How come Horn + woofer designs are not more popular?

For many years, most every Radio Shack store across the country had a pair of Realistic Mach model horn speakers playing in the front of the store. Big and impressive looking but the worst sounding shoutiest Radio Shack Realistic brand speakers ever. I could not stand them no matter how hard I might try to like them. This alone gave horns a bad name for me and many "audiophiles" I suspect. That and the many commercial setups out there that are mediocre at best by "audiophile" standards. I still hear one of those at my gym most every day.

Mass exposure to bad horns has biased many I suspect. Gives the good ones a bad name.

Maybe those Realistic horns would have sounded better with a tube amp.....

Also did I mention that this kind of speaker tends to be big and heavy and most likely fewer people than ever want to have to deal with them these days?

I’m not saying they are bad.....some these days like the newer Klipsch are quite good and even reasonably affordable, just pointing out the reasons why they are not "popular" as asked. One could even argue that the entire modern Klipsch line IS pretty popular. You see them everywhere possible these days and they get a fair amount of press coverage.....just not here.

Also I gotta point out that most products popular here are NOT very popular as a whole....very few people overall own most of the products that get a lot of attention here. High end is "high end".....not "popular" in general.  Klipsch Heritage line might be one exception to that.

roberjerman-- I have a pair of Speakerlab 6WA's sitting in my basement, I bought them in college in the late 70's, kept them because I knew how good they sounded.  Haven't taken them out to listen, but might do it this weekend.  Have a Hegel H360 with Raidho XT-2's and love the sound.  Actually haven't made the move to digital yet-- have an Oppo 105D for SACD's, HDCD's (have a lot of them owing to big G Dead collection) and plain old CD's.  Only potential problem is that the speaker inputs on the Speakerlabs don't accept bananas, just straight wire.  They are cheap old spring type terminals.

+1-@fourspeed, @brucenitroxpro 

I grew up with a big old then-SOA James B Lansing C-31 front-loaded horn speaker driven by Newcomb tube amplification.  The speaker had two 15" active woofers and the potato-masher horn tweeter.  (This was the first version JBL "super corner horn").  It sounded wonderfully dynamic and balanced, not shrill, not shouty, not boomy.  Some of the most "realistic" sound I've heard in a living room.

Many years later, my son unknownst to me bought floor-standing Klipsh's (the less expensive ones).  I was surprised at how good they sounded, since I was aware of the bad reputiona that horns have in the high-end.  I am now keeping my eyes upon for an affordably-priced C-34 that I might used to replace my second stereo system.

Not a horn guy, but I have heard some horn systems I liked (or was surprised at the quality). Never heard any of the newer fancy designs, however. I guess I'm part of the folks that consider them "shouty".

Some people like the immediacy that is presented and I can understand that, especially for those who are into 60s/70s rock.

One thing I can say for the better implemented horns, they do provide excellent reproduction of horns (surprise!) and drum kits from well recorded sources.