Calling all Horn lovers

Roxy,

What speakers do you have?

Shakey

I don't currently have horn speakers in my system but I agree with the
comments made so far. When 'done right' a horn can be very realistic and
natural. A poorly executed horn speaker can sound disappointing. I love
the fact that they allow the use of really good but low power amplifiers.

I'd rather have that combination than the popular alternative of lower
efficiency speaker driven by a high power muscle amplifer. Lower power
tube amps (high quality) just sound better to me .

A couple of things to be careful about, though, before introducing horn speakers into your system:

1)Hiss, hum, or other noise that may be generated or picked up at points in the system that are downstream of the volume control will be reproduced at much higher levels than with most other speakers, due to the high efficiency of horns. So you need a quiet amplifier and preamp, and no ground loop issues between those two components.

2)If the overall gain structure of the electronics in your system is on the high side you may find yourself having to operate the volume control undesirably close to the bottom of its range, especially with digital sources.

Regards,
-- Al

Yes, with the right tubes and room, you are in sonic bliss. Miss my K-Horns and Belle center. First heard the k-Horn, mono, in fifty seven, at the Electronic Workshop in the Village, driven my a Mac. Paul was right, only horns can do justice to music, any type.

Shakeydeal,
I use as my primary speakers (I have others) a pair of Klipsch Epic CF-4 (series 1). I have slightly modified them by damping the shell of the horns, as well as some bleckhole 5 inside the large cabinet. I am a former owner of K-horns many years ago, and have been through several small Pro-Acs, 2 Large Spendors, Dahlquists,Focus Audio, TDLs etc.
I liked them all for different reasons, and actually bought these never thinking they would be as good as they are.
For me, it is the nuance, timbre and dynamic ease that win me over. A certain immediacy that sounds more lifelike than others that I have owned, even though I have fond memories of the Spendor SP100 in particular. Compared with horns, they are dynamically restrained and subjectively "slow" sounding.
I know that some people consider horns harsh and shouty, and I'm certain that there are some that are, but mine are not. In many ways, these Epics are more even handed than the K-horns, especially regarding coherence, since most of the music is coming from a large horn in the center of 2 twelve inch woofers. The trade-off is that the 2 inch compression driver will not reach the treble stratosphere, which is why I want Townshend supertweeters when I can afford them. I am still very happy without them though.