@ivan_nosnibor ... We don’t as a rule tolerate vowel sounds in box designs, in fact makers regularly go to great lengths to tout that they’ve removed them with careful attention to the cabinets, don’t they? So why are so many makers of horn speakers so seemingly silent on the subject of audible horn resonances - especially as it relates to horn material?
This has confounded me as well, and yet, perhaps the obvious answer involves failing to direct proper attention towards and financially invest sufficiently into making great horns (one hopes there’s actual knowledge there to be aware of these implications, but the care needed for this to translate into the product itself appears to be in minor demand). As an example JBL has long touted their "Sonoglass" horn material, but going by my similar-ish impressions of several of their models featuring Sonoglass horns it seems the general sonic imprinting generated here (that of a grey-ish and rather "splashy" character, as some rightly puts it) could stem from the horn material used. Sonoglass is by all accounts cheaper, lighter, and easier to manufacture than a, say, machined (and thick-walled) hardwood horn, all factors that weigh in heavily in cost considerations; let’s not fool ourselves into thinking JBL has, in essence, other incentives to use this material, and that anything from hereon is simply "damage control." As a general rule I believe horns are much more sensitive, so to speak, with regard to their implementation, manufacture and need of care to work really well compared to direct radiating speakers, but these are demands that doesn’t sit well in today’s manufacturing market, for obvious reasons (sad they are). As such I suspect really well-sounding horns (all-horns in particular) may be a relative boutique business, certainly compared to the mass market of speakers in general, but I’ll be among the first to acknowledge their outspoken qualities when done right.