I liked a JBL Everest model I heard in NYC once with tubes and vinyl. I did not like an Altec that was completely incoherent. It made a solo violin sound like the strings and fingers were three feet in front of me but the lower registers and wooden body were fifteen feet apart, completely separate from the rest. Very weird experience. The owner came to my system and heard the same recording: Starker/Bach cello suites. He just sat there for two sides, saying nothing and then proclaimed, "So that is what it is supposed to sound like." That was with my old mini monitors.
I have little experience with horns and few dealers around here carry them, so it requires a bit of effort to seek them out, hear them, and learn enough to decide. At least that is my experience. I am open about the typology and would like to learn more. I believe in their potential but wonder about their extension. There has been little discussion about how high and low they go. I've seen super tweeters and cone subs with some models but then I wonder about integration.
Do horn owners not hear a lack of extension, if they do, does it not matter to them? Do horn owners listen to a more limited selection of music. I notice that Tang's videos are all small scale jazz with vocal. How about Holst's Planets on horns or a string quartet? Or Rock? What music do ddk and Jeffrey listen to?
And what about solid state electronics and digital sources? Horn guys tend to prefer tubes and vinyl. Why is that?
Just curious. I've been accused of not getting out enough and hearing alternatives. Perhaps they are right.
Physical alignment of drivers with horns is crucial and many systems get it wrong. I have heard many that sound as you describe, so the potential for a major screwup is perhaps greater but the ultimate potential seems to be higher. Magico's ultimate speaker is even (other than the bass) a huge horn system, which should tell you something. Have you heard it? I have in Munich a couple of times and it has serious potential, IMO. However, they were using Pass (I know you like them) , which IMO, is not ideal for 100db+ speakers.
Modern horns rarely lack extension in the highs...not since the dawn of stereo in fact. Bass extension is an issue if a true horn is used, less so in hybrid designs. I have horns with actual horn bass and it is flat to the mid 40s hz. That doesn't sound much better than a mini-monitor but the air moved in the mid-bass is a whole other league from a mini-monitor. Think equivalent of multiple 15inch woofers. This gives effortless bass dynamics that a monitor can only dream of having.
My speakers will do large scale music as well as big boxes with better dynamics and I listen regularly to large music.
FWIW, integration is an issue with all three-way and up speakers.
Horns are like a resolution microscope and show up flaws in highs and other artifacts as well as anything out there. Most SS has issues in just these areas (digital too) so it gets highlighted. With horn bass SS amps are often overdamped and this thins out the midbass leaving them sounding bass shy.
Even box bass for horns is often different as high sensitivity pro drivers are often used. These are lighter faster drivers with higher resonance frequencies. In the typical box they benefit also from less damping to get a full sound.
Horns don't need damping from the electronics or high power but need super clean power with regard to human disturbing distortion.
Of course poor horn design is what has setup a bias against them in the general populace...however if you hear how many poor sounding boxes there are out there you realize it is just propaganda that horns have more issues.
