Horns: Why don't they image well?

Like I said before Kosst, you're a good man. The La Scalas were playing in some pretty deep water there and held there own. Imagine optimal setup. Yes, they can image, but the dynamics make for a more lifelike presentation too, don't you think?

I agree that there isn't any bass way down low. They actually play very well with some solid state amps, and other more powerful tube amps as well. Like any speaker, it brings out different strengths and weaknesses.

When I read certain descriptions about speaker imaging, I’m reminded of Akira Kurosawa’s biopic.

Shooting on a live volcano, he had to add a lot more smoke. Think about that for a sec. He's on a real, actual live volcano in Japan but he had to add smoke for "realism."

The problem was the limitations of film. If you are standing on a volcano, you feel the heat through your body. You don’t need visual or audible clues to tell you that you are standing on top of one of nature’s furnaces.
Translating this to film though, Kurosawa had to add a lot of smoke effects in order to convey the sense of heat that was impossible to transmit through the silver screen.

I often think that there is such a thing as exaggerated imaging in speakers. For instance, listening to a live chorus, can you pick out each singer? I can’t, but with some speakers I feel like I can.

Is this a faithful rendition of the sound anymore? I’m not sure, but perhaps this makes up for the loss of visual perception?

And as you may know, there are some tricks to tweaking a FR like a dip around 2.4 kHz (conveniently often a good crossover point) which can accentuate this.

Horns/waveguides focus the sound more directly at the users making for a smaller sweet spot for imaging.  But Good ones set up well accordingly can image as well as anything.   I've heard it so I know it can happen.  

I very much liked the dynamics and crisp presentation of the Klipsch La Scala iii at Capital Audiofest. A wide soundstage was not part of that experience though.  I also love the asthetics of these and would love to own a pair just for fun.