Eldartford, and Appollo66, I remember back in the early 90s Harry Pearson said about horns: "they aren't high end". He turned out to be wrong about that, even back then. Since then of course horns have continued to improve.
I enjoy mine not simply for volume. They are faster, more resolving and more cohesive than the best magnetic and ES planars I have heard. The same comparison holds true against regular cone systems; price is really no object either. I enjoy a good stereo, and I try not to be so snooty that I will not allow a good sounding system to be discredited just because the owner did not do it the way I would have- I try to keep an open mind.
So when I say I prefer the horns I do, its over mbls, Wilsons, Sound Labs, Quads, Magnaplanars, Appogees (and their current clones, which are quite good), Avalons, Dalis and many other excellent speakers too numerous to mention. Further, I don't expect horns to always be on top; all technologies improve and one has to be ready to pick up and move if you want to stay on top :)
Right now an excellent example of technology on the move is the High Emotion Audio loudspeaker, the same people that were behind the Pipedreams from 10-15 years ago. They have a new tweeter technology that, if described in a nutshell, is a cross between a planar and a horn, literally its a planar with the shape of a horn and so its about 112db 1 watt/1 meter. Just like the best horns, its also very very fast and super detailed- maybe the fastest I have ever heard (although not bright at all). Although it is not a traditional horn, at the same time it should not be excluded from this conversation, although the actual applications I have heard it in have only been about 92-93 db efficient monitors.
So in a nutshell, the reason one might choose a horn is that the right ones most definitely do work quite well, regardless of one's prior preconceptions. I know this because this is where I started from too- thinking that horns don't work for high end applications. They won me over, kicking and screaming.
