Pure Audio Project Duet 15 HORN Speakers. Full Review.

Pure Audio Project Duet 15 HORN Speakers. Full Review.

Ohhhh Yea! (in my best Macho Man Randy Savage Voice) I have been waiting for this one my audio friends. A speaker that looks unique, doesn’t cost 5 figures and sounds outta this world has arrived to my listening room. This one is a close cousin of a speaker I reviewed last year, the Pure Audio Project Duet 15 with the Voxactiv 1.6 main driver.

Meet the Pure Audio Project Duet 15 HORN!

See the video review. It’s a long one but I talk about my 1st horn experience and of course, the new Duet 15 Horn Speakers!

 

I have always loved the idea of horn speakers but to be honest, in the past I have not always loved the sound of horn speakers. I can start by going way way back to the Avantagrde Uno 1 that I bought from a Mr Kevin Deal, out of his living room while he walked up in his PJ’s and counted out my cash. This was in the 90’s and I drove from Phoenix AZ to Upland CA to pick them up. Loaded them in a van and I rushed home to listen.

I ended up setting them up the next day and I even had custom 300B SET amps called “The Cardinal” made for me by Gordon Rankin who ran Wavelength Audio back in the day. These were mono amps and they were gorgeous to look at. I bought them after hearing his stereo version but when the amps arrived I hooked it all up, with a Levinson CD player as the source at the time. I wasn’t impressed.

The sound was weak in the bass even though they used powered subs. The main voice of the speakers sounded hollow, with that horn wonk coming through loud and clear. They sounded good, but nothing like the DUOS I heard at Kevins place at the time. I didn’t hear the UNO’s that day as he didn’t have them hooked up. I knew I loved the sound of the Duo and lusted after the Trio’s just by loos alone but my budget was maced out for a set of used, demo Uno’s and that is what I left with.

I did try them with other amps, both tube and solid state but never did really get along with them. I sold them two years later after building custom crates for them. Later in life I tried other horn speakers and also the entire range from a more budget friendly Klipsch Heritage (they were much less expensive back then). Still heard the horn sound but man were they dynamic and alive. I talk about all of this is much more detail in the video review above.

As years went on, horns did get better and better it seems and today there are many horn speakers, even by Avantgarde that are 100% knock outs. Even with my early “not so hot” experiences, I still had a love for horns. They could be powered with flea watt amps using 300B, 845, EL84, etc. There was always something that drew me into them and I yea, by now have learned why.

WHY HORNS?

Horn speakers usually almost always look very cool, unique and sometimes crazy. I love unique, I love different and there are many horn based speakers that fit the bill. Horns, for me, always seemed to have an abilty to convey magic in the midrange and even top end, when done right and sometimes even in the old UNO speakers I heard magic in the mids. Voices sound real, large, alive and it makes it easy to feel the emotion from the music, if you connect with the song or live performance.

Horns have a unique way of projecting the sound, and when done right, can be magical. When I say “done right” I mean that some horn based speakers I have heard have been weak in the low and mid bass as horns really are not made for bass. This is why many are supplemented with a powered subwoofer built in or larger bass drivers. When a horn speaker does the top end, midrange and bass right there is magic to be found.

No need for mega amps either as these can be driven with 3-5 watts or as many as you like. I always have favored a fuller bodied warmer amp to pair with horns as some can be hot in the treble but once that pairing is made, that matches, again….magic.

The Duet 15 HORN. 

So a few months ago I was asked by Zev at Pure Audio Project if I would like to check out the new Duet 15 HORN speakers, and review them if I liked them. All I would need is a new baffle, the new crossover and the horn unit itself as I already had two bass drivers in my Duet 15’s along with the base, feet and frame.

This is one of the very cool things about Pure Audio Project speakers. You can upgrade down the road and just buy the parts you need. Swapping is easy and takes about an hour of your time. When everything arrived I assembled them and this time I had to assemble the crossover as well (it was so easy as everything is screw in, and a diagram is given). No one should be afraid of this as if I can do it, anyone can. I promise. I did have a mishap with the crossover, totally my fault (explained in the video) but I soon corrected my error and all was good in the world.

The new baffles were in black and that matched the wooden horn perfectly. Once all was set up I truly admired the look of this speaker. I feel it is one of the most unique looking speakers I have seen in my life, yet so simple and clean. These are open baffle speakers so they will bring a different sound from a big boxed horn design. For example, I also own a set of Icon 12’s from O audio. These are my pure reference speakers as they are super refined, beautiful to look at and the horn here sounds as smooth and beautiful as can be. These have zero horn shout, coloration or wonk. Just gorgeous end game type of speakers but these are $24k and weigh in at over 120lbs each. These are also a horn based design but with zero coloration, wonkiness or hollowness.

The Duet 15 Horn is lighter, easier to move and while it doesn’t have the all out bass power of the Icon, the HORN of the Duet 15 is silky smooth, also without shout or wonk, and does everything a horn does in the good kind of way, without the bad.

The Duet 15 Horn has a 15″ bass driver, designed just for open baffle use. The bass here, being open baffle will not sound as fat, juicy, plump or impactful as one in a sealed box. The fact that there is no box here means the bass is free to expand naturally into the room, and that it does with the Duet. The bass is organic, natural and well clean, tight and tuneful.

These are also easy to drive and I have tested them with solid state amplification, low powered tubes and tubes as well as tubes and solid state combined. I can say now these sounded delicious with almost all of them but one prevailed. I will speak of this within this review below.

The Duet 15 Horn speakers are also fairly priced (under $7k) as they are bought direct from Pure Audio Project and have no dealer network. When you buy, the parts are shipped from all over the world direct to you, over time. It may take a while to get everything (2-3 weeks), but when it all shows up you are ready to build and listen.

If building from scratch, expect two hours or so to build. If upgrading from the Duet 15 with a Voxactiv (Pure Audio sells this version too) expect an hour or so to assemble.

The Duet 15’s like to be spaced apart in my room and I placed them 8 feet apart while I sat 7 feet from them. I pulled them out 3 feet from the wall and about a foot from the sides. Open Baffle speakers like to breathe. They like space around them rather than being scrunched into a corner. You do not need 3 feet but you may need at least a foot to a foot and a half from the wall. I found that they can sit closer to the side walls and still have a beautiful wide open sound that also brings amazing detail retrieval, in an organic and natural way.

Pure Audio Project says these are amazing for Jazz/Jazz vocals and most music, even ROCK. I tested them with all music and found them to sound MAGICAL with Jazz and Jazz vocals. Mesmerizing at times. I was told the horns needed at least 150 hours to burn in and while I never believe these burn in stories, this time there was truth to it. When I first installed them, the sound up top did have a little sharpness to it, and they sounded a bit lean. Over time, I’d say just a few days they really fleshed out and were smoother than before. After a few weeks, there is nothing at all sharp about them. They are full, organic, with just a slight touch of warmth yet they remain clean, clear and just outright stunning.

When I switched it up to rock they sounded great but couldn’t get near the heights of my Icon 12’s, but again, those are 3X the price. Classical was just beautiful, dynamic and in the room. Acoustics were mesmerizing and things such as violin and Cello were stunning. How about some hard hitting EDM? Yea, sure, these can do that too and I feel they do this better than rock music. They had me and my wife moving around the house feeling the groove and I didn’t feel as if I was missing much, if anything.

ALL ABOUT THE VOICE

What about the Horn vs the Voxactiv 1.6? Well, I truly do enjoy both as they each have their own flavor yet a similar familiarity. If I had to pick one it would be tough as the Voxactive 1.6 has tremendous detail, richness and pop. It also leans a little warm but offers up amazing clarity and depth. I’d give the nod to the Voxactic for rock, classic rock and the like. For most everything else, I prefer the Horn.

Where the Horn differs is in the voice. If you love the human voice, the Horn is the way to go. It projects voices out a bit and they sound 3D and real. This is the way of the Horn when done right and this one is done right. There are none of the negatives here of the Horn designs of old, but instead a smooth, sometimes silky presentation that makes music sound alive.

So Voxactiv 1.6 is a shade darker and denser, the Horn is a shade lighter but again, it is all about that voice and the way the music is projected INTO the room rather than even or behind the speakers.

These can play loud or low volume with ease and they sound gorgeous at 2AM or high noon.

You can click here to see what Pure Audio Project themselves say about this speaker. They are mighty proud of this one.

One of the amps I tested the Duet 15 Horns with was the Luxman 509X. When paired with an Eversolo streamer going into an Orchard Audio DAC (Using AKM DAC chips) the sound was so so good. Rich, slightly warm, analog like and wide open. I feel this is the best integrated Luxman has made. 

WHAT ABOUT THE BASS? 

When I first started listening to these the bass did seem a little lighter than the Voxativ version but after a couple of weeks of running in, yes indeed they sound fuller down below. I wouldn’t classify these as going super low, no room vibration will happen, but as a whole they sound large, even handed, and really really beautiful. When listening I never say “the bass is lacking”, rather I say “these sound about right and have zero bass slop, boom or issues”.

That’s the beauty about open baffle bass, it sounds natural and real vs overextended and bloated/fake. Some speakers push bass to impress out of the gate and over time these kind of speakers get tiring, dull sounding and well, just average. It’s when you experience clean, tight, tuneful bass that you realize “hey, this is what bass is supposed to sound like”.

So I feel the Voxactiv version has a bit more weight, the HORN version is slightly more airy and again, that voice…lovely.

MUCH MORE IN THE VIDEO REVIEW

In the video review, which is 30 minutes long, I talk much more about these, my experience as well as share some listening notes and experiences with various kinds of music. The video can be seen up top, or right here. 

WHERE TO BUY?

You can buy these direct from Pure Audio Project at their website HERE. You will have many options to choose from as the baffles come in many colors, you can choose your feet and wether you want a grille for the bass driver.