G'day Riley
Thanks for your thoughts in the 2445.
A few questions:
I wonder when you say high levels are we talking in a home environment or sound reinforcement context? I'll be using these for home audio.
What horn were you using and what is a DeltaMax clone box please?
Cheers.
As you suspect Mazza the DeltaMax speakers I described were a 'PA' speaker, your basic 15" woofer in a vented box with a 2" throat compression driver for high end. It was widely recognized as a sort of best of class design but in a world where weight counts for as much as sound quality it didn't quite achieve market dominance ( it was absurdly heavy for its size). While the EV DH1 had a very slightly longer 'nose' or throat length from the diaphragm to the throat end it's improvement in sound quality was apparent pretty much without regard to the horn it was used on and conversely the 2440/41/45 drivers tended to exhibit their 3-6khz ( that's where I hear it most prominently, others may have a different sense of it ). I've been using the JBL 2" drivers since the 1970s starting with 2440s on the old 2350/2355 metal radial horns and venetian blind lenses right up thru 2441s on DDS horns on KF850s and assorted stage monitors and eventually 2445s on JBL 2380/85 horns. They all exhibited a similar distortion or in hifi terminology a 'confused sound' in the upper mid that the DH1s and TADs didn't have. Moving the crossover frequency up to the 1600 hz range would allow operation at slightly higher levels before the effect was apparent but it never went away entirely.
Can you hear this at living room hifi levels? Yes/No/Maybe. I'd imagine that depends largely on what levels you listen at and the kinds of music you listen to. TLDR version - If you already have a DH1 and don't have any 2445s as yet you may be happier finding another DH1 for a custom speaker build than going for 2445s.
Hah, just scrolled up and reminded myself you already had a pair of 2445s. Forget I said anything.
Hi Riley,
Great information, many thanks. I am very fond of and respect EV product greatly.
In fact it was a chance purchase of a pair of SX80's for $60 that got me hooked on horn loaded speakers. Their relative control of the HF directivity had me hooked from the moment I listened to them and their build quality is commendable. I still use these in my workshop.
My current home theatre main speakers were inspired by them and use the same (Eminence made?) EV8L woofer.
Regarding the 2385 I understand that it is a diffraction horn from a different era and therefore sufferers from higher order modes (HOM) as SPL rises as set out in this paper by Dr Geddes.
I completely accept your experience with this horn but I do have great respect for the 2385 as a horn for use at home, Strauss couldn't be wrong, right?
The Calampos also uses this device with great results, albeit both use a different CD....
On this basis, for hifi use I'm excited to try the 2385 and the 2445 with my new woofers!
The 2445 falls off pretty steeply after 10k as most 2" drivers. You can use the high sensitivity to compensate for most of that but from my experience the result may be less than stellar. 2-way systems with 2" drivers are difficult to get working for HiFi. Especially with the older horns IMHO.
I would suggest to add a UHF (077/045) driver on top for HiFi use. Can be done by simple 6db XO with a capacitor adding were there 2" starts dropping.
I also suggest to take a closer look at 2380 as an alternative, as pointed out by Berry.
Or get a 1,5" driver (aka 2447, 2450SL or 2451) to geed a modern waveguide (JBL #5006815, $45) and be done. No UHF needed and if you add a "SL" (coated) diaphragm you will put most other systems on the grand stand. XO at about 1kHz.
If you are into experimenting you can put an alu dust cap on your 2226's to change the higher mid and test.
Kind regards
//Rob
The solution to the problem changes the problem.
-And always remember that all of your equipment was made by the lowest bidder
Hi Rob,
Thanks heaps for your suggestions.
Did you see my earlier posts in this thread for measured frequency response for my 2445's and 2385's?
I believe I'll be able to passive EQ these into a nice extended flat response, with a little house curve to taste...
What do you think?
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