Horn based loudspeakers why the controversy?

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 +++!

Yes horn people have a over all general consensus those who have experienced much know whats good or bad in horns and how to use them. But you still have the pro-audio gents who look at vintage as crazy you have the klipsch crowd and those who only pursue the most modern but over all if you have enough experience in horns we tend to agree whats good and not. Many horns are modular so a experienced user can combine these modules together to reach a end goal this also allows for user upgrades far more than conventional designs do and I think this hands on  and ease of upgrades and optimization is appealing to some.

@atmasphere

... a plus is they [i.e.: horns] can play a lot louder ...

Indeed, and by a wide margin, but importantly it’s also how this ability (not least as a product of much higher sensitivity) translates into a sense of effortlessness not only at elevated SPL’s, but at more "sane" playback levels as well. There seems not to be much awareness or even conscious appreciation of this crucial trait in sound reproduction, ease, which is a shame given how much say it has into setting the music free as a musical event "just happening" in front of you.

Lastly, and at the opposite end of the SPL scale, horns very often excel with their sense of aliveness and "ignition" (also an overlooked trait) at lower volumes, which really gives them an advantage over the whole spectrum of playback level in this regard.

it’s also how this ability (not least as a product of much higher sensitivity) translates into a sense of effortlessness not only at elevated SPL’s, but at more "sane" playback levels as well.

+1 When we first got our Classic Audio Loudspeakers, this was one of the properties we noticed almost right away.