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The dynamic, live sound is captivating and for many of us more important than having the best ' imaging'...
Woody -My horns were made by Bill Woods of Hastings, Ontario. He had a company called Acoustic Horn. The ones I have were offered as the AH300. Mine are cherry but he offered them in a variety of solid woods. The mouth is 18 inches and the throats are 2 inch. The aluminum part is cast and powder coated and custom machined to mate with your predesignated compression driver. I chose to use B&C DCX 50.
I wouldn't say one is more important than the other. I will say that if one is fortunate to have them both, there is no turning back. However, I will agree with the underlying assertion that most audiophile speakers, especially those that use convention drivers (including stats and plannars) compress the dynamics to the point of sucking the life out of the music.
Good questions Michael!Treatment requirements should be lessened as the horn itself is directional.Fatigue is a definite factor in my book for horns being how dynamic and forward sounding they are (very "in your face", which is partially why I commented on needing a big room). To me, they force the issue - you either like them or you don't, no prisoners taken. There is no perfect speaker and horns are not well suited for casual/background listening. Those speakers you found remind me of the JBL M2 ($20,000/pair, mastering speakers that put the really expensive competitors to shame).
That translates to a roughly 1ms difference and is potentially audible, assuming the two drivers are pumping out at exactly the same time. If your woofer has a delay, it's probably lining up reasonably close.
I’ve been in the horn camp for a couple of years now. Reasonable admission price as I bought a couple of pair of Altec’s and restored them (model 14’s and 19’s).I use ultra modern Lyngdorf amplification and now have the most musical system I have owned in 35 years.The beauty of modern electronics is they allow placement against the rear wall, smoothing of in room response and digital crossover to a sub. That the noise floor is absolutely silent is a huge plus. Music explodes to life from a completely “black” background. Realistic indeed.
Often when I tell someone I have horn speakers they already dismiss them based on old reviewers yet they have never heard them?
I used to have Altec 19's which sounded great in my last house but since I downsized to a smaller listening room, they just weren't sounding right so I had to sell them. Listening environment is crucial when considering horns.
