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How come Horn + woofer designs are not more popular?

A couple guys on my audio discord really love the JBL synthesis 4367 and feel that all traditional 3 way tower speakers suck because they have poor bass response and are generally shy sounding. What I wonder is how come the majority of speaker makes do floor standers that are 3 way as oppose to the Horn +woofer design of JBL?

Is there any downsides to the horn + woofer design? Can a horn convey microdetail as well as a Be tweeter like say from magic A or S line? They claim 3 way floor standers are just trendy. But is there anything more to it then that?
smodtactical
mrdecibel
3,063 posts
 
roberjerman, excellent amplifier !
chrissain
470 posts
 
I lived with a pair of JBL Array 1400s for about a year, they did some great things but were very unforgiving of bad recordings, I overall prefer my Revel 228be. 
jtgofish's avatar
jtgofish
515 posts
 
The JBL Studio 590 speakers were fantastic speakers and a real bargain but JBL stopped making them.
audition__audio
1,475 posts
 
Horns dont sound more like real music, they sound like horns. Just like dynamic speakers and planar speakers dont sound more like real music. It is simply a issue of priorities. Each design has its merits and intrinsic difficulties. I doubt that my priorities are such that I will ever own a pair of horns.

I might add that any speaker that isnt revealing of bad recordings I dont think is a good speaker.
richopp
760 posts
 
Horn speakers distort sound.  Some love this--go to a typical 150 db (exaggeration except for YES!)  rock concert and there are a million horns. 

Go to a ball game at the local VFW or where they play summer American Legion ball and listen to the announcer on the horns mounted on the poles around the field.  You will see what I mean!  By the way, Legion summer ball is amazingly good!

Cheers!
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