Questions about horns: Are two twice as loud as one?

I tried to do a search but I couldn't come up with what I was looking for.


So, on to my XJ family!

If two lights are brighter than one.

Are two horns twice as loud aswell?


Also, I was thinking about getting the Stebel Nautilus any other suggestions of horns I should look at? and the best place to buy them.

Thank you for your time everyone.

 

The short answer is: yes, and no. Or sometimes and maybe.

The sound issue is a matter of constructive and destructive interference, as sound travels in waves, as opposed to light (which can be both waves and particles depending on how they're observed).

When the sound is in-phase, the overall observed level is higher.
When the sound is out of phase, that is when the source emits soundwaves in different frequencies, the overall level of sound will only be louder at some areas.
Consider dropping two marbles on a still surface of water, the waves created will propagate forward. On some areas you will observe that two wavesets will cancel each other out, while some wavesets add together to form a wave that is the sum of two waves intersecting.

In terms of how to make horns sound louder, one solution is to get horns with a wide spread. Another is to angle them besides the "normal" forward.
Make the horn switch longer so you can stand in front of the bike about 5-8 yards. Get a general feel of the horns when they're in the normal position, and then try out angling them outwards (to the relative sides of the bike in riding position). Then get back to the front of the bike and try the horns again.

 

Don't know if 2 horns are twice as loud as one horn but they wouldn't be any quieter than one!

Look at the Stebel horns. Supposed to be nice and loud and compact for use on any bike! They make at least a couple models including the Nautilus and the Magnum.

Not too expensive either.

Loren

 

I grabbed the High and Low tone Fiamm Freeway Blasters. They are loud. You do want to use a relay and new fuse.

Check my electrical post in my signature for my setup/DIY pics.

 

They would put out twice as much energy, but we hear that as being only 3 dB louder. That's not very much.

As far as wave interference goes, there wouldn't be any significant low spots at the frequency the horns are at....unless you get horns that put out 10 Hz! Even then the low spots would only be a couple of feet, and the horns would have to be several feet apart to generate them. But you can't hear that low, anyway.

If you want more horn sound, your best bet is to follow the advice above to get a better horn. That would be far more effective than buying a second, omni-directional, low output stock horn.