Auditorium 23 Hommage Cinema loudspeaker Manufacturers' Comment

Manufacturers' Comment

Editor: We would like to thank John Atkinson for his efforts and his extensive measurements, which correspond with ours. We fully understand his objection regarding the measurement of the tweeter from today's perspective of speaker designs. However, I'd like to recall that the concept of the Hommage Cinema comes from a different time, with a different approach to speaker building and listening.

The decision to design such a complex speaker with remakes of drivers from one of the most famous manufacturers of the US, Western Electric, includes the awareness of their measuring characteristics. The idea for this concept dates back many years, and became possible only by the fact that excellent remakes were made at all.

The approach of A23 to loudspeaker designs was always inspired by historical models, which appeal to the listener on an emotional level rather than only a technical level. This emotional component happens within a certain bandwidth, which is not in the lowest and highest frequencies but rather in the midrange. The emotional component is also found in excellent full-range units, but with lower efficiency. I think that Art Dudley's enthusiasm confirms this.

In general, Mr. Atkinson is absolutely right: There are tweeters of higher bandwidth, and of course we are aware of them. But we don't see any that match perfectly with the 555 driver and our horn in aspects of balance and harmony and—not less important to us—are from the same era.

Considering the space limitations of "Manufacturers' Comments," perhaps these links can give more insight into our approach to this particular field of music reproduction:
www.auditorium-23.de/Prolog/InteriorView.html
www.auditorium23.de/Kommentare/LeMystere.pdf
www.auditorium23.de/Kommentare/Aussenansichten1.html.—Keith Aschenbrenner, Auditorium 23

COMPANY INFO
Auditorium 23
US distributor: Tone Imports
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
Anton's picture

That frequency response curve is up there in the pantheon with the Dayton Audio B652!

55K per pair vs. 40 dollars per pair.

I wonder how 1,375 pairs of the Daytons would stack up next to the Auditorium 23?

Glotz's picture

Pretty cool to have your own term created in the English language! Kudos to that... and a great word!

Great review again from Art. I still use my trimmed paint brush stylus cleaner for a quick, gentle, daily cleaning- all the way back from his Listener days. I wonder if he still loathes Lou Reed...

Lastly, the measurements on this speaker are really wild!

One could rub their fingers together for enough power!

tonykaz's picture

Horns get about 9db of mechanical gain, don't they?, the Klipsch I once owned had that type of efficiency. Bose claimed their Top Model had 106db efficiency.

Of course, I wouldn't have expected Old Corner Horn speakers to be of interest to an Audiophile Journal. ( or Bose 901s for that matter ).

A person could have a 2A3 tube for Amplification ( or maybe a First Watt from Pass ) there's something magical about that.

Buuuuuut, the Quad 57s were stunning by comparison ( and still are ).

Anyone can build a Horn, if they want to. All it takes is some Bicycle box cardboard and some Hot Glue. Experimenting with various Drivers from any source is a lovely hobby, even a headphone driver will deliver a listenable result.

Nice work

Tony in Michigan

dalethorn's picture

I had the Advent speakers in the mid-70's, and they got a rave review in Stereophile as phenomenally neutral. So I listened to the Klipschorns in Cleveland one day and I thought they had a similar tonality. Not bad for horns, eh? I think the ultimate audio project would be to construct a physical recording system (no electronics), direct-to-disc from horns or whatever, with the goal to see how much fidelity can be captured without electronics. Cost no object, no limit on the material types or sizes.

tonykaz's picture

I rather like Horns buuuuut they're so darn big. Size is the problem. A tiny box like LS3/5a or ProAc Tablette or Genelec 8020 will match the large horn's functionality, so why bother?

Loudspeakers are for Sharing music, otherwise a person could get by with a pair of Audeze, Focal, Sennheiser or Etymotic personal audio transducers. Wanna Share?, switch to the Loudspeakers.

Now-a-days, I can go for months without turning the loudspeakers on!

Tony in Michigan

tonykaz's picture

I was just in my "retirement" shop using my Li battery powered tools with the "idea" popping in my head. Geez, a person could power a complete home audio system with these darn power tool batteries.

DeWalt have Li batteries that store and make available 9 Amp hours of energy! , I can charge these batteries with one 175 Watt Solar Panel. Viola! The possibility of a Solar Powered music system is here, Today!

Solar Power is where Horn's make sense!

How powerful are these battery systems?, powerful enough for Building Contractors.

Now, can JA please try powering these Horns with one of his personal audio rigs? Maybe the AK 240

Mr. Dudley might be onto sump'n here! ( irony of ironies : Mr.AD starting a Solar movement using Class D amps. )

Tony in Michigan

K-Follower's picture

I cannot understand the sense and the purpose of this report.
The loudspeaker A23 homage Cinema should be a homage to film loudspeaker of the 30s according to his name. The chassis are detailed-exact replikas of ancient WE-originals. Consciously the designer does not go to the frequency ends. This does not interest him at all. Otherwise owners from wideband-loudspeakers could not hear enjoyably music. To expand the frequency-ends of a loudspeaker is nowadays generally no problem. And this works already with cheap chassis. In contrast to those possibilities the chassis of LM are very expensive. This should qualifies the Price of the loudspeaker. To the good end: concerning the bass I have heard on the High End Munich year after year no worse loudspeakers than those of Magico. The listeners often smile after the first tones. Pure compassion because of the bass; BUMBUMBUM :-)))))

malevolent's picture

Nothing past 9K and these cost 55K. What sounds would we miss if there were no sounds above 9K in the natural world - the one outside Art's listening room. With nothing above 9K what would a symphony in a real world setting sound like? Or even an average recording on any past or modern day format? Absurd viewpoint.

IgAK's picture

John,

IIRC from some years ago a pricey Raven ribbon tweeter also offered in excess of 100 dB, possibly even that same 105 dB but certainly over 100. I remember hearing it at an event hosted by Morrison, "Blackie" and some wild looking tube gear by Slagle was there. Also kimono-dressed attendants in drag. I vaguely think that Herb Reichert may also have been there, not sure, it was many years ago. A very strange event indeed but I remember those ribbons.

Paul Denton's picture

Hi Guys,

I own the A23 Hommage Cinema speaker for three years now and wanted to share my opinion to make a few things and aspects clear.

The review was written by two different persons.

In my opinion one person is a music lover and aesthete and the other a lover of his equipment and data sheets (among other responsibilities).

To benefit from these two perspectives you have to decide what you are focused on while listening to recorded music.

Any passionate music lover must give the Hommage Cinema a try. You will be astonished by it´s beautiful, rich, detailed sound and highly dynamic music reproduction. I assure you that it is deeply impressive.

Like to many other owners of the Hommage Cinema, it may mark the end of a long search for authentic music experience. It may be the path you have been seeking.

On the other hand, if you are the analytical, data driven personality, please also go listen to the Hommage Cinema. Listen to the music and it´s essential qualities. To the delicious high frequency reproduction, not to a tweeter. Go ahead and play your recordings - all of them - and I assure you that you realise it is nearly impossible to get poor sound from the Hommage Cinema.

Yes, they are very efficient. They require only a modest tube amplifier to bring out the finest qualities in your music.

Maybe you will fall in love with your music again. Isn´t that what this is all about?

Yours,
Paul Denton

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