Specimen Products Hornling Speakers


Hi,

I've recently purchased a pair of Hornlings from Specimen Products in Chicago.

For those who haven't seen these, here's some info:.

http://www.specimenproducts.com/hornling-horn-speakers/

I visited their shop and listened to them on their custom tube amps, in which I plan on moving to in the future and they sound incredible. Currently, though, I am stuck with a B&K AVR 305 that I've been using to power my current system. My use is 70% music, 30% film and it's been great at producing a warm sound w/o a tube amp. It powers my Stax headphones perfectly but I am worried about how it'll handle these new Horn speakers.

Would hooking a simple L/R + sub setup directly to the AVR be too powerful for these and distort the sound? I'm hoping this won't cause any issues at least for the next 6 months until I am ready to full switch over my setup to tube amps.

If anyone has any experience using Specimen horns with powerful solid state amps, that would be great!

Thanks
jknibbs
Should be fine; just don't turn it up to 11. Their sensitivity is not all that high.
How do you like the sound of these speakers? I live outside Chicago,are you in the Chicago area. I am interested in these . Thanks for any info.
Having lived with a pair of Little Horns and one of their stereo tube amps for a while, I will say they can be fun to listen to. They are not 'audiophile' speakers, though. I would be reluctant to use SS amplification with the speakers, although their powered sub with the built in stereo amp for the horns makes up an OK inexpensive system. The Hornlings may be less efficient than the Little Horns, but I wouldn't put big SS power on them.
Well, when I was at the shop talking with Ian, the owner/creator, we had everything running through their tube preamp/amp and it sounded fantastic for such a large workshop.
I am still waiting to pick them up and actually use them in a smaller enclosed room. They should be ready for pickup in two weeks so I will update as soon as I can once I get them home and all hooked up.
Thanks for your reply, please post when you get these speakers set up.
Regards
Ken
Thanks for the bring down Brian. They will sound splendid with a big SS amp. The Hornlings are three inch full range drivers that create a stunning three dimensional effect by rear loading a compression chamber through a geometric flair. Like blue jeans in the seventies.

What else would you recommend for a 3" rear loaded full range?
Sorry to rain on your parade but IMO horns tend to benefit from tubes if fidelity is what you are pursuing.