# Horn Placement



## nextproject (Oct 17, 2010)

3-4 years ago i had the straight fire minis in place...( mostly due to the larger Radians I borrowed from a friend)... Then got a hold of the neo ultras from Eric... So all 3 bodies were now on the menu... Tried the folded minis .. Good strong center but stage seemed a little off... Tried the full bodies(with my e brake removed from the car) and the singer sounded at least a foot and a half wide... 
So wrote off the Big bodies and went back to the folded minis. 
Ms8 had the reigns... 
The above was 3 years ago

After a recent conversation with Matt B he explained the big bodies firing at less of and angle and I may need to actually push them INWARD some since my feedback sounded like they were crossing paths to far back... So what the hell... I tried putting the Full bodies( cut down) clearing the now re installed E brake and gave it a shot...
WOW!!!! Stage straightened out, singer sounds normal size and its a lot more balanced left vs right!...along with a higher stage by a little...
Like a whole different radio! .. 
Sooooo glad I retried the Full bodies!... 
Other change was crossing the horns at 900 vs 1100 on minis..

Long story short... Its fun to experiment, and what didnt seem like a lot of change in position really changed how the horns sound...
I was contemplating going back to tweeters but NOT NOW 
Now onto trying to figure out a better midbass set up... And a whole new can of worms...
CANT WAIT!


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## subwoofery (Nov 9, 2008)

Horns and MS-8? 

Was it difficult to make it work? 

Kelvin


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## SQram (Aug 17, 2007)

Cool story, glad it worked out for you.

How do the horns sound tonally? I found the MS 8 really took the life out of the horns, but I know others have had better luck.


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## nextproject (Oct 17, 2010)

Yes MS8 and Horns...


I would say it works "ok"... I took a decade hiatus from the Stereo hobby and totally forgot what good sounded like.. Gave up tuning and went with Borgartt's suggestion of an MS8...
I was impressed by its 2 minute tunes... But the longer I listen to it the more I want to be able to tweak some stuff. 
All my friends who have never heard a car at your guy's level thinks its the best thing around ... 
I would say its very clear and gets pretty loud for SQ but its off...
Fortunately re trying the Big Body horns has balanced things out better than the minis accomplished... Lower crossover point may be some of the difference tho.
As for SQRAMS opinion of the life being taken from the horns... I think that's definitely the case. They sound softer and "prettier" than horns normally sound... 

For Subwoofery's question of "work"... I can quickly get a deeper and higher stage instantly with wide band tweeters ... I do admit I havent been too obsessive about ways to trick the MS8 into working. 

The MS8 has now become a quick tester of speaker placement for me so when I get things mounted and positioned the best I can get the MS8 to make them sound I will put in the Rane and give it a go knowing the set up should workout.

I still dont trust myself to determine with certainty if the problems I may get are placement limited or my novice tuning skills... 

I apologize for the rambled long winded answer


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## nextproject (Oct 17, 2010)

Oh and for tonality... My only big complaint (if this is a tonality category) is the rainbow wffect of the frequencies... Its pretty noticeable ....
Is that a horn issue or tuning issue?


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

It's a little of both.

I tried horns when I had the MS8 in my car. Technically it was pretty damned good- STRONG center high above the dash- like where my center channel had used to be. Tonally it was good too. But that life the horns had that I have grown to love all of these years was gone and I couldn't get the impact back with that processor. AndyW had commented a while back that the MS8 may have some problems with the horns because of their dispersion pattern...not what the MS8 is accustom to dealing with.

So...here I am. I love me some horns and love the multichannel setup, but the two seem to be mutually exclusive unless I get some Alpine processor and manual tune the system.

But I do have molds to work on for some straight entry minhorns. And after talking to Eric, when I build them, I think I am going to lessen up the crossfiring pattern because of how far them are pushed back under my dash...or would be pushed back under there.

And make 2 sets- one for me and one for Eric since he doesn't have either a straight entry mini nor minis with the lesser crossfiring of the big bodies.


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## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

My issues with horns and ms8 have been pretty well documented on diyma


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## nextproject (Oct 17, 2010)

Mic10is said:


> My issues with horns and ms8 have been pretty well documented on diyma


I remember seeing a few things here and there but I really need to go back and pay more attention... Maybe book mark them for reference.
Thanks Mic10is


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## nextproject (Oct 17, 2010)

thehatedguy said:


> It's a little of both.
> 
> I tried horns when I had the MS8 in my car. Technically it was pretty damned good- STRONG center high above the dash- like where my center channel had used to be. Tonally it was good too. But that life the horns had that I have grown to love all of these years was gone and I couldn't get the impact back with that processor. AndyW had commented a while back that the MS8 may have some problems with the horns because of their dispersion pattern...not what the MS8 is accustom to dealing with.
> 
> ...


I have gone back and forth if I was going to keep horns or go back to tweeters.
After hearing anpositive difference swapping out my horns last weekend it gave me some motivation to keep them and push forward.
I am a little bummed that the minis didn't work out as well (at least with the MS8 at this point) since theybwere so far under my dash they were not even visible. (Passenger side was slightly visible from a seated position).. 
Thats was nice... I still have a ton to learn but it was a good weekend.
I really really want to hear another horn car that is well set up... See (hear) what I have to look forward to!

I would like to see your straight fire set up when you do it!.. I am stuck between looking for another car for a fresh install or just trying to make the camry work better being its such a boring car and a good place to hide a stereo in.


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