new living voice prototype horns

Having owned ATC's and good horns, I would have to say if you thought about them whilst listening to the Oris Swings, then the Swings were unlikely to be really good.

Sorry to say but there is a noticeable step up IMHO when you move to large format horn loaded monitors, in pretty much all areas to my ears. In particular, detail retrieval and transparency get better. I'm not the only horn owning former ATC owner to comment on that - indeed sometimes we think it would be better to have something less revealing like ATC's.

So all round I would say that your reaction suggests the Swings are lacklustre compared with some alternatives. The important thing I guess is to get to hear as many as possible.

 

mike, no comparison intented at all, there is a huge difference between ATCs and swings in every aspect you are mentioning. you can drive comfortably in vw golf but for a real fun, there's audi a8.

transparency is dramatical - yes it's a common phrase but they do sound like electrostats with dynamics. they are very very detailed, it is just presented in a less demanding way - they are not taking your attention, even when details are actually imperfections with the recordings. the way that bad recordings couldn't distract you from the music qualities was a very different world from the ATCs. we didn't listen much of the audiophile recordings yesterday - certainly no diana krall and patricia barber - it was much more a variety of everyday, normal music.

with familiar recordings i've heard quite some detail that hasn't been there before - and i mentioned johnny cash because it is such a simple track, human voice, acoustic guitar and organ - not much to be discovered if you are familiar with the track, and it did make me jaw-dropped.

the area where ATCs came to my mind is i again confirmed my old thoughts they fundamentally sound right, meaning they don't make things up and don't make a fake show out of a music performance like many of their big competitors do. these horns are also very modest in this aspect, they don't sound spectacular on everything you play.

some cowboy junkies tracks we played clearly sounded bad because that's how they were done (the PC player we were using (XX something, dutch are raving about it) had a sort of jitter control and strangely any badly compressed music sounded more acceptable with a higher jitter), but as i said before, the music was there, you are not distracted with the faults as you are very often with the ATCs.

for a comparison with other horns out there, let's see. my recent experience included avantgardes, horning agathon and if they are to be counted - the old JBL 4343s, taken from the national radio in not so perfect condition and restored by an enthusiast - this is way, way above them all, in practically every aspect i can think of now. detail, transparency, flat response - agathons might have a bit more of a tonal flare and midrange seduction but i am not sure if that's not a lowther coloration, not to mention the uneven response that is clearly audible. there is a pair of avantgarde trios some 360 kilometers from me, i'm in touch with the owner but right now i have no time for a visit.

if you have a chance, do hear them - i think these are worth of travelling to netherlands to the manufacturer for a demo. i have no enough reference points yet for absolute conclusions and i do not want to sound patronizing but you may be very surprised. everything i've heard yesterday was really up to my taste, they are unagressive, uncoloured, fast, dynamic, involving, really made for long, long listening sessions and that's pretty much what i'm looking for. if they turn out to work in my 22m2 and if i get them for what i can afford (they are 18,000E ex-factory), my search for the new speakers will be over.

 

so.... on the subject of ''living voice prototype horns'' has anyone else gone to Definitive Audio and heard them yet?

 

He'd dismantled them last time I enquired Chris.

 

Regarding the speakers mentioned here, I heard close to top of the line ATCs, Coops description is absolutely right...

I also heard Avangarde Duo I think, and they sounded very dull, no life...

 

my last remark about oris swing, actually now i remember the only doubt i heard and i'd love to investigate a bit more. at 5-6m distance they integrate wonderfully, however when i pulled a chair to 3m it was very easy to notice a quite strong beaming of the upper horns. a change of listening distance would certainly demand a serious repositioning of the speakers, toe-in and most likely a height adjustment with swinging them aside.
it was too much hassle to play with it in a friends' room, but it is really a question how they gonna behive in a smallish room.

 

What crossover points is Bert using out of interest? Is it around 300hz then 7khz?

editted as I just saw your earlier post. For me that's asking too much. For all of his problems Romy is right in recommending multiple horns. I am keen to experiment myself, but in reality, no horn should theoretically be used to cover more than three octaves.

 

the designer was seeking for a particular compression driver capable of covering such a wide spectrum without losing an efficiency after filtering. the only alternatives were some monstruosly expensive GOTO drivers....
here's a pic of swinging swings from the previous incarnation of the system (with BP 300b on the shelf)

 

Anu, sorry I am a little slow are the Oris two way or three way, if they are three way where are the 15" drivers in a seperate enclosure.Keith.

 

the whole enclosure you see works as a bass enclosure for 2 drivers, frontloaded in the lower horn.

the upper horn is loaded with a coaxial 2" compression driver

 

Anu thanks,and they cross at 300hz , Keith.

 

300 hz and 7k

 

I would suggest that they are only front loaded for a maximum of half an octave - so it's more for show than anything.

Keith, the compression driver is co-axial - hence the lack of a third visible cone. How that works without compromise I'd love to know. I've not come across them before. Where does the horn for the top two octaves go?

 

Thanks Mike I thought I was missing something! Come to think of it I am sure you have pointed those co-ax drivers out to me before.

 

Yes it's a BMS 4592 but I've never found out how they accomodate the tweeter in the design. Need to research.

 

i had a similar comment.
strictly speaking, the answer is - yes, but there are other reasons why it is there.

 

http://www.asparaacoustics.co.uk/home.php


hmmmn ?

 

Did you hear them at Heathrow ? Hmmmmm indeed.

 

I thought they sounded quite promising at the background levels I heard them at. They're heart appeared to be the right place. Keith, they are only £6K. You have to accept compromises at that price.

 

Mike I know what you mean, just seems to me that when a horn is bad it can be spectacularly bad! I spent quite a long time in their room, ( shows I know no place to properly evaluate anything ) but the bass drove me out incredible boominess I believe they are selling them for far more in the US $25k I think.