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Horn based loudspeakers why the controversy?

As just another way to build a loudspeaker system why such disputes in forums when horns are mentioned?    They can solve many issues that plague standard designs but with all things have there own.  So why such hate?  As a loudspeaker designer I work with and can appreciate all transducer and loudspeaker types and I understand that we all have different needs budgets experiences tastes biases.  But if you dare suggest horns so many have a problem with that suggestion..why?
128x128johnk
kosst_amojan
2,095 posts
 
@mapman 
My daughter's school has a large fitness center equipment with a horn loaded EV system, both mains and ceiling mounted delays, but they wisely outfitted the ceiling and various wall sections with acoustic treatments. It sounds quite decent. 
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
2,651 posts
 

"I'm not sure 130 dB of dynamic range reflects reality very often. I don't believe that should be the goal of an audio system at the cost of other virtues."

That's true, but some horn systems have high dynamic range as well as those other virtues.

kosst_amojan
2,095 posts
 
Indeed. Zu are awesome speakers. 

If you have an obsession with certain kinds of amps, SETs and laterals for instance, you really need horns to get the best of those. In the rest of the world of solid state gain is very cheap and you can accomplish dynamics with raw brute force easily and cheaply. Efficiency just isn't as important as it used to be. 
jond's avatar
jond
3,400 posts
 
Horns sound more like real musicians than conventional speakers, to me at least.
analogluvr
800 posts
 
 You cannot get the same dynamic range with inefficient speakers. You can apply as much power as you want but you will not get as great a range between the quiet and the loud as you will with a more efficient speaker. 
That is why typically efficient speakers will sound more realistic at lower volumes.
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