BASSHORNS |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
From the desk of Holger Fromme, Director, Avantgarde Acoustic, Germany - 10/15/02: "You might remember the first basshorn system from our early days in 1989. It was a huge system with a nearly 6 sqm horn mouth area, passively driven by nine 8-inch woofers. This basshorn delivered powerful bass but sufferedd one big commercial obstacle. It was solid one-piece fiberglass. It was impossible to ship and could only be assembled in the customer's house. For this reason, our business partners couldn't successfully sell it. As we continuously improved our conventional subwoofer system SUB225CTRL, we decided at that time not to commercially release it. Now nearly 15 years have passed. With more than 2,500 installed systems, Avantgarde Acoustic has become one of the world's leading High End hornspeaker manufacturers. In 2000, the TRIO OMEGA version was launched. After 6 years of non-modified market success, the OMEGA version gave new meaning to our name "Avantgarde": The first spherical hornspeaker with 109 dB efficiency and our unique "HIGH IMPEDANCE TECHNOLOGY". With up to 27-ohm impedance and only three passive components in the signal path, the TRIO OMEGA is probably the most powerful, most dynamic, most revealing and most benign-to-drive speaker system in the world. The TRIO OMEGA embodies our uniqueAvantgarde Acoustics conviction - to go one step beyond and abandon common routes. And this in all aspects! And guess what . . . . ? After the introduction of the TRIO, we received more and more inquiries from existing customers, for an ultimate basshorn solution from Avantgarde Acoustic that would match the performance of the TRIO OMEGA. Something "crazy", something really "avantgarde". Something to clearly outperform anything else available on the market today! |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
So, last year Matthias Ruff and I sat down to discuss this matter. We argued the pros and cons and finally came to the conclusion that the design of a big basshorn involves just too much effort, energy and expenditures to be commercially successful .But you know Matthias!!! And you know me!!!
To hell with the money! I wanted the basshorn so very badly for my own personal use. And so did Matthias. So we decided, let's go for it! We quickly came up with our objectives for the new basshorn design: 1. It must have the unique "Avantgarde" look and touch. 2. It must be one of the most powerful bass systems 3. It must be one of the fastest bass systems 4. It must be fully assembled/tested in the factory prior to shipping 5. It must be easy to ship, handle and install. 6. It must be modular, so the customers can start with just two modules and add more modules later. 7. It must not just be big, but should give the lowest possible frequency extension even with small horn dimensions. 8. It must be completely "avantgarde" -: something completely novel, radical and unconventional"! |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Today I send you this email to proudly present the result of our work:"THE AVANTGARDE ACOUSTIC BASSHORN". Are we happy with the result? YES! We believe that "THE AVANTGARDE ACOUSTIC BASSHORN" is the very BEST bass system in the world! It ushers in a new quality not heretofore known. The AVANTGARDE ACOUSTIC BASSHORN is an active system covering the range from 18 to 250 Hz. The modulare concept allows you to tailor the system to your needs. 2, 4 or 6 modules will give you state-of-the-art bass performance. Each bass horn module is driven by 2 x 12 inch drivers and actively powered by a 350-watt build-in amplifier. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
If you look at the specs below, you know why we believe this is the best bass in the world. You will get a small feeling of its potential AND you will be impressed. In its maximum configuration with six modules the AVANTGARDE ACOUSTIC BASSHORN sets new standards: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
- 12 x 12 inch drivers!
- 108 kg (240 lbs) of magnet weight! - 6.600 sq. cm (1020 sq.in.) of effective surface area of drivers! - 3 liters (102 oz) of displacement volume of drivers! - 2,1 kilowatt of integrated amplifier power! - 7,2 kilowatt of RMS power handling capability! - 5,7 sq.m (54 sq. ft) horn mouth area! - 109,5 dB efficiency! |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
You can see that this is big stuff. It relegates other commercially available bass systems to the kindergarten! But size alone isn't enough! If you order an Avantgarde system, you have a right to expect some "avantgarde" technology inside. We wouldn't be Avantgarde Acoustic if we wouldn't come up with a unique solution! So what -- besides its size and its impressive technical specs -- is so special about the new "AVANTGARDE ACOUSTIC BASSHORN"? We proudly presenting: A D R I C (patent pending) A D R I C stands for "Active Dynamic Radiation Impedance Compensation". This is a special circuitry, which dynamically compensates for small horn mouth dimensions and linearizes the bass response below the cut-off frequency of the horn. It enables us to achieve a bass response to 18 Hz with a horn mouth of just 9 sq. ft. This is unheard of. We build the only hornsystem in the world that delivers this kind of incredible low frequency response!!! As the patent is still being submitted, I cannot reveal further information or details at this time. But belief me: we achieve deeper and more accurate bass than anybody else - with a horn that would normally be considered far too small for low frequency reproduction! So finally: how does it sound? My personal system (TRIO OMEGA with the BASSHORN) has been installed last week. Since than, I've been listening to the system till the wee hours every morning. I am totally addicted. Whether you listen very loudly or at whisper levels, the sound is always amazing: very fast, very detailed, very powerful, very precise!The transient and leading edges are out of this world. The energy content (even when you play at low volumes!) is tremendous.You don't recognize your records anymore! I don't like Madonna too much, but if you listen to it on this system, your jaws unhinge! Wonderful!! Even tracks with no bass (example, some acoustical guitar) benefit dramatically from this new bass quality . . . Everything sounds so effortless and natural!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My apologies for dilettante, non-reviewer descriptions of the sound. But I'm simply overwhelmed by what Matthias has delivered! Thank you Matthias!!! And I am sure Matthias is right: there will be lots of people in this world who share our dedication to cutting-edge performance.
System Data Type: Active Dynamic Radiation Impedance compensated bass horn system covering the range from 18 to 250 hz. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
