26/08/2026
Why Jean Le Cléac’h horns?
Horn geometry has a huge influence on how a loudspeaker behaves — not just its frequency response, but its directivity, integration and ultimately how it sounds in the room.
For my latest design, I’ve chosen to use the Jean Le Cléac’h horn profile.
Developed by French engineer Jean-Michel Le Cléac’h, the profile was designed with particular attention to the behaviour of the wavefront through the horn and at the mouth. Rather than treating the horn simply as a way of increasing efficiency, the geometry aims for a smooth acoustic transition from the compression driver into the room.
That matters to me.
I’m not interested in using horns simply because they can play loud. What interests me is their combination of efficiency, controlled directivity and very low distortion — while retaining the natural, effortless presentation that a well-designed horn system can achieve.
The Le Cléac’h profile also lends itself particularly well to the large-format horn systems I like to build, where crossover design, driver spacing, directivity and acoustic behaviour all have to be considered as part of the same system.
There are easier and considerably smaller ways to build a loudspeaker…
But where would be the fun in that?
Horn designers — what profile do you prefer, and why?
