try out the ID horns with AudioControl EQX and Butler Tube Driver. My installer will have to do a pretty good tuning to convince me to buy it. And no obligation too, hehehe.
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Hey that sound like a Good deal there. I was thinking about the doing IDQ horns and I could and still can get then for $400. But....I decided on doing components. See how that goes and then if dont go good (I am sure it will) going to try horns...
------------------ _____________________ Member of "Team Underconstruction" Can you say 172dB outlaw 160's+ legal in a yugo? We can:-) 1999 USAC Finals Qualifier Usac Sactioned Judge -----Judged----- 1999 Spring Break Nationals 1999 Midwest Regional 1983 Camaro-152dB old system..new system on the way. -Irc Chat Room- chat.talkcity.com ports 6667,6668,6669,7000 Room Name #auto-audio I am the room coordinator for this room. Stop by sometime and say hi...We are busy after 9:00cdt usually.
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If you want really good sounding horns, get the Illusion Audio horns. The Illusions sound tons better than an ID horn that I have ever heard. Also check out the Veritas horns as well.
ID horns have this nasty resonate sound to them. Everyone that I have heard sounded like this, including Brantly Miller's car. I dunno, see what you like. If I were to buy horns, they would be Illusion horns, but I really want the Dynaudios myself.
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Posts: 7993 | From: Charlotte,NC USA | Registered: May 1999
| IP: Logged |
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One must compromise with both horns and conventional drivers. Those that claim horns sound like garbage have probably never heard a set that were tuned properly and matched with the proper midbasses and subs. After playing Jazz for 9 years (winning several awards along the way), I feel that I am qualified to decide if his big band sounds like a big band in my car. The horns allow him to play loud, crisp, and dynamically. He sounded good with my old set up of conventional drivers as well, but there was a big void in dynamics, timbre, and feeling. The horns are very aggfressive, but so is Manyard. With about 8 hours of EQ on a pair of 30 band eq's, I would compare the sound quality with any set of components. People who criticize the sound of horns generally have not heard them set up right. If you want to make a negative comment about horns, I suggest that you listen to a car done by Eric Stevens, the Holdaways, or any of the other people who build horns. It is very rare that someone who has horns will bash conventional drivers; however, it is almost standard for people with conventional drivers to bash horns. These are just my observations and can be taken however you please.
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That's why my signature includes STILL waiting to hear a GOOD set of hlcd's... I just havn't heard the right car/horn/eq/midbass setup yet. I do believe that horns image wonderfully. Too bad all of the ones I've sound like a transistor radio in a tin can. I look forward to listening to Debbie Varadin's car at the USAC finals...
------------------ STILL waiting to hear a GOOD pair of HLCD's!!
If it dont fit, force it... if it breaks, it needed to be replaced anyway...
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Not saying all horns sound bad, just some brands sound better than others. I like tthe Illusion horns a lot. My old Image Dynamics are in my closet waiting for someone to buy them. When $$$ is involved, a car with horns is going to cost more (on average) because good horns start at $800, the mid basses $200 and up, seperate amps, EQs, tuning time, etc. The price of doing a full blown horn system beings to reach dimishing returns fast. But that is just my opinion.
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Posts: 7993 | From: Charlotte,NC USA | Registered: May 1999
| IP: Logged |
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That's the crossover I used, and I only used one amp, a Punch 40i, and no it wasn't underpowered, clipped, distorted or whatever it sounded pretty damn good, and got plenty loud enough. I was also able to have a system that sounded really good and only 5 speakers, the CD-1e horns, the IDQ 6 1/2's and an IDW-15 all from Image Dynamics. My horns, midbass, with the crossover only cost me $425 brand new from an authorized dealer. Just my thoughts.
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When you bash horns, you need to think about what you're saying. It costs more to run horns???? Yes, if you are going to use a seperate channel for all of your drivers sure, but that continues through for conventional drivers. A set of horns set up correctly can do things that conventional drivers fall short in many regards. It is EASY to get stage depth from a set of horns.....not so with conventional. It is relatively easy to get width.....depends on speaker location of conventional drivers. Tonality is USUALLY a tad better with conventional drivers right out of the box. Conventional drivers are going to give you a little more life....where i believe horns give you the bare minimum which is recorded. They are rather dry where SOME conventional drivers add a little life and make the reproduction ear friendly and add that extra bit of "grin" factor. Some cars just have the right combination going for them....and its been my experience you can do more with a conventional driver than you can a horn.
We are still using horns in our Expert division car and its doing very well. It employs the Veritas W1.5-75VD horns along with the AB-218 midbass in the floor. This is driven by Kicker ZR amps and USD processors. My newest car is going to hopefully use the KCG mids with a ND-25a tweeter with Kicker ZR amps and either USD or Audiocontrol processors. I'm going the conventional driver route for the first time in my life for a competition vehicle.
------------------ Tim Dreager Autosound Audio Technologies Omaha, NE
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After all the good ideas and suggestions, I decided to choose the Dynaudio 3-way. A set of horns was installed yesterday and tuned for my listening but the sound is just not right for me. Imaging is good but I still prefer the conventional components with better clarity. Thank you for all the support.
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Eli, Horns generally have pretty low power handling but extremely high sensitivity. I don't believe I've seen a horn with a higher power rating than 150 watts. I could be wrong though.
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