Let’s get down to brass tacks here. Most haven’t really heard horn speakers at all, let alone very good horn speakers. Those that have have heard hybrids mostly, and though hybrid solutions can sound wonderful they are, in their less dedicated iterations, commonly plagued by continuity problems between the midrange horn and the direct radiating unit(s) for the lower frequencies, not to speak of other inherent and potential issues that can mare any kind of speaker principle. If you fail the sound of a hybrid solution that incorporates a horn be aware that you’re addressing a combination, but a combination of what? Not only a horn, suffice it to say.
All-horn speakers aren’t necessarily devoid of problems either, but more often than not I find all-horn iterations to be more dedicated in their approach and less apologetic, in a sense, of their origin and type of speaker. Going all-horn in other words I find typically embraces what horn speakers truly are qua horns, with all that implies in regards to size, system requirements and overall implementation; you go the horn route you damn well better go all the way and make it dedicated (which very often simply means going a different way to unlearn much of what one has been accustomed to over time), to really be able to get a bearing on their true worth and potential.
Even then such a dedicated setup won’t appeal to everyone, but how is that indicative of anything? I gather at least 98% of audiophiles out there use direct radiating solutions (be they dynamic coil-diaphragm drivers, electrostatic, ribbon, "radial strahler" or whatever that aren’t loading an acoustic impedance transformer, i.e.: a horn) - which, whether you want this or not, very generally has a distinctive sonic imprinting (and set of limitations) in itself - with a minority of those using hybrid solutions involving horns, and very often just by virtue of a difference to what one is used to a very capable set of all-horn speakers can be deemed "thumbs-down" just by failing to conform to your preferred type of "cuisine." Some hearing the dynamic capabilities of all-horn speakers even go so far as to stir the notion of "exaggerated dynamics," and that pretty much hits the nail on the head with regard to the importance of context, and how things can get "distorted" here..
For the sake simplicity, if we maintain ~98% of all audiophiles to use direct radiating speakers, would that reflect a consensus into what has the biggest sonic potential, not least compared to a live acoustic reference? Now let this question seep for a while before you go vicious on the keyboard. I’ll cut to the chase however with my take on an answer to this by saying: no. Is this a way then to disqualify or deflate much if not most of the vitriol against "horn" speakers? In a way, yes, because in most cases we aren’t really addressing horn speakers qua horns, but instead hybrids that aren’t really this nor that.
If we want to address horn speakers that truly are, let’s address them as such and not some watered-down entity that sits between to two chairs, and then go out and listen to some bloody all-horn speakers to know what they can be. Whether conical or curved, old or new, I’d advice to rid oneself of prejudice and expectation, even habit, and let them have their shot, so to speak.
In essence: the controversy surrounding "horns," as I see it, has more to do with misinformation, confusion of definition, convenience and habitual bias than any actual assessment of a pair of true horn speakers. I don’t mean to blast those who do not prefer them, but would rather be without theory-laden and reductive arguments that seeks to ridicule them as a whole. I that regard certainly, let’s not beat the bushes..
