Why not horns?

Gawdbless, I'm sorry, but, I don't understand the question.

06-27-10: Johnk
Weseixas since you say you've heard owned or have had much experience with the worlds greatest loudspeakers. Could you let me know brands of horns that you feel represented the best examples that you took the time to demo? You state [my decision is based on hearing the best of the best,] So lets hear it what are the best of the best?

WE:

Jadis Eurythmie ...
Acapella High vioncello...
Acapella Violon
Avantgarde Acoustic Uno
Avantgarde TRIO
KlipschHorn
Klipsch La Scala
Zingali 20 series 1.12
Tannoy Westminster
+
Numerous Altecs,JBL's, and custom built one offs over the years ....

Why not horns?

Again , everyone has there own preference, Maybe if you like small wattage tube amplifiers, this is your gig, maybe the only gig, they do not work for me...

I find dipoles/hybrids done right to be much better than all other topologies..

Better tonally
Better imaging
Better dynamics

But i have also heard really good sounding presentation from monopoles, much better than i have heard from the horn setups i have been exposed to...

For the record and the uninitiated amongst us, I'm not a Big maggie fan, I find them to be OK - good speakers, not great,same as some of the horns on the list, so go ahead and use them for surfing........

LOL..

Regards,

06-27-10: Unsound
Gawdbless, I'm sorry, but, I don't understand the question.

We: Unsound you never will,It's a pointy head mystery.....

06-26-10: Learsfool
Unsound, you are definitely mistaken - many, if not most of the greatest symphonic recordings of the "golden age" were monitored with horns. To name the most famous example, the Mercury people most often used Altec A7's, driven by MacIntosh electronics. A great many orchestral musicians are of the opinion that horns come the closest to recreating the sound of a live orchestra. Electrostats come close as well, but do not have the dynamic range of horns in either extreme. I also agree with Atmasphere and Johnk that horns can image as well or better than any other type, something which indeed is very important for classical music.

We:
Hello Learsfool,
Could you give me the name of one of those horns, My requirements are :

1. Good dynamics
2. Images well
3. Sounds natural

I would love to give them a listen ............

Regards,

Hi Weseixas - you yourself listed several in one of your previous posts, and I already mentioned the Altec A7's, which I happened to hear again today as a matter of fact (my uncle owns a pair). Properly set up and driven with tube electronics, they cannot be beat for dynamic range, not only on the loud end but also and in fact particularly on the soft end; they image wonderfully, and most definitely come closest to a life-like presentation when we are talking about trying to reproduce the sound of an orchestra in a great hall. If that is not your cup of tea, that's cool with me. There are many fine speaker designs, some of which sound better for certain things than others, and one's taste in music will heavily influence your choice. As I said, a great many professional orchestral musicians who are also audiophiles feel that the old-school approach has never been equalled for reproducing the sound of an orchestra, let alone bettered. Much of it has to do with your third priority, "sounds natural." Horns driven by tubes do an astounding job of recreating acoustic instrumental timbres, and also do a damn fine job on the human voice as well. Altec, JBL, Klipsch - even if they are not your cup of tea, you have to admit they are extremely successful designs that have survived longer than pretty much anything else in the audio world.