@kosst --
Going by your experience and the venues in which you’ve predominantly(?) heard "horn" speakers (again, most of them have likely been hybrids; not that this is necessarily a bad thing sonically, but it waters down the model of definition here), and being that this is mostly the pro-arena (i.e.: cinema speakers which uses mostly horn hybrids are usually not the worst representatives of "horn" sound, I find, but bear in mind they’re sometimes driven upwards of their limits), I’d say you may be in for a pleasant surprise with a pair of well-implemented, quality all-horn or horn hybrid speakers in a domestic environment. "honky, distorted sound" is nothing at all like what a pair of quality horn speakers will bring to the day, certainly not least when played at more moderate levels in a home, but if a sound that deviates from many if not most direct radiating smaller speakers by virtue of simply offering up a larger, more effortless, present and enveloping presentation, and that these traits are for some reason not to your liking, then I guess our case here must finally come to rest. However, I’m thinking you may be mixing up sonically detrimental artifacts from your overall pro-arena horn sound experience - where many aspects "come into play" to negatively affect the sound quality - with what are truly assets in quality horn sound reproduction in carefully implemented home setups. As for JBL, I’ve come to find their current 44-range, K2’s and Everest iterations to be overpriced, and I can tell you there are indeed much better (all-)horn speakers out there, and for less money - certainly going by my inkling for good sound.
I’m hoping you’ll some day be treated with a good demo of horn speakers in a home setting (let us know if an audition at poster @mrdecibel will eventually be arranged, and what you’ll come to find of it). I’d be glad to demo my own setup for you, but I reside in Europe (Scandinavia) and may not be the most obvious candidate.
Going by your experience and the venues in which you’ve predominantly(?) heard "horn" speakers (again, most of them have likely been hybrids; not that this is necessarily a bad thing sonically, but it waters down the model of definition here), and being that this is mostly the pro-arena (i.e.: cinema speakers which uses mostly horn hybrids are usually not the worst representatives of "horn" sound, I find, but bear in mind they’re sometimes driven upwards of their limits), I’d say you may be in for a pleasant surprise with a pair of well-implemented, quality all-horn or horn hybrid speakers in a domestic environment. "honky, distorted sound" is nothing at all like what a pair of quality horn speakers will bring to the day, certainly not least when played at more moderate levels in a home, but if a sound that deviates from many if not most direct radiating smaller speakers by virtue of simply offering up a larger, more effortless, present and enveloping presentation, and that these traits are for some reason not to your liking, then I guess our case here must finally come to rest. However, I’m thinking you may be mixing up sonically detrimental artifacts from your overall pro-arena horn sound experience - where many aspects "come into play" to negatively affect the sound quality - with what are truly assets in quality horn sound reproduction in carefully implemented home setups. As for JBL, I’ve come to find their current 44-range, K2’s and Everest iterations to be overpriced, and I can tell you there are indeed much better (all-)horn speakers out there, and for less money - certainly going by my inkling for good sound.
I’m hoping you’ll some day be treated with a good demo of horn speakers in a home setting (let us know if an audition at poster @mrdecibel will eventually be arranged, and what you’ll come to find of it). I’d be glad to demo my own setup for you, but I reside in Europe (Scandinavia) and may not be the most obvious candidate.