Hora Audio Coco: Fully Horn Acoustics
This is not an art object inspired by a handset — it is an acoustic from the Japanese company Hora Audio called Coco. The result is a fully horn system — that is, all the speakers used in it are designed as horns.
The handset has nothing to do with it: the design was inspired by the very wave nature of sound, which spreads like a wind. According to the developers, the horn provides a realistic, lively sound-soft and pleasant, but powerful at the right moments.
The speaker housing is made entirely by hand using traditional woodworking techniques. The authors compared the process of creating Coco to the creation of a musical instrument — each element of the design was thoroughly tested for the correct sound.
The main material was Paulownia wood, the stand and body of the tweeter are made of solid oak and birch plywood. All elements are connected to each other by metal fasteners.
The chopped edges, which make the acoustics look like a low-poly 3D model, are not chosen by chance — everything is good for the sound. Moreover, the acoustics are designed so that it can be easily installed in the corner of the room. Despite the considerable dimensions, the case came out quite light and easy to move — with a height of 118 cm, one column weighs 19 kg.
The design uses several types of horns at once. The main body contains a wide-band speaker from EMS, designed in direct and reverse horns. The tweeter is located in a separate case, isolated from the main one with the help of elegant legs. It is loaded on a multi-chamber horn.
Each horn is designed to be free of parallel walls, and the speakers are covered with curved steel grilles that act as acoustic lenses and improve sound dispersion.
The capacitors and coils used in the novelty are from Mundorf, and the cables are from van den Hul. The broadband is handcrafted and plays from 40 Hz to 18 kHz, the tweeter plugs into 7 kHz and plays up to 25 kHz.
In Japan, Hora Audio Coco acoustics will cost 1,360,000 yen excluding tax (about $13000).
