3 way horn loaded mid top

My thoughts:
Problem is, a 3 way hornloaded cab with budget drivers and no perfect DSP settings (!!! this is what seperates "toys" from pro audio gear) wont be any better than a serious two way reflex cab with high quality drivers and a proper x over. Neither SPL wise, nor sound quality wise.
But it will be more heavy, expensive and less flexible etc.
So you should scratch the idea of a budget horntop. Either make one which will have benefits over any 2 way cab, which means it will cost xtro like money or even more (even for the xtro there are no full DSP settings available and the dispersion of the MF and HF horns doenst match perfectly) or build a nice "standard" 12" 1,4" reflex cab.
The cheapest 3 way horntop i would advice to use is the Limmer P3. But again, it wont be any louder than a reflex top.


Edited by corell - 20 November 2016 at 8:56pm

corell wrote: My thoughts: Problem is, a 3 way hornloaded cab with budget drivers and no perfect DSP settings (!!! this is what seperates "toys" from pro audio gear) wont be any better than a serious two way reflex cab with high quality drivers and a proper x over. Neither SPL wise, nor sound quality wise.

Edited by Andy Kos - 20 November 2016 at 11:27pm

At the end of the day, if OP needs all in one mid top cab for wine bars/pubs, reflex 15", with 8" on horn, and 1", all in one, will work fine.

So would meaty 2x12" reflex, with nice sounding Beyma 2".

However, to cover 350-450 people, 2x MT121s & 2x ES18s per stack, would be industrial solution, and still sound nice doing, inside or out, in right engineer's hands.


Edited by levyte357- - 21 November 2016 at 12:14am

Andy Kos wrote: corell wrote: My thoughts: Problem is, a 3 way hornloaded cab with budget drivers and no perfect DSP settings (!!! this is what seperates "toys" from pro audio gear) wont be any better than a serious two way reflex cab with high quality drivers and a proper x over. Neither SPL wise, nor sound quality wise. I would disagree. In terms of SPL, the benefit was not huge, adding the 8" between 15" and 1" provided a more overall volume, but nothing to get excited about. However I found that putting the 8" horn between 15" and 1" did provide a huge benefit sound quality wise.  Why? To get a 15" with decent thump around 100Hz you need a mid-bass 15", you dont want the cone too light or too heavy, there are plenty of options - but most of them start lacking as you go up in frequency. If you go for a 15" thats efficient in mid-range (again plenty of options) they almost all lack thump in the kick-bass region. One way or another you end up compromising on something. Assuming you want/need the 'kick' - you have to pick the right driver for this, which means your vocal range will start to suffer. The 8" comes in here, it's approx 5-6dB more sensitive than a direct radiating 15", and can run from 300Hz to just under 3kHz - this puts a big chunk of the vocal range onto just one drive unit - and paper sounds smoother than compression driver on vocal. With some exceptions (there are some amazing comp drivers out there - but pricey) most cheap-medium comp drivers tend to honk at various points between 1200Hz and 3000Hz. Some are better than other, but most have there problems in that range, and I find that many of them leave me with short term tinnitus after listenign tests due to distortion in that range. The 8" paper cone does not suffer from the honkiness of compression drivers, and I found I could listen for longer and much higher SPL without any short term tinnitus. Where you have the 8" covering the vocals, you then dont need to compromise on compression driver and find one that will go low enough to meet the 15" - you can focus on selecting a nice sweet comp driver that sings above 3kHz and will go all the way up to the top sparkly frequencies. I found the 3 way with 15" + 8"+1" compared with 15"+1.4" had much greater vocal clarity and much nicer to listen to. SPL difference wasnt huge, but I could turn it up higher without hurting my ears. Also with the comp driver running higher, it could be pushed harder without fear of failure.

I think comparing a 2 way reflex top to a hornloaded 3way top is a bit apples and oranges.

There is no way you are going to get a reflex cab to kick as hard as an xtro. Also with prerecorded music at least; I much prefer the sound of precussion, pianos, xylophone, bongos ... pretty much any sound involving something being struck though an 8 inch horn.

I dont mix bands or anything like that but I can imagine people that do would rather not do it on an xtro.

levyte357- wrote: TBH, I don't rate Xtro at all, primarily because 8" & 1" Sections are woefully inadequate, compared to 15" Section. OP wants all in one mid cab. 15"+8"+1" is one route, 2x12"+2" is another route, with probably higher SPL overall. You would be surprised what cab loaded with 2x Fane 12MBs & Beyma CP750TI can do. Simple build, smooth sound, very decent SPL.

the 2x12" will outplay the 15"+8"+1" on pure SPL. My 2x12" prototype is a pair of Oberton 12NMB35 and a B&C DE620TN - it's not heavy and extremely loud for what it is.

The 15" + 8" + 1" gives more control and a smoother tone that's easier to listen to.

It does depend on what you want to achieve, if pure SPL is your objective, there is one solution, but if you want mid-high that maintains clarity over distance and has controlled dispersion, then there is another solution.

For more nearfield applications I would choose the 2x12", but if I wanted to array 2-3 tops per side, and get more projection, then the 8" horn will do the job better.