What does one purchase after owning horns?

Better horns would be the answer for me, but in reality, the answer is "whatever you find you can listen to". I don't mean that to sound like people who like horns can never be happy with another speaker type. However, if you try to compare everything you like about horns to other speakers you will be looking a long time. You have to separate out what the strengths and weaknesses are with each speaker, regardless of topology or configuration, so try to keep an open mind and don't get hung up on what biases other folks have. ALL speakers add their own colors,

Better horns would be the answer for me, but in reality, the answer is "whatever you find you can listen to". I don't mean that to sound like people who like horns can never be happy with another speaker type. However, if you try to compare everything you like about horns to other speakers you will be looking a long time. ALL speakers add their own colors. You have to separate out what the strengths and weaknesses are with each speaker, regardless of topology or configuration, so listen with your own ears and don't get hung up on what biases other folks have.

Dan ed, well said in 1 paragraph. Strengths and weaknesses equals compromise. It is important to understand what each one of us wants from a system. Equipment reviews and forum opinions/experiences are great, but it takes years, IME, for trial and error to make some determinations of what is right and wrong for each of us. Atmasphere made the point that speaker/room/listener interaction is very important, as well as everything else upstream. So right. This takes time, patience, experience, know how and money in most cases, never achieving the expected results. Other factors such as room build and dimensions, and ac power design/execution play critical roles in all of this. In my many years ( and fortunately early on ), I had the pleasure of being invited to the home of my college music professor. Sitting in this room was a pair of Khorns, driven by a pair of M 9's, 7C , 15 ips master tapes, t.table with Rabco arm, and recordings of every genre. Served wine and cheese, with many hours to listen, I was so captivated, this was that moment for me. Everyone needs to have an experience like this, so they can have "direction". So now I own horns, with ss gear, and spend a good hour or 2 at a time listening when I can. Never thinking about changing a thing, other than what am I in the mood to listen to. Thank you for listening to my story. Mr D.

Renmeister,

I totally agree with you that the vast majority of speaker systems do not deliver the kind of "drama" of live music the way the Avantgarde, and other horn systems, are capable of doing. I find that most systems sound either dead and constipated, or they attempt to inject some life into the sound with an artificial edginess. I also agree with you that Avantgarde speakers do have some problems with the bass response. The model I am most familiar with, the Duos, tended to overemphasize a certain portion of the bass range ("one-note" effect) and the bass did not integrate that well with the rest of the sound. I personally thought that the positive attributes far outway the bass problems so I like the speaker overall.

I don't think it will be easy to find a replacement for the Unos in your specified price range that will also deliver the same kind of lively sound. Also, one would have to consider whether a different amplifier will also be needed if you were using a low-powered amp with the Unos and the alternative were not as efficient.

You should audition Audionote speakers. These are fairly high in efficiency, and are quite lively sounding. But, in some respects, they too have a problem with the bass response. The bass can tend a bit toward being loose. Still, on balance, they are quite musical and are relatively free from the nasal coloration that is a problem with horns and other high efficiency designs.

If you can deal with lower efficiencies, try looking at speakers from the Triangle. These are quite lively sounding and quite musical. They are a bit bright, but, not in the harsh and unpleasant way many other speakers are also bright.

I think it comes down to if you like horns, get better ones.

There are other ways to push the limits in regards to dynamics and other aspects of good sound, but these will not sound like horns, however perhaps better than good horns even in enough other ways to matter. There is no one speaker I have heard that is teh absolute best in all regards. If there were, I would expect it to be widely known by now and there to be a consensus to that effect.

No such luck!

Honking/coloration need not be a problem with all horns, but enough of this has occurred in fact over the many years horns have been around to give horns an undeservedly bad name in this regard.

I do think only the biggest and likely also most expensive horns, like the larger AGs, are the horns that raise the barrier overall. The size and cost is also prohibitive for many too though unfortunately. That is a sad but true dilemma that even most horn lovers must be willing to face.