There are newer generations of horns that are much better no doubt. But well known to have lower distortion? That gem is not in my physics text book! Maybe I should qualify my comments to apply to normal SPLs in nearfield applications (home audio)? Maybe that's what you mean, that at higher SPL horns can measure better? Over long distances or high SPL I would think could be true, but I'm not sure. But nearfield? I very much doubt that horns beat direct radiators in the low distortion game. Certainly isn't my direct experience in my years in the audio business. One only needs look to what the best of the best speaker designers of the industry are using for their best nearfield designs- and only in very rare cases (the JBL M1 comes to mind) are horns used.
Does this mean there aren't horn based systems that sound good? I've heard some that were very impressive. But if you want Tom Petty's guitar to sound exactly like the real thing in the studio or at home, off axis and on axis, at listening SPLs we'd really use at home or the studio, Tom's engineer and Tom himself chose direct radiators. Most of the great records over the past 30 years used direct radiators for monitoring AND mastering.
Controlled directivity- In a nearfield setting, highly controlled directivity can be a negative for audio quality as off axis reflections are now significantly different from on axis speaker output. This is a big no-no for authentic reproduction. In real life a trumpet or a guitar don't create a limited dispersion sound. Reflections are a natural part of real life music and are needed for authentic imaging. So authentic imaging needs its off axis output to look very similar to the on axis output, only lower in SPL (level). Like a guitar playing in your living room, the guitar radiation pattern bounces energy off side walls that recombines with the direct sound at your ear. This is one big reason why some rooms sound different. .
A room with highly reflective surfaces (lets say glass sidewalls and tile floors to illustrate the point), doesn't sound good by nature. A wide dispersion speaker does not sound good there. These super reflective rooms can benefit by avoiding sending energy to these highly reflective walls. This is the time where a highly controlled dispersion loudspeaker (such as a horn) at home pays off. It could also be controlled by acoustic control, such as drapes or absorption on the sides and rugs on the floor. .
Brad
Does this mean there aren't horn based systems that sound good? I've heard some that were very impressive. But if you want Tom Petty's guitar to sound exactly like the real thing in the studio or at home, off axis and on axis, at listening SPLs we'd really use at home or the studio, Tom's engineer and Tom himself chose direct radiators. Most of the great records over the past 30 years used direct radiators for monitoring AND mastering.
Controlled directivity- In a nearfield setting, highly controlled directivity can be a negative for audio quality as off axis reflections are now significantly different from on axis speaker output. This is a big no-no for authentic reproduction. In real life a trumpet or a guitar don't create a limited dispersion sound. Reflections are a natural part of real life music and are needed for authentic imaging. So authentic imaging needs its off axis output to look very similar to the on axis output, only lower in SPL (level). Like a guitar playing in your living room, the guitar radiation pattern bounces energy off side walls that recombines with the direct sound at your ear. This is one big reason why some rooms sound different. .
A room with highly reflective surfaces (lets say glass sidewalls and tile floors to illustrate the point), doesn't sound good by nature. A wide dispersion speaker does not sound good there. These super reflective rooms can benefit by avoiding sending energy to these highly reflective walls. This is the time where a highly controlled dispersion loudspeaker (such as a horn) at home pays off. It could also be controlled by acoustic control, such as drapes or absorption on the sides and rugs on the floor. .
Brad