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How much of High End Audio is Horn Speakers?

An audio friend of mine had been discussing my future speaker purchase. We discussed, Harbeth, Devore, Spendor, Audio Note and other more traditional speaker brands. A week or two later he called an asked me what speakers I had purchased. When I told him Klipsch, there was a little silence on the other end of the line. Our call probably ended a little sooner then usual. I could tell he was disappointed in my purchase. Is it the Klipsch name that illicits this type of response or is it Horn speakers in general? After thinking about some of the other Audiophiles in town, a good deal of them are on the low power high efficiency speaker route and more than a few I know are using Horns. Does anyone know how the high end market share is divided? Is there a stigma associated with certain lower cost Horn speakers? Or is this just Klipsch? I now own a pair of Klipsch Cornwalls and am enjoying the journey associated with tweaking the sound to my taste. Is there an unwritten rule that friends don’t let friends buy Klipsch?

128x128coachpoconnor
bjpricing
14 posts
 

Got khorns in 1982. Upgraded to full volti audio in 2015. The improvement was astounding. Will have khorns until death do us part. These speakers could make a toaster sound good. Use tubes for amplification. Heaven on Earth. Have no apologies for Klipsch fans. Khorns now sound like a khorn should sound. IMHO

bishop148
42 posts
 

The advantage IMO of horn loaded speakers is their efficiency. The disadvantage is coloration, they usually have a characteristic horn sound, like its coming from a tube, which it is. 

 JBL have done a pretty good job of taming horn speakers, with wide waveguides and crossovers but at the expense of efficiency.

orfeo_monteverdi's avatar
orfeo_monteverdi
41 posts
 

"Is it the Klipsch name that illicits this type of response (1) or is it Horn speakers in general? (2)"

[please excuse my bad English]

I am afraid it is the #1 answer.

But there is nothing wrong with your choice; after all, it has to suit you.

I heard the Klipsch Cornwall again recently at a show. I personally would not use them for my favorite classical music works (or any acoustic instruments recording), but with all other genres (especially rock & pop), I admit they can provide a lot of fun.

I usually hate horns. Nevertheless, I recently discovered some horn speakers that sing like divas (but are as pricey as a car).

Enjoy your music, whatever the speakers and others opinions.

fatdaddy2
384 posts
 

Have had Rectilinear, Visonik, ADS, Maggies, Thiels, Acoustat, M&K, Salk (still have these), and probably a few others I've forgotten, and have no complaints on running Forte IV's in my main (of 3) system.

sns
3,244 posts
 

Plenty of people enjoy their horns stock, others enjoy modded. Now, what exactly is wrong with horns, seems like all these people are satisfied. Unless we're all masochist and only fooling ourselves.

 

Perhaps the ease with which horns are amenable to diy or off the shelf mods is part of the appeal.

 

By the way, I've modded box speakers, open baffle and horns, I like my speakers to fit my exact needs. Nothing inherently wrong with any of these designs.

 

 

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