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How come Horn + woofer designs are not more popular?

A couple guys on my audio discord really love the JBL synthesis 4367 and feel that all traditional 3 way tower speakers suck because they have poor bass response and are generally shy sounding. What I wonder is how come the majority of speaker makes do floor standers that are 3 way as oppose to the Horn +woofer design of JBL?

Is there any downsides to the horn + woofer design? Can a horn convey microdetail as well as a Be tweeter like say from magic A or S line? They claim 3 way floor standers are just trendy. But is there anything more to it then that?
smodtactical
bigkidz
3,409 posts
 

I built a few custom horn speakers and used Sony Alnico woofers (only 2 pair in the USA).  I bi-amped them with custom tube mono-block amps that I built (1.5 watts) to drive the horns.  They sounded amazing but they wee large so no WAF.  I never could get the bass to keep up with the horns though.  My buddy has Klipsch and why the mids are excellent, the bass always lags behind.  Do not know his model but he has had them modified.


Happy Listening.

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,576 posts
 
Two words: too big.

If not for tube amplifiers there would probably be little need for this typically high efficiency design in most homes. High efficiency potential is the key advantage. Pro audio involving larger spaces is a different story.
mwatsme's avatar
mwatsme
187 posts
 
Horns - They're not more popular because they sound terrible, the reason is that simple. 
dtximages
365 posts
 
There's a charm to a good horn.  Like driving a vintage car.  Sure performance isn't the same as a sports car today, but there's something sweet about it.  Keep in mind, good sound is ALL subjective. Even concert halls sound different.  Instruments sound different. 

I love horns and I love non-horns.. Depends on my mood.
pbnaudio's avatar
pbnaudio
1,614 posts
 
Once you have listened to a properly designed Horn with a State of the art compression driver behind it - there is no way you can listen to a 1"dome tweeter again. :-)

https://pbnaudio.com/m25-loudspeaker/


Good Listening

Peter 
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