I love to post emails from satisfied customers:
Niko has this to say about his Diy folded horn adventure:
1/23/2015
Hello Mr. Inlow,
everything is now ready and working properly with the folded-horn!
On 31st we will have the first event where I'll be using the horn. I'm pretty excited to hear it in action!
Here are some pictures.
What can I say more, it sounds the way I wanted, like a horn should.
It's massive to be honest and built like a tank! I hardly can believe I could ever get it wrecked, thanks belongs to you! Great job, you made an ambitious project come true.
I bought the DSP and the amp separately as it's easier to optimize the delays and eq's when working on multiple pa-systems. I wired the elements to be in parallel, so the impedance dropped in half.
About the discussion on the internal bracing: I miss read the picture and didn't notice the structure, it's covered now.
Amp - CREST AUDIO PRO-LITE 3.0, it doesn't have as much power as I was planning, however there's enough to vibrate anything that's not bolted to the walls.
DSP - BEHRINGER DCX2496 ULTRADRIVE PRO as a DSP, one of my friend recommended this for it's features. A Behringer is always a Behringer, but the price was cheap and it can be operated through computer.
Thank you and have a good day!
All the best,
Niko Pettersen
Hello Mr. Inlow,
everything is now ready and working properly with the folded-horn!
On 31st we will have the first event where I'll be using the horn. I'm pretty excited to hear it in action!
Here are some pictures.
What can I say more, it sounds the way I wanted, like a horn should.
It's massive to be honest and built like a tank! I hardly can believe I could ever get it wrecked, thanks belongs to you! Great job, you made an ambitious project come true.
I bought the DSP and the amp separately as it's easier to optimize the delays and eq's when working on multiple pa-systems. I wired the elements to be in parallel, so the impedance dropped in half.
About the discussion on the internal bracing: I miss read the picture and didn't notice the structure, it's covered now.
Amp - CREST AUDIO PRO-LITE 3.0, it doesn't have as much power as I was planning, however there's enough to vibrate anything that's not bolted to the walls.
DSP - BEHRINGER DCX2496 ULTRADRIVE PRO as a DSP, one of my friend recommended this for it's features. A Behringer is always a Behringer, but the price was cheap and it can be operated through computer.
Thank you and have a good day!
All the best,
Niko Pettersen
From: Mark H Wilson
Sent: Saturday, July 16, 2011 7:21 PM
To: John Inlow
Subject: Review :-)
John, I want to give you my impressions of your horn system. Here is a clue, to write this I literally had to leave my listening room. Your horns do not permit multi-tasking. When they are playing its like I'm transported into another dimension. I'm placed into an alternate world where I'm simply spellbound. I am not exaggerating.
I've heard some very nice systems like the Nola Grand Reference and Avantgarde Duo's. I have to say your horns have a mojo I haven't heard the likes of. They draw one into the music so deeply, its trance like. And this is not occasionally, its every time I listen to them. I wonder if its the paper mache. Somehow that material in a large format tractrix configuration just doesn't add any coloration to speak of. And since its covering 500hz up with such dynamics and resolution, it's mezmerizing.
With your horns there is a dynamic vividness coupled with a tactile 3-D presentation to an extent I really have not heard elsewhere. In every piece I play, I feel the humans who produce the music. That goes for every genre, classical, pop, metal, etc. And the recording technology doesn't seem to make much difference. For example, your horns have brought the Chuck Berry era back so real for me, no longer is that 50's music just quaint, its like I'm experiencing the excitement of the birth of rock and roll, the thrill of the electric guitar, sax and drum set. Instead of academically understanding various musical forms from a musicological perspective, you are living it. You experience it beyond the intellectual domain. It is like, "oh, now I see".
Something else special about your horns. They provoke uncontrollable emotional responses. I've witnessed this with myself and others in the room. You want to dance, play air guitar, conduct, sing, weep, etc. Folks just start moving and singing along.
John, your horns are truly life enriching. I feel so fortunate to have them. They do present a problem for me though. Somehow hours pass by when I really only intended to listen for 30 minutes. Household chores are not getting done.
Sent: Saturday, July 16, 2011 7:21 PM
To: John Inlow
Subject: Review :-)
John, I want to give you my impressions of your horn system. Here is a clue, to write this I literally had to leave my listening room. Your horns do not permit multi-tasking. When they are playing its like I'm transported into another dimension. I'm placed into an alternate world where I'm simply spellbound. I am not exaggerating.
I've heard some very nice systems like the Nola Grand Reference and Avantgarde Duo's. I have to say your horns have a mojo I haven't heard the likes of. They draw one into the music so deeply, its trance like. And this is not occasionally, its every time I listen to them. I wonder if its the paper mache. Somehow that material in a large format tractrix configuration just doesn't add any coloration to speak of. And since its covering 500hz up with such dynamics and resolution, it's mezmerizing.
With your horns there is a dynamic vividness coupled with a tactile 3-D presentation to an extent I really have not heard elsewhere. In every piece I play, I feel the humans who produce the music. That goes for every genre, classical, pop, metal, etc. And the recording technology doesn't seem to make much difference. For example, your horns have brought the Chuck Berry era back so real for me, no longer is that 50's music just quaint, its like I'm experiencing the excitement of the birth of rock and roll, the thrill of the electric guitar, sax and drum set. Instead of academically understanding various musical forms from a musicological perspective, you are living it. You experience it beyond the intellectual domain. It is like, "oh, now I see".
Something else special about your horns. They provoke uncontrollable emotional responses. I've witnessed this with myself and others in the room. You want to dance, play air guitar, conduct, sing, weep, etc. Folks just start moving and singing along.
John, your horns are truly life enriching. I feel so fortunate to have them. They do present a problem for me though. Somehow hours pass by when I really only intended to listen for 30 minutes. Household chores are not getting done.
Jade Lewis, from the band, Pure Fusion:
Okay, so here goes my first ever review… and why? Because, it’s just simply the best damn sound system I’ve ever heard.
Here are a few questions I asked myself before buying my sound system from Inlow Sound:
(1) Do I really want to run down to G.C. and pay top dollar for what I consider to be just the run of the mill hype, or (2) had I considered all the options available to me?
Not having money to throw around keeps me in check, as it should, so when it came down to shelling out the green stuff for my next purchase, my band and I wanted the best bang for the buck we could possibly get.
This leads me into the next phase of what I consider to be a freaking awesome journey into the land of awe! I heard that Inlow Sound had begun to take hold, and decided to give John a call and set up a meeting. After sharing my wants and needs, John sat me down at the computer and we began to go over different graphs and tables of options. It became very clear that the most efficient and cost effective weapon of choice was going to be the fully loaded, folded Sub Bass, and Mid Bass Speaker Cabinets. These penciled out on paper to be just a little bit larger than I was accustom to using and setting up, but we both agreed that size does matter when it comes to reproducing pure, hard hitting, chest pounding bass and the snap you get when your mids are tight and solid. Gives me goose bumps just thinking about it!
Well to make a long story short, they went way beyond my wildest expectations at our first concert. My drums sounded so full and deep, a richness so sweet I never dreamed could be possible. Vocals were effortless, soft and creamy like silk, but could bite and grab on tastefully!
Wow… Job well done, John.
Thank you,
PureFusion.
Here are a few questions I asked myself before buying my sound system from Inlow Sound:
(1) Do I really want to run down to G.C. and pay top dollar for what I consider to be just the run of the mill hype, or (2) had I considered all the options available to me?
Not having money to throw around keeps me in check, as it should, so when it came down to shelling out the green stuff for my next purchase, my band and I wanted the best bang for the buck we could possibly get.
This leads me into the next phase of what I consider to be a freaking awesome journey into the land of awe! I heard that Inlow Sound had begun to take hold, and decided to give John a call and set up a meeting. After sharing my wants and needs, John sat me down at the computer and we began to go over different graphs and tables of options. It became very clear that the most efficient and cost effective weapon of choice was going to be the fully loaded, folded Sub Bass, and Mid Bass Speaker Cabinets. These penciled out on paper to be just a little bit larger than I was accustom to using and setting up, but we both agreed that size does matter when it comes to reproducing pure, hard hitting, chest pounding bass and the snap you get when your mids are tight and solid. Gives me goose bumps just thinking about it!
Well to make a long story short, they went way beyond my wildest expectations at our first concert. My drums sounded so full and deep, a richness so sweet I never dreamed could be possible. Vocals were effortless, soft and creamy like silk, but could bite and grab on tastefully!
Wow… Job well done, John.
Thank you,
PureFusion.
Another tapped horn affectionado:
Hi John,
I have been limping along with Butt Kickers for everything from 80 Hz
and below for a long time, and finally looked at a pair of 18 inch
drivers I had laying around. One thing led to another, and I looked
on-line for plans to utilize these drivers. I first found that tapped
horns were gaining popularity, and then found a couple very impressive
performers, and continued looking for plans to actually build some
with my existing drivers.
I found your site and knew that I was at the right place. Not only
did I find that you had plans that were already sized for 18 inch
drivers, but they were modified such that no two walls in the cabinet
were parallel. This was really intriguing.
I ran off to the hardware store, and bought all of the lumber to build
the 8 Foot monsters...I should have bought stock in a lumber company
first. These things weigh a ton. Well, about a third of a ton anyway.
As I was planning out the assembly, I decided to alter the method used
for internal bracing of the baffle. I am a better welder than a
carpenter, so I fabricated internal braces out of tubing, angle iron,
and large washers. I stuck with your idea of 1/2 all thread. As for
the cleats, I fabricated brackets out of angle iron there too.
Finally it was time to mount the drivers. I anxiously pulled the 18
inch JBL 2245 H drivers off the shelf only to find that the surround
had deteriorated. How disappointing. After talking to you on the
phone, and finding out what I wanted in a driver for these, I hopped
on-line again, and searched for a suitable driver. At last, I found
specs for the RE Audio SX18d2 drivers. They had an Xmax or 22 mm. I
located a pair locally and proceeded to mount them, leaving ample
room for cone excursion.
The very first thing I did was to play the signal generator on my 'iPod
Touch' directly into the driver. All that I could think was WOW !!!!
I was able to feel the walls in this 3000 Sq Ft building shake. I
swept all the way down to 17 Hz, and up well above 200 Hz, and at 36
Hz, the building was coming alive. Mind you, this was just with the
weak output of the iPod.
Now it was time to really see what they did. I wired the 2 Ohm voice
coils to 4 Ohms on each driver, and then connected each cabinet to one side
of a Crest Audio V1500. This combination was good for 750 Watts RMS
per driver. I wired the mono front main sub woofer output of my
crossover to both inputs on the amplifier. First, the gain on the
amplifier was all the way down, and I turned up some Pink Floyd, Dark
Side of the Moon. Slowly advancing the sub amp level, I experienced
the most impressive bass I have ever heard. I don't mean the bumping
sound of a car stereo on steroids, I mean the musical, deep, clean
bass that lets you hear and feel the individual vibrations.
Standing next to these, about 4 feet away, my pant legs were moving. I
must say the colossal 8 foot tall tapped horn cabinets are nothing
short of amazing. I then put various classical pieces on with full
orchestras, and organs, and New Age and instrumental pieces, and some
movies. Everything took on an entirely new life. All of my music
sounded rich, and new. I highly recommend building these if you have
the space, and have the craving for deep affordable bass.
The next step is to install an EQ on them, and smooth out the
response. They do drop off a bit below 25 Hz, and have bit of a peak
around 100 Hz but I have an EQ on the way for this. I also want to
install the Butt Kickers again, but want to wait until I can get a
delay to slow them down and allow the Kickers and the tapped horns to
hit the listening area at the same time. The 2496 Parametric EQ will
do the Sub EQ on one channel, and the Butt Kicker delay on the other
channel. This should be a great combination.
Your website, and several phone conversations, has now led me to want
to build the 80 Hz horns to replace my Voice of the Theater A7's.
Next, I will change out the 1 inch JBL drivers with 2 inch drivers with
Beryllium diaphragms and new horns. This is really getting exciting
again.
Thank you so very much for your contribution to my listening enjoyment,
You're brother in LOW's,
John Bartal
Santa Maria, Ca.
PS . Just heard that there was an earthquake in Virginia about 6 hours
ago this 23rd day of August 2011. I sure hope it wasn't my FAULT. I
have been playing these subs quite a bit and the low frequency energy
really travels. Must be careful. I am in California.
Eric Gonzales purchased my Choke loaded Class A amp. He nicknamed it "Breadth" and the name stuck:
From: Eric Gonzales
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2011 5:06 PM
To: John Inlow
Subject: Breadth amp review
Let me start by saying this is one exquisite amp. It is a macho looking amplifier that only yields 2 sublime watts per channel. I have commissioned personal projects to people the likes of Larry Moore (300B tube amp), Peter Daniel (LM1875 gainclone), Andrew Michael Sevilla (a 3-stage EL84 SEP with a directly heated triode as driver) and others. All these amps are wonderful and are now gone. There is only 1 amp I can not part with and that is John Inlow's Breadth amplifier.
From what I can surmise (my background is in IT networks and programming), Breadth's topology is a dual differential, choke-loaded Jfet push-pull. It weighs 275 lbs and idles at 275 watts. I had to hire 2 workers to tear apart the flight transport case (they didn't know how to unfasten it) and bring it ever so carefully to my living room.
I am currently listening to Kenny G's Breathless album. This one is the XRCD version. I was floored when I barely started playing it His saxaphone just came alive brimming with wondrous sound. Then came track 5 with the vocals of Peabo Bryson. Just beautiful Music, sweet, supple, good punch in the bass. Basically, I might say this amp's musical output embodies all the good attributes of gaincards, tubes, other solid-state equipment and most importantly CLASS A for finesse.
I am very happy with this Breadth amplifier. All these for 2 watts, solid-state. Now that's different. Two phrases I can describe this overall:
Very sweet, very supple !
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2011 5:06 PM
To: John Inlow
Subject: Breadth amp review
Let me start by saying this is one exquisite amp. It is a macho looking amplifier that only yields 2 sublime watts per channel. I have commissioned personal projects to people the likes of Larry Moore (300B tube amp), Peter Daniel (LM1875 gainclone), Andrew Michael Sevilla (a 3-stage EL84 SEP with a directly heated triode as driver) and others. All these amps are wonderful and are now gone. There is only 1 amp I can not part with and that is John Inlow's Breadth amplifier.
From what I can surmise (my background is in IT networks and programming), Breadth's topology is a dual differential, choke-loaded Jfet push-pull. It weighs 275 lbs and idles at 275 watts. I had to hire 2 workers to tear apart the flight transport case (they didn't know how to unfasten it) and bring it ever so carefully to my living room.
I am currently listening to Kenny G's Breathless album. This one is the XRCD version. I was floored when I barely started playing it His saxaphone just came alive brimming with wondrous sound. Then came track 5 with the vocals of Peabo Bryson. Just beautiful Music, sweet, supple, good punch in the bass. Basically, I might say this amp's musical output embodies all the good attributes of gaincards, tubes, other solid-state equipment and most importantly CLASS A for finesse.
I am very happy with this Breadth amplifier. All these for 2 watts, solid-state. Now that's different. Two phrases I can describe this overall:
Very sweet, very supple !
Ross Anderson is fabricating my horns for his PA system:
Hi John,
So far the bass horns sound great, I did get those braces in, thanks for the reminder. I'm really impressed with them, after building one, I really have an appreciation for the care put into the design, of both the folded and 100hz. I'm really excited about them, but I have only run them at low volume, just breaking them in slowly. I'll have the 100hz horns done in the next couple weeks, and I'll keep you updated on the process. I attached a few picture of our progress, I hope you enjoy. Thank you for designing such a solid, well thought out cabinet.
Ross
So far the bass horns sound great, I did get those braces in, thanks for the reminder. I'm really impressed with them, after building one, I really have an appreciation for the care put into the design, of both the folded and 100hz. I'm really excited about them, but I have only run them at low volume, just breaking them in slowly. I'll have the 100hz horns done in the next couple weeks, and I'll keep you updated on the process. I attached a few picture of our progress, I hope you enjoy. Thank you for designing such a solid, well thought out cabinet.
Ross
...Pics of the finished system i built. I am currently running them off of a Behringer ep 4000 amp, and I'm planning to upgrade to a crown or qsc amp that will be better matched to the subs. I'm really happy with the bass horns as well, I think that the sound from your designs is fantastic, thank you for the time and care put into them.