Horn based loudspeakers why the controversy?

@mrdecibel 

They didn't use the installed PA rig for the small events they did. They used EV's on stands. I've heard the main rig plenty because I've operated cameras at their big events. It's not bad. 

I can't say I've ever heard an ideally set up horn rig in a residential setting. I'm not even aware of a shop that sells good horns within 100 miles of me. The lower end horns are only memorable for how annoying they were and I usually find them with big orange cones or stuffed in a theater somewhere. Honestly, I wouldn't waste anybody's time showing me K-horns because I'd absolutely never buy them at any price. Their size and placement demands make them impossible options. 
Like I said, if somebody has a great pair of horns for me to hear, let me know. I'll listen. I like a tight, physical kind of sound. That's why I like my Focals. It's what I've liked about horns. I don't like that in-your-face way so many project sound. I've never heard a horn not sound like that to some degree. Either that's just what horns sound like, or they're exceptionally difficult to design correctly. I'm leaning towards the latter. I don't blame people if they like that kind of sound. Some people value tone beyond imaging or any other consideration. We all have our quirks. I value exceptional imaging, smooth response, and decent but not ear-popping dynamics. Horns aren't for me. 

Horns can image as good as any other design its not a limitation of horns. But some are designed for even coverage off axis this may yield  a slight reduction in image if used in a home set up but have a more even off axis response than audiophile systems tend to. In other words if your not a seated centered listener these type of horns will sound better and more real than audiophile loudspeakers. Horns can also be optimized for seated center listening even in near-field I have all 3 types in my systems at home. My near field system is a pair of community leviathans I sit about 7 feet from them in my office system. They could produce concert level SPL with ease but I love how great they sound at low levels in near field. And yes they are big but when put in corner near wall they take up same amount of usable SQFT as my fostex towers did since they required the usual audiophile placements. Also the horn just sound so much better http://usr.audioasylum.com/images/y2015/06/134978/027.jpg

@johnk 
You're making a bunch of unequivocal statements there that I can go out and prove wrong right now with the cold, hard evidence of measurements. I glossed over a variety of horn measurements just now. None of them have dispersion as even as my Focals, much less something like a Magica S5 Mk. II. Horns CAN image well, but do they generally? Not in my experience. I've never heard anything image as flat and 2 dimensionally as horns. I'll allow for a better optimized horn to image well though. 
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but dispersion tends to dictate the quality of imaging to some significant extent. I've thought it to be common knowledge that narrow baffles and smaller drivers yield wide dispersion and resultant impressive imaging. I'm not at all surprised to find that virtually every horn I could find measurements on generally exhibited the same truncated dispersion. That's the natural result of simulating a very large radiating area. That's what horns do. I do NOT think that sounds good. It appears judging by the marketplace most people don't think that sounds better or even good either. 
The bottom line is that until I hear a horn that sounds like a point-source I'm not going to like them. Actual sources of sound tend to behave much more like point sources than large, focused, radiating areas tainted with the coloration of an acoustic transformer's resonance and shape. It's kind of like amplifiers with coupling transformers. Some folks like them, some think it's just another contrivance between them and their music. I like DC coupled amps. I like dynamic driver speakers. I don't like transformers of any sort except big toroidals in my power supplies. 

John, do not waste your time anymore with Kosst. I can say, easily, Focals, are not my cup of tea. This is what makes this a fun hobby, and quite a personal and individual one. It is all about the recorded music, and what each of us wants. Once someone starts to argue, or, try to make a point, about their equipment, and that they are right, it shows me, that they doubt themselves, and their selection of equipment. 

Horn hate is just sour grapes.

A great horn system requires the space.

It took me months to find my 21' x 37' listening room