The new XT Tractrix Horn design delivers a wider dispersion pattern—100 x 100 degrees—than a traditional Klipsch Tractrix Horn. It is a technology that allows the slim Icon W speakers to deliver a wider sound field, while also providing more latitude in placement.
In general, wide dispersion horns are more difficult to design, as they tend to exhibit problems in dispersion uniformity. In other words, while the horn’s coverage pattern is wider, it’s also more inconsistent—especially at high and low frequency extremes. Klipsch designed the XT Tractrix Horn to solve this problem.
Traditional wide dispersion horns have fast expansion rates (or taper rates), which is why they feature large “mouths” and shallow depths. These two characteristics are the root cause of the dispersion uniformity because the sound wave traveling down the length of the horn loses contact with the walls and it’s the walls that determine the coverage pattern.
However, in our XT design, we’ve added “graceful bumps” to the horn so its flare isn’t quite as fast. This forces the sound wave that is traveling down the length of the horn to stay in contact with the horn walls. As long as you can fully illuminate the internal volume of the horn consistently at all frequencies, the more consistent the horn dispersion will be.