Horn based loudspeakers why the controversy?

@kosst

Sadly, you would have to visit Buckingham Palace (well not the actual palace, but quite close,lol)  to listen to the H1's.
Or in the vicinity of Norad to listen to a pair of Oris horns.
Both to my ears are very good. 
Enjoy your music!

I listened to horn speakers for the first time recently, Trenner & Friedl RAs powered by Shindo. It's either my first or second favorite setup I've ever heard, and I've heard all the big brands. 

Over seven decades, I've owned both horn and direct radiating speakers.  The way each presents its sound is akin to what I experienced in Vienna several years ago. I was fortunate to hear the VPO play in both the Staatsoper and the Musikverein.  Same orchestra - - but playing in two clearly differing sonic venues.  
IMO, the playing in the Staatsoper was akin to direct radiation/cone speakers, while the playing in the Musikverein was more "in your face" like I had experienced with my horns. 
I enjoyed them both, although  each presented the music as different audible (and emotional) experiences. I guess it's a choice as to which approach you prefer as a constant diet over the weeks, months and years. 

I have a pair of Bob Crites Cornscala’s with DeanG crossovers and they are amazing. They do a lot of things really well with exceptional detail and midrange. Very revealing speakers. YMMV

Alrighty, folks! The ultimate horn skeptic has sat down and listened to a fully horn loaded system in the form of Klipsch LaScala II. 

I'll start with the cons and finish with the pros.

The imaging wasn't up to the standard of my Focal. I'm willing to chalk some of that up to the room, though I feel that the room was about as dead as my room at home. Specifically, the soundstage was strictly limited to the space between the speakers. The sound was more forward, but certainly not attacking my face or anything. The bass was AWOL at 40Hz; a fact I couldn't live with. 

The soundstage between the speakers was very good. I relent from using "excellent" only because the scale of depth didn't beat my Focal. The dynamics were first class, definitely besting my Focal, but not by a wide margin. The bass was great before it went on vacation. 

In conclusion, I'd have to do a lot more listening before I decided if such physical dynamics are something I'd want to live with. I can imagine them being fatiguing, especially with certain albums I like, but I can appreciate the thrill of such an aggressive character. The lack of bass is a total non-starter though. 

I liked them. I would sit and listen to them for hours to better understand them and how I heard them. But at their price point, $8,000, I feel like I'm get 90-95% of the dynamics, better soundstage, and more deep bass for half the price in my Focal. I can conceive of better placement and room treatment tipping the balance, but I didn't hear that. 

So there. Nobody can call me dishonest. I think most would call LaScala II great examples of a fully horn loaded system. I listened. I liked them a lot. Probably not speakers I'd buy though.