Introduction:
After introducing the Punisher Basshorn it became time for a matching topcabinet. We called it: X-tro. The main goal was for the X-tro to be usable as a stand alone top cabinet therefore a disperion of H60 x V40 was chosen. A single X-tro would also have to keep up with two Punisher horns therefore a hornloaded system was needed to match the maximum SPL levels.

Loudspeakers:
The X-tro low/mid section consists of 2x 15” drivers on a short almost straight horn. Traditional designs such an EAW KF-850 cabinet only have one 15” driver to cover the 100-300Hz range. Because of the very high output levels of the midhorn the 15” section will set the limits for the maximum obtainable SPL. To solve this ‘problem’ we chose a dual driver configuration which has 3dB more output than a single 15” driver on a same size horn. For its physical size the X-tro is capable of high SPL's/soundlevels in the low/mid range. A smart placement of the drivers made sure the cabinet outer dimension could be kept small: H 31.5” x W 19.7” x D31”. The drivers used are 18Sound 15ND930. These are a state-of-the-art neodynium design. A cheaper solution would be the Eminence Kappa 15 but we didn’t run tests with this driver. Although its T/S parameters and construction seem to be in the correct range.

Constructions:
The midhorn is a simple yet effective design: a conical horn. Tests showed that such a design sounds good and is capable of very high sound pressure levels. Driver is a B&C 8PE21 with has a Fs/Qes of about 450, which indicates this is a very good horn driver. For the HF a B&C DE-500 was chosen. This 1” driver has a very flat response and a high efficiency. The short horn is a Beyma TD-245 constant directivity design. Traditional 2” drivers most often sound a bit harsh at high SPL levels. The use of a 1” drivers eleminates this problem.

The second generation of prototypes has a somewhat modified throat design on the 15” section compared to the first prototypes. This modification offers a better kickbass out of the X-tro.

In the future more exact processor settings will be given. As a guideline for now: crossover from sub to low at 90Hz, from low to mid at 300Hz and from mid to high at 2500Hz. One should use proper delays to compensate for the arrangement of the drivers in the X-tro cabinet.