Hornling Speakers
$5,300
Available on backorder
The new Hornling speakers are made of Italian Poplar and finished in lacquer. The tight lines and pristine appearance set them apart from the more organic patina of the Legacy Hornling speakers which were featured in the Sonic Arboretum exhibitions.
Hornling speakers offer superior audio quality. The natural woodgrain with contrasting bold saturated color in the bell interior make them a perfect choice for discriminating audiophiles and interior designers alike.
Call for details about items in stock or to order your custom Hornling speakers.
Custom horn speakers require 3 – 6 month production time.
- Dimensions
26 3/8" tall overall
13 3/4" horn diameter
6" cube base
8" minimum deep shelf - Driver
Fostex FE83En 3" full-range driver
- Impedance
8 ohms
- Sensitivity
1 W/1m 88 dB
- Frequency Response
fs - 30kHz
History
Hornling Speakers and the smaller Hornlet were first created for the Sonic Arboretum, a collaborative project between Specimen’s Ian Schneller and composer/violinist Andrew Bird.
The Sonic Arboretum was installed at the Guggenheim New York in 2010, MCA, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art in 2011, and ICA Boston International Contemporary Art Museum in 2015.
Design & Construction
All Specimen Horns are entirely handmade at Specimen in Chicago, IL.
The bases are made of premium quality Baltic birch plywood. The horns are made from Italian poplar. First, the hardwood is cut into flats. The edges are then beveled to the perfect angle. After this, the flats are bent into curves that will make up the octagonally fluted horn shape. Assembly is a tricky process that requires two people working together with dexterity and perseverance. The seams are then reinforced with micro fiber filled epoxy and hand sanded inside and out. The assembly is then registered into the flange used to mount the horn to the base, or compression chamber. A natural nitrocellulose finish is then applied to the outside of the horn and an opaque saturated color applied to the bells. This serves as a stunning contrast to the beautiful hardwood exterior. A full range driver is rear loaded with a horn shape to match the acoustic impedance of the air in the compression chamber with the air in the listening room. This meticulous process requires several hundred hours per pair.
Form, function and hand work coalesce into a package of stunning beauty and performance.
Compatibility and Placement
All Specimen Horn Speakers can be paired with my hi-fi tube amplifiers for a beautiful symbiosis. Or they can be used with virtually any other system and achieve excellent results.
Specimen Horns are designed to work well elevated as a typical bookshelf speaker, out in the open, or even placed on the ground to achieve a more spatially expansive installation, as in the Sonic Arboretum exhibitions. The sound of Specimen Horns has been described as “holographic” in that the sound seems to be coming from behind the enclosure, making it difficult to identify the sound source. This can evoke the sensation of the instrument being in the room with the listener.
