Horn based loudspeakers why the controversy?

I'm a speaker designer too and I listened to a horn/hybrid system for 10 years. (TAD 15 inch woofer/TAD horn and tweeter).

There is nothing wrong with horns as a high end loudspeaker. I even used mine with ss amplification.

The distortions levels from using the compression driver (in my case) were incredibly low. I'm talking about distortions due to operating the drivers at 2 percent of what they were made to do in terms of spl, or something equivalent.

That said, I've gone back to cones and domes and I don't really miss the horns. There are pluses and minuses, but properly made they are a 100 percent valid approach toward a speaker.

I don't understand why there's such a strong reaction to horns.

@oddiofyl - The Lowther DX4 driven Concerto at 22k is a complete speaker pair, that are mesmerizing with good to great electronics . Adding custom veneer is strictly cosmetic and is expensive due to the nature of the design...no squared off boxes here! They can be ordered in any color, and a number of solid hardwoods for the speaker mount, for decor matching. The Voxativ as a "better" driver is more about a sound preference than an improvement. Sure it’s 5x more in cost than the Lowther DX4 but "better" is arguable. I have listened to both and prefer the Lowther to the Vox hands down! So to each his own...

@mapman - Yes the Charney Audio line are works of art that sound fantastic. Beautiful to look at for sure. Every time a friend or family member walks into my room there is always the obligatory "Oh wow these are beautiful" Followed with a close inspection of the impeccable workmanship, and look around with a host of questions. Each of his designs go through hundreds if not thousands of hours of listening and tweaking before release.

@johnk - You would have to contact Charney to discuss how he came about to build the Concerto. Charney was a long time owner of the Carfrae Little Big Horn but had always felt that integrating the bass was problematic. So he purchased a C&C machine and dove into the tractrix theory. The result is on his website and the horns he builds. Each of the designs are built to support the drivers used. None of them need subs, but room size does come into play, as it does with just about every other speaker out there. Each design creates an exceptional 3D landscape with clean clear highs, sublime mid range, and bass (oh the bass) is deep and articulate. Charney horns couple with the room when properly set up. This doesn’t take long and once done there are no room nodes! Treating the room is done to taste. Fact is that I removed some treatments and the sound improved.

Not trying to sell anything here just being informative. Heck it took me a few visits before I committed to the Maestros. At first I was awed at what I listened to. But the practical side of me took over and I needed more assurance. Like most of us I’m budget minded and had to figure a way to afford a complete system change and it was well worth the time and effort.

Worked with a good num of BLH designs. I mostly prefer front loaded horn systems over hybrids and BLH. But one can build a great sounding loudspeaker using BLH etc I just prefer full front horn loading and that can get large not all want, can afford or house such things. In my office system I can not fit a massive sub bass horn but do have pair of community leviathans front loaded to 70hz and I run a massive sealed bass system with it as a compromise that I can live with and greatly enjoy. In my bedroom I have a small pair of fostex BLH I place near ears for late night use. Still running 2 pairs of RCA shearer horns in main systems one using my massive sub bass horn and have one of my favorites in garage system waiting warmth a giant pair RCA front horns from late 1920s with modern drivers currently installed. Much of the rest is in storage or not in use and its to much to go into.