Are horns and hi-eff designs becoming more popular

I think Johnk missed one of my main points. Perhaps I can restate it as follows.

Speaker design, like all engineering projects, is a complex series of decisions regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the various choices available. This can emphasize certain sonic traits at the expense of others, or involve cost or size issues, or limit the suitability of the speaker in terms of placement or the associated equipment required.

Ribbon tweeters, for example, typically have poor vertical dispersion, historically can present distortion issues relative to other designs, and can be challenging to coherently integrate into a system.

All of that said, there are some fine systems with ribbon tweeters that many people think are great. What you have in that situation is a design where the advocates enjoy the strengths of such a system without being sensitive to (or at least bothered by) the weaknesses.

Same thing with higher efficiency designs. Once again we are back to engineering compromises. If the strong points of a design line up with a person's listening preferences, then all is good with the world. However, someone else may value characteristics not available in a high efficiency design (say low bass from a small cabinet where loud volume is not an issue) and will find a different speaker design is a better choice for them.

In summary, one often sees a pattern in audio discussions. There is the presumption that the writer's choices and perceptions are the only credible ones. Anyone who hears differently and prefers other equipment it thought to either lack proper training and education or is just wrong. It is more likely that they simply appreciate strong points of their system that are less relevant to the other person.

Mlsst I didnt miss your point I agree with some of it. But dont agree with your statement about ribbons I do feel the distortion or dispertion are not problems as such and easy to integrate in systems for me. I use most models availible. Have you had trouble integrating ribbons or are you just passing this on as fact? And sure youve heard horns that you feel honk I have too a Ford model t horn. But never have I heard this honking coloration from horn loudspeakers that you say you hear from horns. So I ask you what horns did you hear honk? This you say is a sonic trait of horns? Even my old 1890 edison doesnt honk. I do read simlar statements from others who have little to no experance with proper horn systems and are just passing on what they feel without experance or factual bases for such claims. I never said horns are the best thing since sliced bread I perfer my bread unsliced from a bakery or home made not wonder;)But do agree one needs to get out listen to find what works best for them. This posts not about praising hi-eff it was about the trend towards hi-eff transducers and loudspeaker systems. Dont mean to bust your chops but some of what youve posted needed to be addressed. Thank you for the reply.

I feel they are but wonder what others think?

Hi-eff & horns in particular seem to have picked up mkt-share. Personal experience and a few dealers here & there, of course, no hard facts. By hi-eff I mean +97dB spl, btw.

Another (possible) trend: the use of powerful amplification to drive said hi-eff spkrs -- as opposed to the traditional golden fleas... I.e. 30-50W amps for ++100dB front-loaded horns.

So I ask you what horns did you hear honk?

Perhaps a narrow circular (miscalculated exponential) front horn stretched fm upper to lower mids? A bit like those portable battery-powered pa devices?
I have been myself intrigued by this reported "honk" and usually attribute it to what is really a mismatch/ misalignment somewhere between tweet - mid- lower mid...

"03-15-08: Dcstep
Tell me, and I mean this in all seriousness and respect, is someone now making a horn speaker without that nasal midrange that drove me away from the old K-horns?? There's much to like about horns, particularly the easy dynamic range and ability to work with a great variety of amplification, including tubes.

If I were going to spend $10k, where would the horn lovers suggest that I look today?

Thanks,"

Try Zu's... Larger model is about your price point, a new player is the 8 k a pair model

I still have no clue as to what 'honking' is. Perhaps I am tone deaf thats why I like horns so much.
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