Horn based loudspeakers why the controversy?

My understanding Horn based Loudspeakers are designed for distance and dispersion.
I would think they are overkill for the size of home listening room.
However i have heard some great ones.

I do think the Heresy IIIs aren’t so great for near field listening, but then I also think anybody but an idiot knows that (I recommend smallish KEFs with concentric tweeters for near field as they’re cheap and sound better than most "pro" monitors). I’m maybe 9 or 10 feet from them with some toe-in…perfect! Ya gotta get yer toe in. Although I am going to try a couple of stands that raises them up a foot or so to get the bass driver off the floors and the tweeter at ear level…they’re now up a couple of inches as I have them on butcher blocks with Vibrapods under the speakers, and using the upward angling bases…having them on the floor of course reinforces bass, but I use 2 REL subs so bass is covered…the Heresys go to maybe 58HZ before dropping off considerably so subs are necessary for my tonal needs. Note that I feel these things don’t beam much at all anyway, and I’ve used sophisticated speakers with dome tweeters that seemed to beam more than these do…so there, horn deniers!

" I do think the Heresy IIIs aren’t so great for near field listening"

@wolf_garcia ,

I can't say for sure about the Heresy III but the HI and HII are great for near field listening, IMO.  I think that is what I am most intrigued about these speakers.  In both my rigs(Heresy I and Heresy II), I sit at one corner of a 6' x 6' x 6' equilateral triangle and feel truly immersed in the music.  Great imaging and soundstage with plenty of thump.

Bill

My Heresy III are about 9 feet apart... the sweet spot is in the middle 10 feet away, but i often sit in the corner about 7 feet away and the soundstage is still huge and the imaging is very good.   They are toed in just a bit and it actually sounds pretty good no matter where you sit.  The room is 17 x 15 ,  these speakers are the perfect size.  

After many small monitor / sub systems I am really enjoying these .... the mid bass impact and the way a bass guitar or kick drum sounds through these is impossible to achieve with small drivers.  I've owned many fine monitors and they just can't get the lower registers right.

By "near field" I mean something like the monitors I use for recording that are right there above the desk a few feet away…but otherwise, 6' does seem like it would work with Heresy speakers from any era and man, the immersion thing just sounds cool.  I also like the 12" speaker in these things and wondered what its impedance is as I could stick a guitar speaker in there for fun…a pair of old JBL K120s would look bad ass, but I assume the Heresy III woofer was designed for that speaker specifically (I was told it's by Eminence, who make a zillion different drivers including a supposedly 400 watt 15" I have in a bass amp).