Very few companies other than Danly and maybe Yorkville, and Yorkville only recently, use horns in their woofers in pro audio. Your information seems to be about 40 years out of date.

@@mbell5950 I’m talking about mid and high frequencies. Almost always done with horn loaded drivers, even today

I have Klipsch LaScala AL5 speakers with a PS Audio BHK preamp and PS Audio M1200 Mono Block amps. I rarely go much over 25% volume, but nuances I hear, particularly in classical music are incomparable with non horn speakers. My father who is 87, says when listening to classical music on my system that he has never heard any other stereo that replicates the sound of "being there" any better than my system and he has attended more live symphony performances than anyone I know. Granted, much of this listening is from DSD based SACD's, but nonetheless, the sound speaks (well) for itself.

Concerts are awful. They have the worst sounding equipment, and the live portrayals rarely come close to matching the CDs / Albums. Horns are used, merely for max volume levels, and longest projection distance possible. They are not built for accuracy of the sound. If you want to experience a live recorded concert... there is no need for using the same exact speakers that were used in the concert. Whatever was recorded, will be able to be reproduced, with perfect accuracy... on high precision tweeters... The only thing you wont get... is the chest pounding bass. And realistically, most people cant play their speakers at such a volume, anyways... as the entire block would hear (and feel) the music. Only a concert level speaker, thats like +800 watts each... can push that level of chest kicking bass. One can also use surround sound (at least 4 speakers), and digital processing, to create a fake stadium effect. (as if your room is the size of a stadium, with the included echo effects). Stating that horns are more lively and dynamic, is completely False. My guess, is that you have never heard any standard tweeters, that are anything but low level trash. The reality, is that the driver of a horn, could be exactly the same, as a non-horn tweeter. The horn shape, is what amplifies its volume levels... and causes distortions in the image and tones. Its like you cupping your hands around your mouth. It changes the way things sound... despite using the same Engine (your voice).

@@mbell5950 and it is the the first speaker that reminds me of a concert. I, like a lot of people was skeptical of horns. Look at all the reviews of the 530 and no says they are shrill or forward. If I was to upgrade I would but the HDI-1600 which a a more refined horn. This video sounds lo like a concert. You can even hear the hall. Any of the GD's shows from Winterland '74 sounds like a show. It is what they used for the Grateful Dead movie and they paid strict attention to sound live. The Dead is responsible for modern sound systems and if you ever attended their shows you would know that they have always had the best sound kzfaq.info/get/bejne/lcCaaKqEzd6aeXk.html

Horns are trash. They distort the 3d Soundstage image. Your exaggeration about power requirement... is laughable. I have a pair of EPI 100v speakers, with a concave tweeter, that easily put your horns to utter SHAME... in clarity, detail, and natural 3d soundstage imaging. The power requirements, would be virtually the same. I drive these speakers, with a 33yr old Pioneer 5.1 surround sound amp. I bought the speakers restored, for about $100 used. One of my buddies was recently gushing over these speakers at the high end audio shop, and wanted my opinion. I went there with him. The speakers were over $3000. They sounded like garbage, compared the my EPIs (with the updated version plastic-bezel tweeters). The most incredible thing about them.. is how the speakers vanish... and how well the music is projected into the room... as if the band is actually standing in the room. If I blind folded you... you wouldnt be able to locate the speakers. That how good they will fool you, with the 3d imaging. Furthermore... the sweet spot... is almost the entire room. Meaning, you could place the speakers 8 ft apart... and stand about 1ft right of the left speaker... and will still be getting a perfect balanced 3d stereo image... despite being far off-axis (not sitting directly in the center of the speakers). And finally, the Bass is fast, punchy, deep, powerful... and without the typical farty distortions that comes from Ported speakers. I was easily filling my entire attic with incredible sound... so despite their smaller sized boxes.. they produce good volume levels, and have little trouble filling a large room with sound. That attic was like 15x40 ft. of open standing space. Horns are typically used for Concerts, where you need maximum volume potentials.. and the longest projection possible. Clarity, and 3D Image, are not a consideration in a concert setting.

I don’t know why people like horns. After half an hour of my ears start to hurt.

@@felipecervantes7881 I suppose these dudes might have poor hearing in the upper registers... and having over-powered and harsh tweeters, is the only way that they can hear this range well at all.

@@liamprincetech Another Snowflake spotted, and Melting away. The fact is.. I grow tired of the Mountains of foul, stinky, BS, and outright corruption.. in the audio industry. Klipsche is one of the worst offenders... selling basic level garbage, for outrageous prices. But they are not the only ones that cause me great anger. The very corrupted studios, that Destroy the original recording... by compressing their dynamics to SH*T.. is basically a crime against humanity. I have every right to be upset... when someone spouts untruths... and I have every right to call such people out, on these falsehoods. Could I be kinder about my replies? Sure, if I cared enough to dedicated 5 more pages worth of "Dancing". But, I really do not care if I hurt fanboy level "feelings", with factual "Data". I didnt directly insult nor attack the person. There is a huge difference. Its the Over-Emotional snowflake radicals... that are destroying the world, these days. Its what happens, when Narcissistic Personality Disordered, get into positions of power and control...

Funny arc welders.

Good point about preference; also note that testing has shown that the “sonic EQ” for women in general is a lot different than that for men in general, so it’s basically two sets of sonic differences.

Yeah, but the Avantgards are extremely expensive and they use a transistor driven subwoofer under each horn for the bass... 😏 They are a work of art though, and with the right Single Ended Amplifier they sound better than real!

like a lot of us old dudes, he processes info in analog format.

Agreed. Have you ever noticed it takes multiple pages for him to read a few sentences? What a waste of paper.

The next question should be "When you go back to your cone-based system after listening to the horn system, how does THAT sound?"

@@dhpbear2 My cone based speakers sound good when I go back. But then when I go back to the horns they grab me. It’s a hard one for me. I do get tired of the horns and want a break but they are always exciting when I go back. I guess they are kind of like a hot girl friend that gets on your nerves sometimes. You need a break sometimes but you just can’t stay away. 😂

No speaker is perfect, and they all color the sound to a degree, and anyone that tells you otherwise is a fool or a charlatan or both

I wonder if your horn speakers just need placed on a scope and make the appropriate crossover changes to make them sound more natural?

@@jimthvac100 I have a pair of Hersey IVs. I’m planning on covering the back of horns with dynamat. I’ll see how that goes. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jpdiec6gtq7HhJs.html

I very much appreciate your response. I've been through a lot the last 40+ years (I'm 59) trying to find "the sound for me". As it turned out, the room itself is as much a player in the final outcome of what I hear as the hardware producing the sound. I'm fortunate to have a dedicated listening room, and with a lot of research and experimentation, the room is optimized pretty well. While don't claim to have any real expertise in acoustical design, but after many years of experimentation I've found a sound that tickles my ears in just the right way. I've had a barrage of speakers and gear over the years ranging from tube amps to hybrids to solid state as well of a wide range of types and brands of speakers. My current amps are PS Audio M1200's and I'm using a PS Audio BHK signature preamp. And yes, my speakers are those horrible, awful Klipsch LaScala AL5's that John Dough would rather see burned than sold the public because horns ruin the "purity" of the music. It's all personal taste as you as you eloquently stated. For me, having 105db sensitivity speakers with 600 watt mono blocks has zero to do with the fact that it could probably kill me if I went nuts with the volume knob (which I won't at my age), but more about bringing out nuances that you've never heard before from older recordings. My system isn't for everyone, but I wouldn't be embarrassed to have any audiophile hear my system in my room. And even if they hated, it, it still sounds unbelievable to me, which in the end is all that matters. More responders to threads like this need to be less condemning and more accepting of the fact that no one is the same and when it comes to taste, there is no right or wrong, it's simply what the individual prefers.

@@scottrussell2281 of course there are many variables and many different amps and speakers even wires and room sizes. All play in the search of a great stereo. And they don't have to be a million dollar's.

If we talk about horns, horns in front of a speaker will always color the sound! But in some places you MUST use a horn treble. PA. concert speakers.

@@ford1546 very true, I always said if you want true sound, the speakers you get are JBLs ,Alta Lansing, Jensen something like that because. That's what they use in guitar amps.

@@scottrussell2281 These people have apparently never heard a string quartet or symphony on a pair of La Scalas, which sound as lifelike on them as a jazz combo or rock band does, and bloes away most speakers of any other type. There are few high end speakers of any type, size, or cost, that I've ever heard that can compare to them

the whole audiophile segment is based upon the nature of human sensing / perception / processing. we are initially exposed, habituated and subsequently exposed to novelty (in the best meaning). sometimes that is rejected, sometimes it's embraced (& all responses between). the rejection / embrace function is influenced by... everything. design, marketing, social-set, emotion are among significant non-quantifiable (at least easily or invariably) factors. thus, the passion, the hobby, the biz.

I believe that reason is distance.

Heard SRV on vinyl through a £10,000 valve amp into a pair of Avantgarde horn speakers, I've heard more expensive setups but never heard better.

Paul Klipsch didn't like Heresys (no apostrophe, because to add one is incorrect grammar), hence the name. He felt any speaker that wasn't a fully horn loaded design to be heresy. The Heresy, Forte, and Cornwall are all quite compromised compared to La Scalas and Klipschorns.

@@DougMen1 I've owned Heresy II's since 1981 and Cornwall IIs since 1988 and after trying many other brands and types of speakers, I finally upgraded to LaScala AL5's and there is NO COMPARISON between the Cornwalls and Heresys and the quality of the mid range with the LaScalas. Voices and strings in particular are nothing short of breathtaking. The Cornwall IIs had heavier bass, but I have a pair of SVS SB4000 subs that compliment the LaScalas nicely. I was 18 in 1981 and basically just listened to rock music. Over time my musical taste has evolved dramatically. I've come to appreciate headroom. I always thought the term was just marketing fluff until I finally bought a pair of PS Audio M1200 mono block amps. Those paired with the BHK preamp through the LaScalas is joyous. I'm hearing nuances that I never thought were there in music I've been listening to for decades, and hearing them at moderate volume levels. I've become a big fan of 105db sensitivity speakers with 600 watt mono blocks. Very little volume required to get the MOST out of any recording. The only fault is that poor recordings sound particularly horrible, as the system really brings recording shortcomings glaringly to light. I found a DSD sourced SACD in the UK of the Alan Parsons Project i Robot album and never can seem to stop listening to it until it plays all the way through. Large horn mid drivers are joy I don't think most (not even Paul) have every experienced in combination with the ideal equipment. To me they are majestic.

@@scottrussell2281 The La Scala is my favorite speaker of all time

I've noted that too... & speculate if the horn structure itself (all that surface?) acts as an acoustic filter... a physical NR filter on high-impulse transients. we need more physicists working on this... they're so much fun when they disagree, but new wisdom occasionally emerges.

@@grumpy9478 without knowing the terminologies, i suspect is that the musical frequencies gets amplified a lot more than the clicks, and it gets disappeared in the back.

in my country, the boom car guys are starting to go horn loaded enclosures now. what u did with 40w, is now being done with mulitple 2000wrms subs.

I have a pair of Altec 605A in custom enclosures (c1963). The horn is for Mid range UP. Case anyone forgot, highs are more directional tn the low end (I think this is why there are dome tweeters, to cause spread. My boss built a pair of Electrostatic panels. They were great sounding: ON AXIS: one chair wide. Move a few feet either way.....

Did you know that Altec. Harman Kardon. JBL. is owned by the Harman group?

I bought the JBL 530's and I really like the sound. For 50 years( my first good speakers were large Advents). I have attended over 250 concerts and it is the the first speaker that reminds me of a concert. I, like a lot of people was skeptical of horns. Look at all the reviews of the 530 and no says they are shrill or forward. If I was to upgrade I would but the HDI-1600 which a a more refined horn. This video sounds lo like a concert. You can even hear the hall. Any of the GD's shows from Winterland '74 sounds like a show. It is what they used for the Grateful Dead movie and they paid strict attention to sound live. The Dead is responsible for modern sound systems and if you ever attended their shows you would know that they have always had the best sound kzfaq.info/get/bejne/lcCaaKqEzd6aeXk.html

@@Gnofg Thank you sir😊👍

That's BASS, not BASE. They're two different words with different meanings and it shouldn't be capitalized either.

I think what you just described is a non-horn speaker. If it didn’t reflect sound then it wouldn’t function as intended. No?

I have a beautiful mint pair of Chorusll, and I love them, and may never get rid of them. They are great at low volume, and when you open them up with power they are just scary powerful. What upgrades have you added? I talked to Bob, prior to his passing, about rebuilding my crossovers and possibly going with the titanium diaphragm, but I have been working on a pair of 15" coax speakers in a 6 cubic foot slot ported cab, so mods to the Chorus may come next.

Klipsch horns are so much faster then regular speakers. Most regular speakers sound sluggish against a pair of Klipsch Horns.. . Had my first experience a couple a month ago. Change my mind completely after that.

There are equally an amount of people that don’t regard klipsch heritage speakers as quality, I for one wouldn’t pay the price for any of klipsch heritage line. The build quality is far inferior to other speakers in their respective price brackets…I’ve heard jubilee and cornwalls and I was far from impressed. Decent but for the premium they charge, you e gotta do better than decent.

Yada, yada, yada...bottom line? Listen to what makes you happy. I don't own horn speakers, but I have heard many that I really love. Personal preference rules the day. Don't let any "audiophile" tell you differently.

Foghorns is also expensive. 😉 Everyone is free to put whatever they want in their living room, but for me Klipsch represents everything that can be bad about speakers.

@@stephenstevens6573 I agree with you completely. The music that we listen to on our systems should be a matter of perception of the listener and nothing else. Most audiophiles evolve over the course of years and change their likes and dislikes. I rarely listen critically anymore because it took the joy out of just letting the music come into my being.

Horn technology pre dated Paul Klipsch. Have a look at Westrex USA and Vitavox in UK and Tannoy pre WW2

My favorite speaker of all time. No other speaker that I;ve ever heard has that immediate performer in your room quality that they posess. It's pure magic

@@DougMen1 I heard some Von Schweikerts years ago that gave you that immediate performer in your room experience at a sound shop in London I don’t remember the model but it impressed me and was the first time I had ever hear a speaker do that and the La Scalas are in the same class like you said unfortunately I haven’t won on the lottery yet! Lol Have a good one!

False. You can easily replicate any pre-recorded "LIVE" performances, on a non-horn Audiophile grade tweeter. And if you are trying to replicate a live experience, without a LIVE recording... you are not going to get a Live sound.. just by using horns. For that, you just need a surround sound processor, with a "Stadium" mode output. Or the output of your PCs soundcards digital effects.

@@johndough8115 my point was it's not identical, but it's similar style of sound, same for music in clubs

@@neilparnell2089 A Club plays standard CDs, through the worst quality speakers. This is nothing to be happy about... Unless you are trying to play loud music for a huge house party. Where typical speakers would be drowned out, by peoples loud voices. But the thing is... most horns that people are speaking about.. are on speakers like Klipsche home theatre speakers... and you are NEVER going to get Club sound from such speakers. The main reason why people like club sound, is for the chest pounding, floor shaking bass. Not the Harsh horn tweeters.

@@johndough8115 I work on the club idustry, most clubs play from usb sticks now with wav files and most of the best soundsytems use horns like Funktion one, I also play at audiophile bars like the type you get in Japan where the emphasis is put on High quality audiophile components too, look up THE LOFT in New York, it was a club that focused on hifi sound using Klipschorns and Turntables with Koetsu cartridges

@@neilparnell2089 As Ive said.. if you are trying to project music in a large and LOUD environment then you tend to need horns... to help amplify the output levels, and throw distances. You dont need that, in a smaller home environment. And IMO, anyone that thinks horns are Audiophile level.. are not really audiophiles. Club speakers, are built for loudness. Not for superior accuracy, clarity, and long term "non-fatiguing" listening. I will put my old EPI 100v speakers (with the updated tweeter version) up against your best Horn speakers.. in a home theatre room... and anyone that listens and compares these speakers to the horns, will immediately choose the EPI 100v speakers. There is no comparison, in audio clarity, Spatial 3D soundstage, and non-fatiguing, all-natural, non-directional, sound.

@Stephen Visk I agree with you. This cupping of the hands is a false exaggeration. If there were no merit to modern compression drivers/horns. Then speaker manufactures wouldn't spend time/money on developing new ideas. Such as JBL's Waveguide horn. BTY, I enjoy watching my big blue meters pumping power into my JBL compression driver/waveguide horn speakers. The foot tapping proves that horns are not dead!

@Taco I got ARC Vi75 which doesn’t give much bass. Then I got luxman tube pre connected to STELLAR S300. ForteIII sounds harsh. Non horn speakers are sweeter. Now I use horns only for jazz n blues, Nina Simone etc

@Taco Do you listen to rock or metal on them 😊

@Taco that’s true