Lyrita Horn Speakers

[ranjeetrain]

You should be thankful you will still have a bed still. Some people would rather have a small recliner and two very large speakers

 

[captrajesh]

These would look in your room

Sure they do but don't want to test the threshold levels of tolerances of my wifey. With three pairs of speakers already at home of which one that she despises (The Aristas) and one more tucked under the telephone stand and the third sitting on the loft waiting to be built, if I dare to buy these, then I'll be made to shift myself (along with these and the other three) either to the terrace or the car park.:lol:

 

[viren bakhshi]

Hello everyone,

Thanks a lot for your encouragement!

There is something that has bothered me a lot about these speakers - the price. For Indian consumers, the price takes them out of reach for quite a few. I would have really liked to price them much lower - but, cabinet costs dictated the overall cost. These are large speakers, not huge, but larger than most systems. Difficult cabinets to make, especially the Horn Grande. To construct, and implement them right, took a lot of painstaking effort. A lot of credit goes to my carpenter, Babu Khan - he deserves to be paid well for his effort. That, and the burgeoning cost of wood, contributed to the price.

These speakers deserve to be heard by a wider audience - they offer a very different perspective to reproduced music over conventional dynamic speakers. Most of the perceived difference is due to the compression driver and LeCleach horn - it is almost a full range driver. So, for the DIY guys, to put together a more affordable system, I can offer the LeCleach wood horn. Something similar to the Horn Petite should be simple enough to construct. You pick your drivers, and control costs your way. (The Horn Grande is a lot more challenging to design - some experience in horn design is essential there).

These designs take you back to vintage speakers again - somehow, can't escape the brilliance of the old designs. Ask Rajiv - he has been spearheading interest in horns in this forum! Many thanks to him.

Regards,
Viren

 

[arj]

Hi,





Hope Viren plans to offer these speakers with options of using drivers/woofers from Altec,JBL, B&C, 18 Sound,Radian etc.

Prices will increase but then I am betting these speakers will be comparable to something like the Blumenhofer Gran Gioia at a fraction of the price.

Regards
Rajiv

Awesome Virenji..this is simply delightful to hear and congratulations to you in getting it there.

I also second the above I do have a question, although i know experimentation may not be an option for you,
In case there are changes to the Driver, would it be only changes in crossover OR would there be any chanegs in Dimensions of the speaker as well ?

 

[ranjeetrain]

There is something that has bothered me a lot about these speakers - the price. For Indian consumers, the price takes them out of reach for quite a few. I would have really liked to price them much lower - but, cabinet costs dictated the overall cost. These are large speakers, not huge, but larger than most systems. Difficult cabinets to make, especially the Horn Grande. To construct, and implement them right, took a lot of painstaking effort. A lot of credit goes to my carpenter, Babu Khan - he deserves to be paid well for his effort. That, and the burgeoning cost of wood, contributed to the price.

I don't think cost is too high, given the effort and expertise involved. In fact it seems quite reasonably priced to me.

If the same speakers come from a foreign brand name, people might be happy to accept them even at a slightly higher prices.

 

[viren bakhshi]

Some discussion about the bass response of these speakers. They use professional audio bass drivers, whose forte is high sensitivity, in the range of 96 dB/watt. They are big 12" and 15" woofers.

But, there is no free lunch! To get that high sensitivity, these drivers sacrifice low end extension. So, they roll off sooner than even smaller conventional hifi woofers. And, when you horn load these pro drivers, the sensitivity goes up more, but the horn rolls off the low end sooner. You pay one way or the other. That's why the two systems have a similar low end response, in spite of the different sized drivers. Though the free air rolloff is about 50 Hz, the room response is even to about 40 Hz, due to reinforcement from at least two room boundaries - the floor and side wall.

That's where the similarities end. The front horn loaded woofer has a power response that is far superior. Look at the size of the horn mouth - that's the effective radiating area. There is more definition to the bass, more texture, and the feeling of unbridled control. After listening to this system, no one can doubt that tube amplifiers are capable of awesome dynamics.

Regards,
Viren

 

[heliumflight]

Good going, Viren ji. Its great to know that now we have an Indian option to go the Horn speaker route. And knowing Lyrita products, sonic excellence is guaranteed imo.

Heliumflight, both the grande and petite versions seems to do 50 Hz according to specs posted.

Yes, as per the specification that is correct. Virenji explains it well, that in our efforts to extract higher sensitivity, there is a tradeoff of bass going low. "Though the free air rolloff is about 50 Hz, the room response is even to about 40 Hz, due to reinforcement from at least two room boundaries - the floor and side wall"

 

[sidvee]

What are the physical dimensions of the models l x w x h?
Cheers,
Sid

 

[malvai]

In that case, will we see a pair of either of the new creations of Virenji @ your place soon???? Time to move on from the resurrection's???

My good friend, I ask in all seriousness, knowing your fondness of big drivers

nah! won't move away from the R's.... but when I have some spare funds, I intend to buy a pair of Tannoy Gold monitors and ask virenji to make a pair with those drivers!

 

[viren bakhshi]

Yes, these speakers can be made with a choice of drivers. If we stay with the 600 Hz LeCleach horn, then it's a simple matter of changing the throat area to mate with a 1.4" or 2" compression driver.

For the bass driver too, the cabinet volume can be adjusted for the particular driver by increasing the depth of the cabinet. The front profile of the speaker, the Petite or the Grande, remains the same. If a ported design is recommended for the driver, the port can be downward firing, with a clearance of 2" to the floor.

Since everything is made to order, customization is readily done.

Here are dimensions of the current speakers:
Horn Petite.......WxHxD.......370mm(14.5")x1040mm(41")x600mm(23.5").....weight...30kg each
Horn Grande......WxHxD.......560mm(22")x1270mm(50")x550mm(21.5").......weight...45kg each

 

[Staxxx]

Dear Viren, what is your lead time for producing a pair please?

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Looking forward to your ownership report, Staxxx hyeah:

Here are dimensions of the current speakers:
Horn Petite.......WxHxD.......370mm(14.5")x1040mm(41")x600mm(23.5").....weight...30kg each
Horn Grande......WxHxD.......560mm(22")x1270mm(50")x550mm(21.5").......weight...45kg each

Can you post pictures of them in a room setting, to give a better idea of scale?

They really look great, not at all overbearing.

 

[Asit]

Hi Viren,

Just caught on this thread. Wonderful pictures of your new creation - the horn loaded speakers. They look exceptionally distinguished and in a way imposing. I am sure their sound also would be very distinct.

I do not have a lot of experience with horn loaded speakers. Recently I have heard a pair of huge-sized Avantgarde speakers fed by a Kondo amp at Audionote Singapore. They looked so expensive, I was afraid of even asking for their prices. The sound was very sophisticated, everything was perfect in an audiophile way. It was my own limitation that because of the music being played was IMO not very melodically rich that I could not connect emotionally with the music. Also the listening session lasted only about half an hour.

If you do not mind, would you care to post a link or two, or write briefly in simple terms a bit on the horn loaded speakers, how they are different from the construction philosophy of usual two or three way speakers and also single driver speakers like your Harmony, and how different is the sound? I know FM Rajiv also is an absolute expert of these speakers, any input from him also would be helpful.

I would be very eager to hear your new speakers along with the new amps you have made, if I have an opportunity to come to Delhi.

Regards.

 

[Staxxx]

Asit, the Avantegarde Unos did not last very long in my system. I don't know what it was and am yet to put my finger on it. Coming to horn speakers from dynamic cones is rather a change I suppose. However I am very keen on trying out high sensitivity speakers with a little-bigger-than-a-flea watt tube amp on a reasonable budget and therefore these speakers by Viren seem to be a wonderful place to start. (My main system is a powerhouse which the specs say has a power consumption of 1,900W at 1,200W! No wonder my electric bills are rather out of control). The fit and finish of these horns look superb...I am truly impressed and hope to audition them somewhere in the South if possible.

 

[himadri]

If you do not mind, would you care to post a link or two, or write briefly in simple terms a bit on the horn loaded speakers, how they are different from the construction philosophy of usual two or three way speakers and also single driver speakers like your Harmony, and how different is the sound? I know FM Rajiv also is an absolute expert of these speakers, any input from him also would be helpful.

Congrats Viren , the speakers look from another planet and am sure sound the same . For many of us who have never heard/come across horn loaded speakers, some inputs will be helpful.
regards
himadri

 

[viren bakhshi]

Hi Staxxx,

Even I couldn't warm up to the sound of the Avantgarde's. I've heard two systems in Delhi, but they've always sounded clinical to me, with enhanced detail. Not a sound which is natural, which you can relax to. The Lyrita horns are, in a sense, the antithesis to that sound - they sound rich, inviting, allowing you to get immersed in the music. That's what this game is about, isn't it? For putting either of these speaker systems together, I will need about 6 weeks.

Hi Asit,

You're welcome to listen any time. It's difficult describing differences in sound between these and other systems - though, when you listen, they're immediately perceived. The sense of "rightness", the impact of the performance, is there, allowing you to sink into the music. The system disappears.

It's the sense of flow, and scale, of the music that these horn systems display, that single fullrange driver systems can't match. Maybe, it's related to overall dynamics, driver linearity, no compression on peaks. It's just a more "alive" presentation of the performance.

Regards,
Viren

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

Thought you all might find this interesting. It's from an interview with Laurence Dickie, who worked on the B&W Nautilus speakers and then founded Vivid Audio.

Best system ever heard in you life?

After we had launched the G1 Giya in Seoul I was taken to visit a Mr Cheung who has one of the most impressive collections of Western Electric equipment in the world. He played me a cinema system with dual 18s on W-horns and twin 594 compression drivers on a multicell horn, all field coils and all driven by the original racks and a dCS front end. I have to admit I was blown away. The music was full of character but just came out and enveloped you. Truly amazing.

The Western Electric system Laurence Dickie described was designed and built in 1920/1930.

Welcome to Vivid Audio

As Viren has stated

"It's difficult describing differences in sound between these and other systems - though, when you listen, they're immediately perceived. The sense of "rightness", the impact of the performance, is there, allowing you to sink into the music. The system disappears."

Forum members are always welcome to listen to my system.

Regards
Rajiv

 

[Staxxx]

Rajiv, I am in Chennai for four days early next month. May I ask what your system is?
Thanks

 

[viren bakhshi]

Here's a picture of the Lyrita Horn Grande's, giving a better sense of scale, with a chair and LP cover for reference. Unusual speakers, but a reasonable size for a medium sized room.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Thanks! They are a bit bigger than I thought, but only a bit, and would still look great in any mid-plus sized room