Horn based loudspeakers why the controversy?

Altec had a few versions of a7 one for PA one for theater the theater model is a good bit better sounding and the one most Altec a7 user have today. Consider that a PA sound is highly variable many different things contribute greatly to its overall sound so maybe the band the amps the room the mic singer or the one who set it all up was what you recall as terrible sounding and not the A7

I had a pair of home version Altec A-7's (846B Valencia) back in the early 70's. They were dynamic, had gobs of mid-bass. Problem was, their response curves were very ragged, and the high frequencies fell off quite rapidly above 12k. They also had a very upfront forward soundstage. I moved on to higher quality audiophile speakers after that. Yes, I know, I could have used better amps with them as I used all SS back then, but the overall colorations of those speakers were too hard to endure for the long run. I do agree the latest horn based systems have probably come a long ways vs. those old designs. I just haven't taken the time to listen to them. Much of what I said above could be said for the old JBL and Klipsch designs too......

https://www.stereophile.com/content/listening-125   2013 stereophile article about Altec Valencia

It rings in my ears for next few hours after listening horns. The biggest and the quickest listening fatigue. As outdoor speakers horns are OK.

Obviously horn loaded speakers are used commonly in larger public venues.    Many of those sound really bad as well compared to a good home system, but in many cases it is due to poor or echo-prone acoustics commonly found in those places.  Still tends to give horns a bad rap.

My gym is a good example.    High efficiency horn loaded pro speakers are used in the various exercise rooms that are all basically big echo boxes.   Pretty hopeless to want better sound quality there.