Horn Speaker Recommendations

JBL Monitors are the obvious choice to get the "70's" sound if thats what your after. These were the speakers used in almost every studio to create the albums from that time period...hence the term "Studio Monitors". So THIS is the sound as was intended at the time of the creation of the music. How do you get more truthful and accurate as that?

Sorry, this is nonsense. That was the sound that might have been possible in the recording studio at the time, but rest assured if they had better equipment like we have now, they would have used it. Having run a studio in the 1970s (and still run one now) I was only too well aware of how limited JBL monitors were at the time. So we did a lot of headphone listening to get around the limitation of the monitors, and often took the recordings to better systems to see what they actually sounded like.


Its never been my experience that any of the LPs of that period sound better when played only on a particular speaker, especially one made in the 1970s. Most speakers of that era had significant breakups and aren't that nice to listen to at volume. The more **neutral** your speaker, the better those 70s LPs sound. I play lots of vinyl from the 1970s at audio shows and they sound great on horn speakers made in the 21st century, no worries. 

I have heard of East and West Coast sound, but never 70s sound. Live and learn I guess. 

Here's a pretty good thread on the 70's sound - https://www.gearslutz.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-and-electronic-music-production/765626-what-makes-up-quot-70s-sound-quot.html

Just the sheer amount of amazing music coming from that decade is what's incredible to me. I thought we would always have that creative surge..

@jsautter I heard your speakers several years ago at a show. Very nice. Incredible build quality, and the first horn loaded ribbon ( tweeter ) I have ever seen, or heard. I very much understand why you have them, but, still not my cup of tea, nor do I feel they were worth 40K. YMMV. As far as the large horns spoken about by johnk, ridiculous for the majority of living rooms most of us listen in. A quote from a recent Stereophile review on the Forte !!!s : " Horns have the rare ability to reproduce the note - perfect timing, rhythmic energy, and blood - pulsing impact of the real event ". " With their high sensitivity ratings and low power requirements, horns deliver music faster, with jumpin’ jiminy dynamics at practically every volume level ". Could not have said it better. What many " hybrid " horn systems lack, imo ( and this is a quality I appreciate from many years of listening to other types of speakers, such a Vandersteen, Thiel, Wilson and others ), is this thing called " coherence ". My Lascalas ( tweaked and modified ) do this with uncanny, breathtaking honesty. The bass horn, mid horn and treble horn all work together, unlike, say, a pair of Altec 19s, which are an excellent, competitive speaker with the Lascala ( I owned a few pair in my years ), but have a substantial disconnect between woofer, and the horn. My ears are very sensitive to this. Keep in mind, I would rather own a pair of 19s, over a pair of Vandersteen 3s, whatever series. I just like horns, and have, for over 50 years, and I thank PWK, and his early, and still, excellent designs, for this. Lastly, johnk states he can come up with a killer system for about 2K, being superior to other horn speakers at that price level. I admire and respect johnk, just from the readings here, but I would love to see the plans on this design. I also need to say this. I do not know what speakers willgolf will wind up with, but, based on his " regular " room he has in mind for this 2 channel rig, I doubt, based on years of experience, and listening, that his expensive system, will not be able to bring " me " any more listening enjoyment, than my current rig. I do wish him luck, and I am sure, he will be very happy, as at least, he will own horns. Enjoy ! MrD.