Summer fun with horns!

[Panomaniac]

What else to do on a hot, sunny summer day but take the horns out to play.

We were doing a little demo of voice horns. The little Dayton Audio 16" round horn vs my Altec 803 + 290-8K driver. On voice and some bugle music.


Nothing but the 2 horns, a Bogen amp, Mackie mixer, wireless mic and an iPod.
The amp is switchable 70V or 8 ohm. We used 8 ohm for the Altec (no transformer) and 70V for the Dayton. Of course it was not contest. But the Dayton did OK considering the low cost, low weight, small size. Amazing for price and size.


The 803 really reaches right on out there. Were were running 100-105dB on speech 4ft in front of the horn. Almost 600ft away thru the trees and over water it was clear as a bell. No distortion, perfectly intelligible. Actually, we did not try the Dayton that far, just listened to it in the parking lot.

My buddies were pretty amazed at the Altec. Its size, weigh and most of all, clarity. "It sounds just like what you put into it" was one comment. At first I ran it with a series cap to high pass it at about 400Hz. It actually sounded better without the cap (voice only). The Dayton sounded better with the high pass cap. The little Dayton horn sound just like it looks, a nasty old public address horn. Kinda fun, really.

I was afraid of driving it too hard, but maybe should not have been. If we were at ~100dB @4', we were probably only averaging 1 or 2 watts. Did not measure power, but should have.

Near the end of the test 3 of the guys were standing talking about 25' in front of the Altec. They could hear themselves in the horn being picked up by the wireless mic, which was behind the horns. Crazy.

Thought you guys might enjoy that. We may actually try to install some Altec horns at an old NASCAR track here in North Carolina. Could be a fun project.

[Altec Best]

Double that distance and your at a 1/4 mile

[artlab]

Sounds like fun! I'm inspired to try out some horns with my 290's. I originally bought them for a "Voice of God" art piece that has yet to be realized. Thanks!

[analog addict]

Kinda makes me wonder what my VIT's with 299's are capable of.....

[Panomaniac]

Well the specs on the old 290 says that you can do 82dB continuous at 1/2 mile! But that with 4 drivers on the horn. ;

Running 100dB on the midrange was painful up close. I couldn't take it. Get back 75-100 feet and it was fine. In fact it sounded great. The 803 has a broad peak centered on 1KHz that is about 5dB hot. I always EQ'd that at home, but that peak sure punched the voice tight out there.

We were not just having fun, it was also a test and learning experience. There is a project in mind. Read on, if you are interested.

The project:
There is an old NASCAR track in North Wilkesboro, NC. In fact the very 1st NACAR championship was won there, in 1948. The track closed in 1996 and is rarely used. But a bunch of race nuts have gotten together and leased the track to run some races and a driving school. They need some PA to cover the middle part of the home stretch and some odds and ends of stuff in the infield. But they have almost no money. Of course.

We are trying to help them out. Donating some gear (a couple of amps, mixer, etc.) and labor. After hearing the Altecs, we are thinking that we could cover the seats we need with 3 horns. We've done it before with 3 Meyer CQ boxes. But the Altec horns just sound so good in the vocal range, you know?

So my 803/290 combos may end up at the racetrack. But I want another 300Hz horn for the center, a 1003 would be great if one can be found at a decent price. Later, we'll build some horn loaded long throw 12" woofers to fill in the bottom end. Does not need to go low, maybe 75-100Hz. Just to flesh out the voice a bit. From the horn position, it would be about 130 feet to the back of the grandstand. Should not be a problem.

So it's a cool idea anyway. Historic racetrack from 1948 gets a vintage Altec P.A. What could be better? :2thumbsup:

[Earl K]

Great Project Pano !

The 803 has a broad peak centered on 1KHz that is about 5dB hot.

I call that the articulation curve .

Good stuff this .

- An ancient poster here ( from that Aussie pro sound company that used Altec gear until just recently ?? ) once commented off-hand ; that based on his extensive experience, Altec multicells threw a coherent voice further and held their pattern longer ( within stadium settings ) than any of the newer Constant Directivety type horns they tested ( MantaRays being the other horn mostly used in their comparisons ) . I hope I paraphrased him correctly . ;

- Chalk one up for pure exponential .

Anyways, as things progress please keep us up to date .

<> EarlK

[gearfreak]

Great experiment, thanks for posting the results!

[Panomaniac]

Hey Earl, thanks for the info! Yes, that 1K bump does help the articulation.

Below is an idea of coverage. The shaded area is 70 degs, the patten given for the 803 horn. If I'm reading the map scale right, the distance to the abck of the stands is ~250 feet, not 130 as I posted earlier. Or about 1/2 the distance we tested yesterday.

I really doubt one horn can do it, but 2 or 3 should be OK. Maybe run the center horn at 16 ohms and the outside horns at 8 ohms to shade the power a bit.

Any advice from the old pros is welcome.

[Altec Best]

They need some PA to cover the middle part of the home stretch and some odds and ends of stuff in the infield. But they have almost no money. Of course.

We are trying to help them out. Donating some gear (a couple of amps, mixer, etc.) and labor.

Hey Pano, Would a couple of 203B's be better suited for this app? And considering money maybe an issue.You could pick up some of those pretty cheaply.A few bills certainly a lot cheaper than 803's. I think they would reach the seats without any effort at all.Would this work better you think ???

[Panomaniac]

Yeah, I did really consider the 203s. Once I saw how wide 70 degs actually is at this distance, I wanted to go tighter. Never heard the 203, tho....

Maybe a 1003 in the center flanked by 203s on either side?