Why not horns?

You leave out one critical part of your thesis, planers radiate sound from both sides , this ability helps to create the required space and time of a recording far more accurately than any monopole transducer.

Horns will always sound like hi-fi, never real , they project sound in a manner where all instruments and voices have the same projection and size. The best you can say is that they sound just like an amplified concert 40 ft away. Unfortunately we listen to recordings of live music and not live music itself , as such Horns do not convey this as accurately IMO.

If you cannot get the speaker far enough from the rear wall, the first comment is moot. Duke has built systems that are rear-firing and they seem to work fine...

The second comment is simply absurd! Horns image and present soundstage images as well or as badly as any other speaker technology.

Atma,

I understand why you reject the pejorative comment re: horns and imaging, but I will take issue with your specific rebuttal. Planars and omnis (properly set up) image differently than horns (or any other monpoles). Some may prefer that presentation. Some may feel exactly the other way. I won't attach a value judgement, but either way, IMHO, imaging is one area where people can draw sharp distinctions between monopoles (including horns) and dipoles/bipoles/omnis.

Marty

IME, horns are capable of producing a very good sound stage, but not very good imaging.

Plainly there is no consensus on the desirability of horns in this discussion. However, it is equally plain that most of us see horns as a viable alternative. A few have no taste for them at all and a couple are hell bent on discouraging others from exploration.

I would posit however, that those who are encouraging newcomers to try horns out and see if they like them hold a higher position than those who claim to be protecting newbies from such exploitation. After all, they are the same individuals who retreat to arguments about the primacy of personal taste every time their other gambits appear at all shaky.

Clearly horns are not everyone's answer but to some of us they hold a position that known alternatives fail to challenge. How is that a problem?

LOL.. John the Irony !!!
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06-19-10: Johnk
Agree with gawdbless on this making bold all encompassing statements. Sad part of it all is the huge disservice these types due to audio by keeping people with limited experience from trying something new. Since they read the all this is that or that is only for hi-fi not music or all this does that. Just BS anyone with experience can see but those new will just take this as fact. And its not just horns TT CD SET PP SS amps Ribbons Planar STATs cones domes all have detractors. I see this daily in forums all [insert name here] users are deluding themselves only the [insert name here] is capable of accurate music reproduction. Have a open mind for once remember no absolutes, nothings perfect and if you do not like something does this now means that its crap for all? Or maybe you just do not enjoy it ever think of this? Maybe you never owned a recently constructed horn so your listening bias is from casual listens not real hands on experience. I for one know its possible to design very good sounding accurate loudspeakers of most any design and transducer type so why not with horns?