Quote Originally Posted by pure sound View Post
You can look at it the other way round. Someone might feel that a carefully implemented crossover or a well designed output transformer (for example) were tools that might be used to take advantage of the particular attributes of a drive unit or a particular output device like a Direct Heated Triode and without them the benefits of those items might not be realised.

With regard to horns, you wouldn't dope the horn. You'd hope that it was fairly inert though. However it will still have a driver behind it and that might benefit from mechanical treatment in just the same way as it might in a conventional direct radiator. Indeed the profile of the horn chosen might be used to extend or limit the bandwidth or sensitivity of a particular driver by strictly mechanical means!

With drivers dozens of different cone materials and profiles have been tried. Trying to control cone behaviour & break-up invariably seems to involve adding mass in one way or another. ie heavier, stiffer materials, ribs, doping etc. These treatments certainly will alter the sound just as applying correction via electrical means will. I still keep going back to paper cones which, when they do misbehave, do so in what seems a predictable & natural way. Adding mass will compromise the fineness of their resolving power though.

I suppose the reason I like multi-way horns is that when used with drivers having lightweight diaphragms & powerful magnets, they can produce adequate SPLs with the minimum of cone movement so a reduced chance of distortion through diaphragm deformation or through the voice coil having to move in the less linear parts of the magnet gap.

With regard to the directly driven electrostatics, its an intriguing idea & I'd like to hear them if only to learn whether it addresses my reservations about electrostatic loudspeakers. Having seen some of Nick's other work (well pictures of it) I'm sure he's more than capable of implementing it safely. I'm not sure it'd ever be a commercial product but then people do make plasma tweeters so who knows?

EDIT. I did once hear some Beveridge System 2's which had 200W valve amps built into the bases and which may have been directly coupled. They were by far the most impressive electrostatic speakers I've heard, not without flaws but head & shoulders clear of the usual Quads & Martin Logans.
Quote Originally Posted by Dr Bunsen Honeydew View Post
Then they are necessary, that is not the point of this thread. They will become unnecessary when an individual finds a way to do without them. In that case would you hang on to them just for the sake of it.

The rest of your post I agree with.


That was my question earlier.