Calling all Horn lovers

Kiddman: perhaps you were being politic by not lumping the Avantgarde in
with the Klipsch in terms of proper design, but over the years of improving
associated equipment, the overall performance has markedly improved. I
also find that the source material itself plays a role. For example, Chris
Bellman's remaster for Classic Records of Neil Young's Greatest Hits has
some tracks from the album Harvest. Those tend toward the strident at
times, but a first pressing of Harvest doesn't 'bite' the way the Classic
remastered version does (which sounds 'fiddled with' in other respects,
bumped up bass and splashy highs, but a certain ''thinness" in the
mids). Perhaps I'm just hearing coloration on coloration (i.e., some
complain that the original Harvest sounds 'congested') but much sonic
improvement resulted from changes in associated equipment and it wasn't
simply a matter of going from a mediocre line stage or phono stage to a
great one- more of a 'lateral' change, but one that seemed to bring out the
best in the Avantgarde. (Not being defensive about those in the least,
would love to make room at some point for some vintage WE, or at least
the big Tannoys). I did hear the JBL K2 with a small Viva amp some years
ago, using my turntable, and it was marvelous.
Are you in the industry? You said you don't sell any horns, but I could read
your statement to suggest that you do sell other products. BTW, no garage
pontification on my part- I don't pretend to know more than my actual
experience. FWIW, i think you came off a bit harsh, but part of that may
simply be the nature of the written statement.
Best,
bill hart
PS: Shakey- thanks for the kudos- what's nice is that I'm not as caught up
in the gear at the moment and having great fun listening to music. I've been
spending a huge amount of time tracking down old pressings- and learning
a lot.

Larryi and Kidmann,
I appreciate both of your informative comments and perspectives. Larry I've heard about a half dozen Magico speaker(various models) demonstrations and have to say our impressions of their sound is very
similar.
Charles,

Kiddman,

As the author of the "garage pontification" you object to, I suppose I should respond. One of the drawbacks of this type of forum is that we don't really know each other. Sure, we may get some feel for how people think through their written posts, but we don't really know much about each other's background or abilities. I think that if you knew more about me and the many years that I have spent designing and building speakers and tube electronics, you might have used different language, but perhaps not. It does appear that you have greater faith in "good" engineering than I. In my experience, good engineering is a necessary starting point but what distinguishes a good from a great sounding component is the musical sensitivity of its designer. That is what I call the "art" in design.

Now I need to get back to my garage.

"In my experience, good engineering is a necessary starting point but what distinguishes a good from a great sounding component is the musical sensitivity of its designer."

Based on my experiences, I think there is a lot of truth to that when applied to speaker design in particular.

In addition to being MIT educated, the guy who designs my favorite speakers also runs an arts coalition in NYC and has indicated that he "voices" his speakers using what he hears in Carnegie Hall as a reference.

I've been to Carnegie Hall, and what I've heard there did in fact remind me a lot of what I hear at home (but on a larger scale, of course).

No time to respond now, I have to handle some real business things. But I will say that Sal, you wrote a nice respectful post for someone who is no doubt annoyed at me. I like that restraint and maturity.

I would have you over to hear some horns that do not bite, honk, shout, spit, or hurt, even with high powered solid state. Send me a pm about what part of the country you are in (if in USA at all).