Can anyone explain this?..

[gakere]

Hi all,

When I run both the 15's and the horns on my A7's at moderate volume (bi-amped), let's say 95dB, everything sounds great, but when I run the horns by themselves at the same volume level, they sound very nasty and irritating to my ears (grainy), almost like they are working too hard?

Really weird.

Best regards,
Pat

[GM]

Not working hard, they just have lots of 'coloration' due to material resonances and internal reflections that is really obvious without the masking effect of the more acoustically powerful lower fundamentals (assuming the two systems are tonally balanced).

GM

[gakere]

Thanks GM, I thought that's what it is, but then I started thinking about phasing plug distortion (whatever that sounds like...) or diaphragms out of alignment.

Pat

[Steve Schell]

I agree with GM. Another factor is that you may be running the h.f. section louder by itself than when the woofer is also playing. In general, it seems amazing when listening to the h.f. or l.f. sections of a two way system by themselves that they would ever sum together to sound as good as they do when played together.

[djnagle]

I got four 10 cell RCA horns out of my daughters gym and when I set them up in the family room, timmy and frazzeled. They were the 220 hz horns and I thought they would sound fine but noooo. When I hooked up a couple of PV W-woffers and cranked them up to the same level, they blew me out of the house. Cheers.