Horn based loudspeakers why the controversy?

@mrdecibel ,

311 posts12-05-2017 12:40pmI find the Heresy to be a puzzle. A slow, air suspension, 12 in. woofer, mated to a midrange and tweeter horn.

I never understood this quandary regarding hybrid designs.

Why in theory should a dynamic cone woofer not work well with a horn midrange and tweeter. Klipsch is far from the only manufacturer that uses such designs. I realize PWK was staunch in his belief that all drivers should be horn loaded (hence the Heresy name), but other than lower bass response and ultimate sensitivity, the horn loaded woofer doesn't offer any advantages that I'm aware of.

Also, an air suspension helps to create fast bass, nothing slow about it.

helomech, I did say the Heresy worked, in the next sentence. Believe what you want, but, IMO, the Lascala, the Belle, and even the Vittori and Simon Mears, have a bass that is more musical, and coherent, between the bass and mid horn, than many. I love hybrids, and there are many I could probably live with. This is just my opinion. Enjoy your Heresys, as they are IMO, the best out there, at the price, and size ( I have owned many Heresys, mostly series 1, and some series 2. I have heard the series 3. If you PM me, I can give you a pointer or two on how to bring them to the next level ( however, if you bought them new, I would not want you to void the warranty ). Enjoy !  MrD 

P.S. You should join the Klipsch community, as, they are all Klipsch fanatics.

Dynamic speakers absolutely smash horns into the ground in terms of volume of media attention, sales, and conversation. Why do dynamic loudspeakers practically own the speaker market at every price point? You can't understand the controversy if you can't answer that question.

Sure- and to be fair, 90% of those speakers are sold at Best Buy and similar; and really aren't 'high end'. My speakers at home are a lot more expensive that anything sold in a box shop.

Horns were pretty well the only game in town in the old days. Tubes were the only game in town too. Tube power is expensive- so doing the most with it pays off on the speaker end. Horns are still around because if you can build them right, they are as low distortion as anything out there, just as three dimensional and revealing, and a plus is they can play a lot louder- still a good thing, as tube power is still more expensive than solid state and tubes are still very much around!

Atmasphere +++!