Horn based loudspeakers why the controversy?

{ the interest in horn material damping somehow appears MIA}  Maybe a few costly german horns are not addressing it but most all others do. GOTO goes all out in doing so and many other horns do not need much due to material choices. You also see a good num going with massive wood bells to reduce coloration.  Those not addressing are doing so for mostly cosmetic reasons or they feel that it somehow kills the magic.

@james1969 - no, i have not used the ML2s on the Quads (yet). I had my old Quad II amps restored, and installed NOS GEC KT 66s, NIB GEC EF86 and a NOS Mullard rectifier. They are fab sounding- better than when I first started using them in 1973.
I did use super tweets (Deccas; Sequerra Ribbons) and a woofer back in the day; the tweeters were fine, getting the bass seamless was very difficult, perhaps owing to what was available commercially in the late ’70s and early ’80s. I then switched to the Crosby Quad for a long while and shelved the original ESLs until recently restored.
The woofer matching with the horns is very similar to the experience I had with the Quads. Right now, I’m using the Quads without any additional speaker(s).
With the Avantgarde, I found that if you cranked up the woofer gain to make it punch, it sounded obviously discontinuous with the mid-horn; back the woofer off to blend with the mid-horn made the bass reticent; thus, I supplement with those add-on 15" servo subwoofers. I matched the sound of subs to blend into the Avantgarde woofers as seamlessly as possible through adjustments to crossovers, gain and on the subs, phase. I also added a small DSP unit to the subs. You really don’t notice them, except they give a deeper, bigger stage and when there is real deep bass on a record, it is now presented with more authority.
I’d love to do a semi-vintage horn system; just a question of dollars at this point. I’m a retired pensioner living on my investments. :)
Are you using your Lamms with the Klipsch you linked to?

@whart 

Yes, the Cornwall IIIs are driven by the ML2s.  I just love the low end bass.  This is my first near-full-range speaker.  I've had monitors in the past.

@james1969 - I sent you a PM via Audiogon so we don't have to burden this thread with our Quad discussion. 
regards,
bill

The real irony to me is that the same people who vehemently argue for the dynamics of horns are the same who think vinyl is king. You don't get more dynamically compressed than vinyl.

@kosst_amojan

I really feel like I need to set the record straight here. Regarding vinyl (and I realize this is off-topic so I won't linger), I run an LP mastering operation and we do CDs too. As far as dynamic range goes, these days typically the LP is less compressed than the CD. This is because there is no expectation it will be played in a car, while there is every expectation that a CD might so they get some compression. But this simple fact is you can take any digital recording and master it to LP without any processing, so long as you don't run into an out-of-phase bass problem (which can usually be solved without processing if you spend enough engineering time with the project). Due to the generalized nature of your comment, I'm saying that its false. LP has dynamic range (ideally) that is nearly that of Redbook.

Now regarding 'dynamics of horns' there is an entirely different issue at play. First, much of the 'dynamics' that audiophile discuss is really distortion due to higher ordered harmonics; I find that usually you can substitute the word 'distortion' for 'dynamics' without changing the meaning of the conversation.

But distortion usually relates to amps, and many horn lovers use SETs, which make quite a lot of distortion. They have good 'dynamics' even when not used on horns :)

As far as the horns go, the distortion they make is related to the diaphragm and the curve of the horn itself. Modern materials are available to prevent the diaphragm from having any breakups in the audio passband; these materials were not available until the early 2000s. So if your impression of horn dates to prior that time, it may simply be out of date. The curve of the horn can be optimized by the use of CAD; again if you were listening to older designs you may not realize the progress that's been made!

Horns are still important because tubes are still very much around decades on after being declared obsolete. You really don't have to know anything technical about their benefits; understanding the economics is enough- tubes do something people like. But the thing is, tube power is expensive and so horns can be quite practical and as fast and transparent as the best ESLs if field coil powered.