Why not horns?

I like the corner horn approach IF you have the right room to implement it in. If not, then you have to work with what you have.

The SOTA horn system I heard at CAF was set up in the corners and that worked exceptionally well in that room.

BTW,

I've decided to designate the SOTA horn system I heard at CAF as a reference system for me. I equate leaving with a headache to someone with sensitive eyes being outside on a gorgeous sunny day without sunglasses. It is uncomfortable, but the problem is with our own sensory overload, not the signal. You put on a pair of sunglasses to deal with it. With a sound system, you might have to turn down the volume a bit, though you would prefer not to. At the live symphony performance, you might have to move out of the front row and back a ways.

Mapman - I have found with my system that the lack of distortion can cause me to play louder than I otherwise might. Perhaps we equate loudness with distortion and respond by playing louder when the distortion is absent. Just a guess but that might account for your throbbing noggin.

Macrojack, Good grief man! I only have so much time to waste here. I told you I would read it! :)

And I have. Naturally, the first thing I have to note is that even Mr. Woods has stated that the conical (the least colored) "has very little trace of the "honky" sound." Which is also to say that it still has that sound. Perhaps my ear is especially sensitive to that. Not sure yet. I will have to explore it some more.

Either way, Bill Woods as much as admits that even the least colored horn is still colored. This may seem like nit-picking but in an hobby where we describe differences in cables as "vast", is it not reasonable that even this slight coloration is still obvious to some?

Thats my observation after a first pass over the recommended article. Going back for more..........

No doubt one can play things much louder when distortion is in check. The human ear can only handle so much though, so one must be careful!