To horn or not to horn

The term "horn" speaker actually covers a pretty wide range of speaker types.  When I think of horn speakers, I usually think of systems with compression midrange drivers attached to a horn waveguide.  But, like the Viking speakers mentioned above, the drivers could be conventional drivers with a horn waveguide (a wide range driver in the case of the Viking).  I suppose purist would insist that even the bass driver be horn-loaded as well to qualify as a "horn" system.

My system if a horn system only in that it has a compression driver and horn waveguide.  I run a Western Electric 713b compression driver into a Western Electric 12025 horn.  This is one of my absolute favorite midrange driver setup.  The woofers are twin 12" alnico magnet paper cone drivers with pleated paper surrounds mounted in an onken bass reflex cabinet.  The tweeters are Fostex bullet tweeters.

As with any speaker design, when I say I really like the sound of horn speakers, I am of course speaking about certain horn speakers, not all of them.  For one thing, many speakers that are described as horn systems are not particularly efficient and easy to drive, which means that they may not be a great match to the kinds of amplifiers I like which are all low in output power.  All systems have some form of tonal coloration, and we all have our preferences/tolerance to particular tonal qualities which makes particular preferences personal.  That is why, when someone says they "hate" horn systems, that is not particularly enlightening; it would help to know which particular systems they heard and did not like.  The most commonly heard systems, like Klipsch and Altec, hardly represent all horn systems.

For horn systems not based on compression drivers, I liked some systems using full/wide range drivers with quarter-wave backloaded horn configuration.  I have also heard such wide/full range drivers used with a horn waveguide which makes me interested in the VIking system mentioned by Willgolf.  There are MANY different implementations of horn-based systems to explore.  

+1 for "good" horns. Efficiency is a big plus for audio in general.

Efficiency and high impedance. "8 ohm compatible" guess which horn speaker manufacturer lists this under impedance? 

I happily lived with Harbeth Super HL5+ for close to 6 years, then--on a whim--I picked up a pair of inexpensive Klipsch Forte II on Craigslist. They turned out to be a gateway drug.

I liked the horn sound so much that I ended up getting rid of the SHL5+ and ultimately settled on CW IV.

As much as a loved the Harbeth, I don’t miss them. With the CW IV, I appreciate the dynamics and enormous soundstage, oftentimes I listen for hours without any fatigue. I definitely like the flexibility with amps and have used both solid state and tubes (SET & PP). My favorites are a 2A3 and 300B amps from Triode Lab.

If I hadn’t taken a chance of a pair of cheap horns from Craigslist, I probably wouldn’t have the CW IV in my system today.

The moral of the story: hear them in your system and then decide if you love them or hate them. 

That is good that you found a sound that you like, but Harbeth is about as far as you can get from a Klipsch in theory and in practice. Dont judge all dynamic systems according to the Harbeth model or house sound.