Auditorium 23 Hommage 22A Horn Loudspeakers

No idea how I missed these, but just ran across them yesterday. Has anyone here heard them?

If so, describe their strengths & weaknesses.

In Living Stereo in NYC apparently has a pair. I haven't confirmed this, but apparently they are $75K (ouch) and use all LineMagnetic Western Electric horn reproduction components. Talk about sexy!

 

I like the look. My wife would hate them...

 

Wow! Fantasy fuel. They look like some sort of Dr. Seuss/steampunk fusion art.

My wife would hate them too.

 

I've seen them in the flesh at In Living Stereo, but I've never had the pleasure of hearing them.

 

Really cool - would love them - but alas my wife would hate them as well.

 

Statistically speaking you're much more likely to replace your wife than a $75K speaker.

 

They have a time adjustable tweeter, which is kinda a neat idea you don't see implemented in many speakers (Green Mountain Audio, Blueberry Hill Audio). Wonder what the material for the main horn is made of.

 

Go listen and report back.

How'd they look in person?

 

Looks like cast iron.

 

My understanding is that they are field coil speakers with active woofers (that's a new one for me).

 

Replacing the speakers would still be cheaper.

And I love my wife. Just celebrated our nineteenth wedding anniversary (added in case she reads this).

 

echo......echo........echo

 

Looks like a fog horn array.

 

foghorn leghorn agrees.

 

I need to swing by Living Stereo when I get the time and check them out.

 

In general, I have never been a great fan of horn speakers, but was blown away by Dr. Bruce Edgar's "Edgarhorns" the one time I had the opportunity to hear them. IMHO, they were very special!

 

I guess for $75k I'd expect them to look a little less like one of my dad's unfinished home improvement projects, or an old Burning Man build. They are cool looking in a mad scientist way, but I can't imagine they could sound very good... and I'm unlikely to bump into a pair to prove it one way or another.

 

Interesting speakers. The real deal Western Electric systems utilizing the 555 drivers (both field coil and permanent magnets) for the midrange horns that I've heard sounded really good. I particularly like the 22A and 15A horns with the 555 (I find the truly gigantic 16A horn interesting, though too resonant for my taste). I have never heard the Auditorium versions of these designs, but, they certainly look interesting. I know several Western Electric experts who have heard the Line Magnetic reproduction of the 555 and the 597 tweeter used by Auditorium and they think it is okay sounding, but a far cry from the original. But, they both like the Japanese G.I.P. reproductions of these drivers, although they are MUCH more expensive than Line Magnetic's offerings. One of these guys claims that the best copies were made by someone named Ogawa, but, these are much more unobtainable than even genuine Western Electric drivers.

I like the look of the Auditorium speaker. The 22A horn and the 597 tweeter are reproductions that really cannot look any different from the originals. The woofer cabinet that Auditorium crafted looks good to me and is nicely integrated with the horn. This certainly is a MUCH more decorator-friendly version than the 15A horn with twin 18" drivers on an open baffle which a local dealer is assembling for a well-heeled patron here in N. Va.

 

You can't imagine they sound very good? That is a very odd statement. Based on what?

 

based on... THE INTERNET

 

replacing the wife (especially if you have kids) will cost a considerable amount more then 75k

 

These clearly aren't for everyone, but to me you can't get much cooler looking. Maybe OMA, but that's a definite maybe.

 

...based on... my imagination?

What's so odd about it? They don't seem to be constructed using typical principles of modern loudspeaker manufacturing. Speaker technology has come a LONG way, even in the last 15 years. I'm not ruling out the idea that they COULD sound good, just saying it would surprising to me.