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Sonic and musical performance as a whole is our top priority when evaluating
a system, and the Horning speakers deliver with aplomb. We agree
with one review, to quote - "you
hear the sound, but you also feel it all around you. It doesn't stay put in
front by the speakers, but kind of envelopes the listener."
Most visitors who have listened at length to the
Horning Eufrodite MK3
loudspeakers have a common question - what makes them deliver excellent bass
quality - texture, definition, resolution ?
Of course, bass is not everything, but the Horning's bass quality indeed can
catch one's attention, especially since these
Horning speakers are of
the high sensitivity horn design family. One visitor thought we were driving them with
hundreds of watts, but we were actually only using a parallel single-ended
20-watt tube amplifier.
We are very particular about bass quality, and we would rather have a system
with high quality bass than high quantity, average quality. A lot of
music are enhanced with the presence of bass or percussion instruments,
driving along the rhythm - jazz, vocals, country, rock, classical, etc. -
it's just inescapable.
We are certainly pleased with the
Horning speakers' bass
performance in both quality and quantity, never lumbering behind the other
parts of the sonic spectrum, which includes output from the very fast
heavily modified Lowther midrange drivers.
We noted that Tommy Horning, designer of the
Horning
Hybrid
range of products, shared our sentiments. To quote him - "Our starting point
was the outstanding dynamics and excellent bass impulse response of the
horn, an ideal basis for mid and high fundamentals."
Besides the
patented quarterwave loading system, what also contributes to the excellent
bass is the proper implementation of several short-throw bass drivers in parallel
on a
Horning
loudspeaker. This
results in minimal bass driver movement which means much lower distortion.
The cabinet is also undamped, and is an acoustic transformer by itself, and
with the minimal reflections, one can position the speakers much closer to
the wall.
The Lowther driver (normally full-range, but transformed into a
midrange driver in Horning speakers)
really needs no introduction, and it has been heavily modified by
Tommy Horning to enhance its performance. For many who are used to
more mainstream drivers, of whatever material - ceramic, rubber, diamond,
etc. -, it may take some getting used too. A good Lowther driver is
like a wide open window, no artificial sweeteners - its main characteristics are "speed, high
sensitivity, detailed reproduction, dynamics, and transparency (even at low
levels), immediacy. It can give you the feeling that the
musicians are more present ... lifelike."
The tweeter is Tommy's
own design, an uncommonly used cone tweeter.
The best thing that we like about the Horning speakers are the way they
inject new life into records (audiophile or non-audiophile mastering)
previously thought of as sounding "flat". The
Horning speakers guarantee
rediscovery of one's album collection.
We can go on describing the sound or the design, but we would rather have
you drop by and listen ... and they are still getting better each day.
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For more insight into the design
details of a Horning loudspeaker, Marshall
Nack of Positive Review described it very well in
his review of the Horning Agathon Ultimate
speakers.
Click Me! to read more about it ... |
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