Why not horns?

I'm a big fan of ESLs and ribbons, but the horns I have in my own system are faster and more revealing, and less colored. I have heard plenty of horns that honk and do weird things- the throat and mouth design is everything in a horn, any errors and the distortion skyrockets. But if it is correct there is nothing out there that can touch them. I don't have bass horns, my system is a bass reflex/horn hybrid, about 98 db 1 watt/1 meter. The diaphragms in the horns are beryllium domes with a kapton surround with no breakups in the audio pass band, and the magnet structures are custom-built field coils.

IMO/IME field coil is the only technology out there that can be as fast and as revealing as ESLs, although I am very impressed by the High Emotion Audio tweeter, which is an interesting (and patented) cross between a horn and a ribbon, very efficient and very fast (and nearly omni-directional) without coloration. It might be the only exception to the superiority of ESLs and field coils.

I don't blame anyone for not liking horns, but to those who doubt based on their listening experiences, I have this to say: you really need to hear the right one, set up properly. Many horn drivers are highly reactive and don't work right if the amplifier used has a low output impedance due to large amounts of feedback! Just because a horn is expensive, don't trust that it is also designed right too! There are quite a few bloopers out there IMO.

Ralph do you think a single driver speaker can do as good as
a full range ESL (like soundlab) or a dynamic speaker;it seems to be that it would not be able to because it is being asked to do to much especially during complex musicial passages.
I admit I have never heard a single driver system though.

Rleff - My speakers are not single driver but rather a hybrid something like what Ralph describes. I have a 15 inch woofer in a 5 cu. ft. ported cabinet under each horn. I'm sorry I didn't make that clear. I don't know of any full range driver either. Typically a horn can only cover about two and a half octaves. That's why full horn systems are usually 4-way set-ups.
My horns are driven by permanent magnet compression drivers because I can't afford field coil drivers and because I was told by Bill Woods that the B&C drivers I use perform very near to the level of Cogent Field Coils. Certainly they are as close as I am ever likely to get. the Cogent Field Coil sound. My drivers sell for about $480 each. The Cogents are about $15,000/pair.

Macrojack I was surprised to see the beating horns are getting on this thread;I have no experience with them but I do admit I have an interest when the time comes;it sounds like you have a excellant setup.

many people are just not skillfull enought to set-up horn speakers;and they are merciless to inferior electronics....

Done well ,matched with good electronics,they are just magical....And the amount of horn speakers in Japan are just stagerring....perharps a tribute to the skills of the Japanese.maybe those horn-bashers should take a trip there.It we be good education on what a horn speakers really are

and you are right though, a properly set up Horn based system are infectiously musical.,second bar none.