horn orientation on monitor

[kayak]

Any thoughts/opinions regarding the horn orientation on monitors, horizontal versus vertical? ...does it make any difference?

 

I'm thinking that if the horn is oriented vertically, that would decrease it's horizontal dispersion across the stage, providing more focus of the monitor just to the area where it is wanted.

 

?

[B. Adams]

In my opinion, for people that are moving around on stage, a horizontal dispersion works best, but for people standing still, vertical is fine.

 

But if I had to choose something that would fit almost every situation, I'd get something with a 60x60 or 45x45 horn, so there'd be no way to screw it up.

 

In the end though, I prefer a horizontally configured horn over a vertical one, but it depends on what you're going for.

[agedhorse]

I prefer something like 60 horizontal x 90 vertical.

 

Side to side is taken care of by double-boxing the position, which we do most of the time anyway. Allow us to get a fuller sounding coverage without as much gain, hence generally (but not always) less chance for feedback. So, 60 degrees works great.

 

I prefer 90 degrees vertical for when folks move back away from the wedges, it's more forgiving. Of course I work larger stages (generally 24 feet deep minimum), so this may not be a consideration for your application.

[RickJ]

Vertical orientation also gives the monitor a lower profile. With a horizontal orientation the horn has to be placed on top of the cone driver.

[Brad Harris]

 

Originally posted by RickJ Vertical orientation also gives the monitor a lower profile. With a horizontal orientation the horn has to be placed on top of the cone driver.

 

 

Says who?

 

You can have a horn mounted beside the driver, it may make the box longer compared to having it in a vertical pattern (all depends on the horn in question).

 

I'm starting to not like monitors with the horn above the other driver(s). Alot of times, you can just move back a few inches, and the whole response changes (as you have just move closer to one driver than the other). Now, yes, the same occurs if it is mounted beside a driver, but the horn dispersion (if the horizontal is wide) helps greatly with that (moving side to side).

Really it depends, I do try to double up on wedges in most situations (where there is space), otherwise its singles.

[Centauri]

I'm not a fan of the horn mounted above the speaker either. Any monitors I make use side mounted horns of 90x90 dispersion, in left and right pairs. Each pair is run with the horns to the outside ie. aimed at the performer's ears instead of the mic.

 

Cheers

Graeme

[agedhorse]

Something else I tend to like is a co-axial like the Radian Micro wedge. It sure depends on the horn flair though, and you are limited based on the physical aspects more so than a seperate horn. Generally, because of the horn size and flair rate limitations, the crossover frequency must be higher... but this is not a disadvantage for my as I tend to prefer the sound of a higher than typical x-over freq provided the drivers are appropriate for the application.

[Steve_B]

In some of the venues I have worked in, my preference for horns in monitors were ones that worked. :D

 

Steve