How come Horn + woofer designs are not more popular?

Thanks to the beauty of a software package that design both speaker box and cross over, I was able to build my own high efficient speaker using Italian speaker drivers with horns, mid range and woofers in a 3 way systems.  I can hear the voice of Maria Callas live in concert in clarity due to Horns and Midrange.  Horn perfectly run in Tube Amps in 16 ohms impedance.  my amps is an Atma-Sphere M60.

The good ones are expensive.

I'm a long time owner of 15" Tannoys and when A/B'd against my other speakers with dome tweeters or Electrostatic panels, I will admit that they are the least delicate and agile in the high frequencies.  HOWEVER.... when I leave them set up and don't compare, I find that I simply love listening to music more.  I feel the music more, and I'm more connected to it.  Horn's tend to suffer in direct A/B comparisons.  I think people don't know how to listen for dynamics, and they don't understand how much that makes you fall in love with music.  When comparing 2 speakers, sparkley highs and deeper lows will usually be favored, but in the end, might be less rewarding.  

If I may add, that Paul Klipsch’s Klipschorn was all about making a woofer that COULD keep up with that large mid horn! (thats an 8’ bass horn wrapped up in a very small space!!) I own a pair, and I don’t believe there is another passive 3 way speaker system that can make bass output like the Klipschorn when setup correctly. Most have never heard a Klipschorn system in a dedicated and tuned room with PLENTY of breathing space which is unfortunate. (yes, you have to have ROOM for this size speaker).

A speaker with incredible efficiency, VERY low distortion and extreme dynamic range.

A speaker standing the test of time and still being made today some 73 years and running...

I invite anyone to come to my listening place and hear for yourselves. Send me a note and I’ll make arrangements. Bring your favorite music on most any format, sit and enjoy (O:

My highly modified Klipschorns have an uncanny sense of the breath of life about them. This sense  mostly emanates from the incredible micro dynamics I've not yet experienced from dynamic drivers. Add high levels of detail, and transparency and you get a highly involving experience.


I do think horns can be somewhat problematic with timbre and soundstaging. Hard panned images tend to attach themselves to wide horns, narrow baffle compression driver speakers tend to disappear to a greater extent.  Timbre issues have been resolved by my Klipschorn mods, SET amplification, room treatments and just recently added lithium ion batteries to power my entire front end.

I've found that getting satisfactory sound from horns has required a major investment of time and funds. There have been a number of times when I began to doubt I would ever love the Klipschorns, but after a year and a half of optimization its highly doubtful I'll ever go back to compression driver speakers.