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Does anyone know of a huge theater style set-up similar to the Shearer Horn of the mid 1930's ? I can't remember the name of it, but I've seen a picture somewhere on the internet.
Read the article on the Shearer horn at audioheritage.org and it's pretty interesting for an idea that started in 1933.
Just out of curiosity, do any of the Shearer Horns still exist? Where?
Thanks for the help.
Guy
Occasionally you see one on ebay, but not often. Big systems like 210's are rarely sold intact unfortunately - too expensive to ship and too large for the average home. Someone had one for sale here a while back, or something similar. They are still around, and there's even a guy in Italy reproducing the old WE snail horns that went with WE 555 drivers.
The concept of the Shearer is pretty common in some PA and pro music systems except on a smaller scale.
The closest thing to Shearer horns today, used mostly for Disco type sound systems would be the Levan Horn, originally made by Richard Long of RLA,NY, these were used in Studio 54, Paradise garage, Palladium, etc! He copied the RCA W horn and upsized it for 18,s, and tuned it to his specification!
Some sound designers still have these cabinets made today, for double 18,s, they are in Crobar, NYC and Miami, Spirit NYC, Stereo in Montreal, and a few others!
Its a W horn, with an extension giving the mouth a width of 8-10ft ft, they are massive cabinets, produce incredible amounts of output, but are only designed for, and only good for sub bass! I have heard these many times, they can be good, and can be bad, too! A system with these must have a tremendous amount of full range ontop of them to keep up, and they only work well in large rooms! If the room is too small, they dont work right!
It isnt something you could have in your house! And if you did, you would get noise complaints from a mile away! A buddy of mine installed two of these in a small club on Long Island, they had to cut the bottom back, people were calling from areas of up to a mile away complaining about noise!
Personally, these types of cabinets have a sound on the bottom, but it isnt what I`d call Hi Fi, and I honestly think they would be too colored sounding for home use! Theatrical audio for dance clubs!
http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/s...?t=3770&page=1
The stack with the quad box of 15,s has the Levan Horn under it! Monster cabinets!
Hey guys, just so you know, I'm not thinking of putting a huge cabinet like that in a house. Maybe in a pole barn if I lived out in the country w/ lots of acreage........ I was just curious and wanted to see more photos and learn a little about them. I see design cues from some of the old stuff that is similar to ones we have today. There is a site called "Molinear" that's incredible. The size and scope of what this guy did for what appears to be a home stereo is amazing. He uses some of the old snail-style horns, but they're made out of wood.
Why?
(Not why are they made out of wood, but why the old snail-style horns? )
Guy
The old WE horns were exceptionally efficient, and some prefer the sound as the WE 555 is highly thought of. But they didn't go extremely low or high - more of a midrange horn (100-5000 hz freq. range with an efficiency of 25%). They also need a significant delay on any accompanying drivers as the horn is ~12' long. They were used with a pair of 18's and a high freq. driver.
http://history.acusd.edu/gen/recordi...3/390-01d.JPEG
Why would this guy use "snail-type" horns in his set-up?
http://www.theanalogdept.com/molinier.htm
From what I have been told, but cant say for sure, as I have never heard or seen WE555,s they say the WE555 had the best sound you could want to hear. Exceptionally liquid sounding is what they are described as!
The I would think the guys who like to use really low power tube amps, like amps that produce 2-3 maybe 5 watts per channel need the extreme efficiency the snail horn provides!
Of course, if one has the money, and you like the sound of the REALLY old stuff, there is a certain " COOL " factor involved! You just wont see this stuff everywhere!
There is a whole school of vintage audio buffs into field coil drivers! Field coils are supposed to sound even better than the best vintage permanent magnet driver designs!
The one similar to the Shearer was the Mirrophonic ('W'fold bass horn).
The Shearer had distributed port slots for out-of-phase LF rearwave
whereas the Mirrophonic just had exposed LF drivers (for ease of maintenance
& economy of depth behind screens).
Baffle panels helped minimize LF cancellation (this Shearer/Mirrophonic format sounds better than the later bass reflex designs IMO).
The best bass IMO is horn loaded infinite baffle ( a more idealized iteration of the Mirrophonic which I use)