[John Stone]

On 2/2/10 2:18 AM, in article
, "Bret L"
wrote:

After listening to both commercially manufactured and homebrew/kit/
DIY-design small speakers for some time, going back to good BIG horn
speakers is a definite ear-opener. They have an immediacy and punch
that is simply in a different league from even the finest box
speakers, particularly small ones. Larger systems like Wilson Audio
and the larger Genelec active systems (and not to say the two are
identical, indeed, quite different) have man fine qualities but they
never give the effortless, seemingly infinitely powerful midrange and
treble of a good horn system. The small ones don't even compete with
the bigger box systems.

The best horn systems are simply not available as a completed,
turnkey product. Bruce Edgar never did achieve the status of a regular
manufacturer, and he was probably the leading light in the market for
clean-sheet-of-paper designs in the modern era.

The SOTA seems to be with the Klipsch modifiers, who fit best-of-
breed drivers and rework crossovers to the classic klipsch bass
sections for the most part. Other designs are available-the JBL
Hartsfield, is reproduced in several forms by a couple of small
vendors, and Tannoy makes its excellent Dual Concentrics in a
stunningly overpriced line of horn cabinets intended for the Oriental
markets. But the Klipsches are sort of the small block Chevys of horn
speakers.

I have never heard a horn based system that isn't grossly colored. They may
have dynamic "punch", but the compression distortion in the mid and tweeter
horns is obvious and the driver blending is non existent until you are well
into the far field. In a huge room they may work well, but in an average
listening space they are a stupid choice. The first time I heard a pair of
full size K-Horns was in the early 70's, and even then I found the
coloration appalling. Yes, they could play loud enough to make your ears
bleed, but that was it. They didn't even go very deep in the bass. A pair of
large Advents sounded much more accurate to my ears, and they were hardly
the ultimate. I've heard the Edgar horns at many a show, and they have many
of the same problems.