To horn or not to horn

Not much love 🤷‍♂️

Try switching the question around the other way and you'll probably be killed in the rush.

Cheers George

Horns bring a couple of interesting dimensions.  Dispersion control (less room tuning to worry about) and high efficiency and dynamics.

There's a good reason why JBL's top end home speakers use them. :)

You might want to read my forum...Horn Speaker Suggestions.  I went through a very long process before deciding on horn speakers.  Never in a million years did I think I would end up with horn speakers.  I listened to tons of very high end non horn speakers before deciding on Viking Acoustic Grande Voix speakers.  What sold me was the clarity of sound. I love hearing each instrument and that is what horn speakers do for me.  

Needlebrush wrote: "I’m curious if there are any who are first time horn speaker owners after having owned other types of speakers for many years, and are you glad you switched?"

I don’t fall into that category. My (condensed) back-story is, I was a thriving SoundLab (full-range electrostat dealer) with a solid anti-horn background and accompanying bias, then at CES nearly 20 years ago I heard two horn speakers that abruptly shifted my paradigm. They were the Classic Audio T-1 and the Edgarhorn Titan. I’m still a dealer for SoundLab but now I am also a horn speaker manufacturer.

Georgehifi wrote: " Not much love [for horns]🤷‍♂️

"Try switching the question around the other way and you’ll probably be killed in the rush."

I dislike most horn speakers, but not all have an audible "horn signature". Imo the problem is that horn design is deeply rooted in the PA world, where acoustic amplification was the top priority. But it is possible to design horns which prioritize low coloration. The devils are in the details.

Just as not all dome tweetered speakers are created equal, so too not all horn speakers are created equal.

Duke

I think that a listener's preference for horns (assuming that they are good ones) will be in good part based on how much they value realistic dynamics, and the sense of ease that horn loudspeakers display.

That is not the priority of every listener.
.