First theater complex to have a fully horn loaded cinema systems

[Sancho Panza]

3 hours from me.

[dtel]

When they get done might have to go, hour and 38 min to see/hear it.

This might be hard to convince the wife, Klipsch has mad it where we do not go to movies. Proof, the last movie we went to see was coming to America with Eddie Murphy in 1988 !

Might have to change that.

[Schu]

that mid horn lens on the two outside units does not look familiar????

I think it's just the lighting and the angle that they are shown that makes them look different. They say they are using 3 identical speakers.

See... I knew I wasn't hallucinating.

center is as you stated, front LR are this lens... 941

Edited May 13, 2014 by Schu

[NBPK402]

"Both theaters are in Gonzales, Louisiana, right next to each other"

Detel to the white courtesy phone please.

Maybe you can stop by when you are on the road trip and give us a review...

[garyrc]

The only speakers not fully horn loaded in most of the multichannel theaters of the '50s and '60s -- particularly 70 mm theaters -- were the surrounds. The SURROUNDS were often cheezy little enclosures with Altec or JBL 15 " speakers in them. BUT, certain 70 mm venues, including the Coronet in San Francisco, had big surrounds with rear loaded horn bass bins. I think the Coronet had JBL C40s for surrounds. Of course, the MAIN speakers in multichannel theaters were horn front loaded (but a reflex port was sometimes added behind the drivers) Altec or JBL giants. The huge front horn loaded, 4 woofer MAIN speakers made by JBL for Ampex (who provided Todd-AO sound) sounded especially good. There were 5 of these systems behind the screen for 70 mm, for a total of 20 15" woofers, all horn loaded.

Of course, neither THX nor Dolby existed when these speakers were first installed. When Dolby came in, the standard 70 mm systen was cut back to 3 channels behind the screen, plus a subwoofer, plus an extra surround channel, bringing the surround channels to 2.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Garyrc

[toolz]

Now that is some serious Klipsch theater sound.

[dtel]

The only speakers not fully horn loaded in most of the multichannel theaters of the '50s and '60s -- particularly 70 mm theaters -- were the surrounds

The old giant Altec "voice of the theater" speakers is what sent me looking for horn speakers, that's when I found klipsch.

I had seen them in an old theater in New Orleans many years ago when I was young and never forgot.

[ClaudeJ1]

How many here are thinking about how they'd sound in their living room???????

I do, effectively, have those in my living room and my sub goes lower. The earlier versions were in my basement. I just took out the parts that weren't needed AND improved their sound. Smaller rooms make that possible, you know.

[ClaudeJ1]

Wow, they are a beastly 526lbs each and over 8ft tall. I know we like to say there is no such thing as overkill, but this as in a HT might just qualify.

You don't need the midbass bin for home use, just the 3=way, which would bring it down to just a bit over 6 feet. Been there, done that.

[ClaudeJ1]

If Klipsch decided to design a "scaled" version of that set up for the Home Theater niche, I would be willing to bet they would sell very well.

No they woudn't. They would still be too big and sound like crap in comparison to the real thing.

Edited May 17, 2014 by ClaudeJ1

[garyrc]

The only speakers not fully horn loaded in most of the multichannel theaters of the '50s and '60s -- particularly 70 mm theaters -- were the surrounds

The old giant Altec "voice of the theater" speakers is what sent me looking for horn speakers, that's when I found klipsch.

I had seen them in an old theater in New Orleans many years ago when I was young and never forgot.

Were those the ones with a single horn loaded woofer per channel, or were there more woofers? Cinerama used 4 horn loaded woofers per channel, with the woofs arranged horizontally. The old Fox theater in S.F. (big enough to contain a tennis court and swimming pool) was strictly 35 mm, but it used a vertical array of 4 horn loaded woofers per channel. All of these were Altec. 70 mm Todd-AO tended to use JBLs, 4 horn loaded 15" woofers per channel.

[dtel]

Were those the ones with a single horn loaded woofer per channel, or were there more woofers? Cinerama used 4 horn loaded woofers per channel, with the woofs arranged horizontally. The old Fox theater in S.F. (big enough to contain a tennis court and swimming pool) was strictly 35 mm, but it used a vertical array of 4 horn loaded woofers per channel. All of these were Altec. 70 mm Todd-AO tended to use JBLs, 4 horn loaded 15" woofers per channel.

To tell you the truth I don't remember, this was a very long time ago and that memory of the size and the large horn stuck with me. It was off to the side of the stage on the floor and I remember them being really wide like 6' and probably 5-6' tall with a huge multi cell horn on top, the front had a big opening but I don't remember how many drivers. I walked up to them, there was a really big sticker on the side that said EV Voice of the theater in an old time style, kind of fancy.

I remember it because it was the biggest speaker I had ever seen. There were two very old theaters in N.O. back then, one was the Sanger and the other was called the JOY theater. One is still there for sure it's been remodeled a few times and is now I think a historic building.

I looked at pictures online and I still can't tell if it was a single driver or more.

Edited May 18, 2014 by dtel

[garyrc]

Were those the ones with a single horn loaded woofer per channel, or were there more woofers? Cinerama used 4 horn loaded woofers per channel, with the woofs arranged horizontally. The old Fox theater in S.F. (big enough to contain a tennis court and swimming pool) was strictly 35 mm, but it used a vertical array of 4 horn loaded woofers per channel. All of these were Altec. 70 mm Todd-AO tended to use JBLs, 4 horn loaded 15" woofers per channel.

I walked up to them, there was a really big sticker on the side that said EV Voice of the theater in an old time style, kind of fancy.

Altec Voice of the Theater, right? EV did make some theater speakers, but I think Altec trademarked the words "Voice of the Theater." Never can tell about such things, though. There were two Good Guys chains, one in Oregon, and the rest all over. Supposedly, when Warner Brothers protested the Marx Brothers's use of the word "Casablanca" in "A Night in Casablanca," Groucho wrote Warners and said they would stop using the word "Casablanca," if Warners would stop using the word "Brothers."

Edited May 18, 2014 by Garyrc

[dtel]

You know now that you said that I don't remember if it was EV or Altec, It did say voice of the theater for sure. I was thinking it was a single driver but looking at pictures it looked much bigger than it does in the pictures ? I remember it being a cabinet not like in the pics where it has wings ?

I don't know it's been a very long time ago, before I had any real speakers, but apparently it mad an impression on me.

That's funny about the Marx Brothers. I remember about 35-40 years ago we would go to the midnight movies, one theater would just play Marx Brothers movies one after another until you couldn't take it any more. This was before Rocky horror which was the midnight movie for a long time, also john Waters movies like Divine was also switched out as the movie. That was strange stuff.

[wvu80]

fully horn loaded or fully horn loaded front section?

because what sides and rear would they have used otherwise or is it a 3.1?

I'm sure pro audio has its own naming conventions, but I would think that the audio in the film would still be standardized to the 5.1, 7.1 etc.

My question is related, was is the 4 in a "four-way?" I presume the usual tweeter, squawker, woofer. After that, are they calling the subs the "four" in the 4-way?

[dtel]

fully horn loaded or fully horn loaded front section?

because what sides and rear would they have used otherwise or is it a 3.1?

I'm sure pro audio has its own naming conventions, but I would think that the audio in the film would still be standardized to the 5.1, 7.1 etc.

My question is related, was is the 4 in a "four-way?" I presume the usual tweeter, squawker, woofer. After that, are they calling the subs the "four" in the 4-way?

No it would be midbass, between the woofer and mid horn/squawker, the subs would be just like normal, subs.

[Scrappydue]

When they get done might have to go, hour and 38 min to see/hear it.

This might be hard to convince the wife, Klipsch has mad it where we do not go to movies. Proof, the last movie we went to see was coming to America with Eddie Murphy in 1988 !

Might have to change that.

good movie!

[garyrc]

fully horn loaded or fully horn loaded front section?

because what sides and rear would they have used otherwise or is it a 3.1?

I'm sure pro audio has its own naming conventions, but I would think that the audio in the film would still be standardized to the 5.1, 7.1 etc.

My question is related, was is the 4 in a "four-way?" I presume the usual tweeter, squawker, woofer. After that, are they calling the subs the "four" in the 4-way?

I would think "fully horn loaded" would mean that every single driver is horn loaded, including all woofers, both for the main front behind the screen speakers and also the surrounds. As I said in an earlier post, horn loaded (bass included) surrounds were not unheard of in the past, just rare. The only two theaters I know of that had them are out of commission -- one now a stage theater, and the other one torn down.

A common Dolby pro cinema set up is 5.1. That would be three big speaker systems behind the screen, two surround channels, with speakers distributed around the sides and back or the theater, and one subwoofer constituting the .1 ... just like at home. The ".1" business was originally proposed at a conference on pro/cinema sound by whats-his-name (the "TH" in THX).

[Alain C]

HI again,
Back in collage (Okmulgee Oklahoma OSU Tech.) I had a friend. that worked in a theater and they had a set of Altec A4's Voice of the theater. We got to hook up an 8track player after hours. and they rocked. What amp the used I don't know. here is what I rember behind the screen.

After collage, I did some live sound hear and there. We also had Altec A4's or thats what I seem to remmber. But looking for these pictures (which are not mine. I got them off e-bay). I found what I rember. and they called them A5's.

WE could get 2 of them in the back of a van and all the rest gear. We use 2 Crown DC300 A (one on ether side). And I'm Still a Crown fan to this day.

[beeker]

crown hear as well no doubt. Nice pics!