Horns - Necessary to complete the Audiophile Journey?

[Purité Audio]

So worth owning at some point in one's life for the experience and to market it off the bucket list?

I would really research them thoroughly, decide what you would buy and then forget all about it.
Keith

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

The question of the thread isn't:

-Are horns great?

The question is:

-Are they a rite of passage?

If the good points (and to be fair, bad points) of horns are not aired, then someone may not take that path in the first place. Hey, I love horns, but I'd be the first to admit that they are very difficult to wrestle into a "civilized" speaker. But it can be done, although I believe Klipsch is not that path unless radical transformations are made such as active crossovers and re-voicing etc.

 

[Thomas savage]

I would really research them thoroughly, decide what you would buy and then forget all about it.
Keith

We still talking about speakers ...

 

[mhardy6647]

I don't have any real life audiophile friends to mooch horn listening sessions from.

TBH, the most obsessive audiophiles are not people I like to hang around with in real life -- they get on my nerves pretty quickly.

But I like the sentiment!

There's actually a good bunch of folks here in northern New England -- they are heavily into DIY but come from all walks of life (mostly kind of high-end professional disciplines; some of 'em do this stuff for a living) but are not otherwise particularly audiophile-like in their demeanor -- other than being (mostly -- albeit not exclusively!) older, paler, paunchier bespectacled white guys with either extra hair (ponytails) or... very little hair.

If the good points (and to be fair, bad points) of horns are not aired, then someone may not take that path in the first place. Hey, I love horns, but I'd be the first to admit that they are very difficult to wrestle into a "civilized" speaker. But it can be done, although I believe Klipsch is not that path unless radical transformations are made such as active crossovers and re-voicing etc.

So... Klipsch. I'll spare y'all the backstory for the moment but my re-immersion into the hifi hobby was actually catalyzed by the acquisition of a pair of 1974 vintage Cornies (ahem, Cornwalls) from a neighbor who getting ready to move, in 1996. I lived with them for a decade.

There is absolutely fun to be had with the "Heritage Klipsch" products, but they are deeply flawed products. The deepest 'flaw', to me, is a harshness and aggressiveness that can render some recordings unbearable (again -- to me). The good thing about the Cornies is they're big, but not too big, and they do produce fairly extended (if flabby) bass, placed in a CORner or near a WALL. The LaScalas, by comparison, are essentially bass free and have been famously likened by Tom Brennan to Sawzalls in their audio presentation.

Tom and I have also repeatedly noted that the best placement options for most of the heritage Klipsch loudspeakers is face down on the floor, if placement in someone else's domicile isn't practical.

Indeed, please note that most of the most effusive pro-Klipsch postings on the interwebz seem to be (anecdotally!) from folks who have modified and tweaked them until little remains of the original loudspeakers of the Colonel's manufacture other than some screws and the grille cloth -- and I am actually not being all that facetious.

So... yeah... basing one's perspectives on horns on (at least) the heritage Klipsch products is, I'd opine, on par with judging automobiles on the basis of the 1980s Yugos sold (mercifully, briefly) in the US.

dampedcornyhornies by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

 

[paddycrow]

Photoshop?

Viking Acoustics L'Instrument, not cheap.

 

[Sal1950]

So... yeah... basing one's perspectives on horns on (at least) the heritage Klipsch products is, I'd opine, on par with judging automobiles on the basis of the 1980s Yugos sold (mercifully, briefly) in the US.

Naw, not even close. More akin to a big block SS 396 Nova or 454 Chevelle. The beasts that ate the dragstrips. LOL

 

[watchnerd]

Viking Acoustics L'Instrument, not cheap.

$38k

 

[watchnerd]

I would really research them thoroughly, decide what you would buy and then forget all about it.
Keith

That's like researching a menage a trois without actually having sex.

 

[MattHooper]

Full range horns are rare and big and usually very expensive. You have to sit a long way back for good integration since the units are so far apart.
I have these in one of my systems and love them, I listen at around 18' away.View attachment 72256The downward facing bass horn couples somewhat crudely with the corner of the room.
They are 109dB/watt and are 3dB down at 40Hz, 10 dB down at 31.5Hz on their ~1kHz level.

Holy heck Frank! Those speakers make you a real baller!

I didn't think I'd see an ASR member with a system like that. Looks like tons of fun. Wish I could hear that system!

 

[MattHooper]

Seems like there's a few people here that know little about Klipsch and love to repeat what they've read in the audiophool magazines.
The K-Horns and La Scala's are sister speakers with the only difference being the bass horn. The K-Horn requires corner placement as it uses the walls of the room to complete the last fold of the bass horn. An excellent speaker in many ways but does require just the right room for it to be it's best. The LaScala doesn't get down below 50hz and should be considered a monster sized stand mount that requires subwoofers for deep bass. But on the plus side can be placed anywhere in the room to optimize imaging. I owned a pair for 32 years with them about 5' off the rear walls and 3' off the sides, aimed directly at the listening chair, they imaged better than anything I've ever heard. But it is a "head in a vise" type image that will shift and change tone with listener position. Either speaker offers dynamic range and inner detail at a SOTA level, a 50-100 wpc SS amp of great transparency will build a great system. With todays availability of digital room correction to smooth response a bit, a used set of LaScala's just might be reasonable path to an incredible system.
If you have the money the JBL M2 offers SOTA sound that is surpassed by none.
I just purchased five channels of JBL HDI 3600s/4500 and am getting as good a sound as I've ever heard.
YMMV

Beautiful speakers!

I've only begun to appreciate Klipsch speakers recently. I've heard some of the cheaper tower and stand mount speakers at a local AV store (not as nice as the ones you own). Not necessarily neutral, but enjoyable. I also really had a ball when I was given a demo of the Klipsch La Scala speakers. They were tons of fun and I got the appeal. Really dense, energetic, punchy sound withint their frequency range that enlivened the music.

 

[MattHooper]

Interesting.

$22k....but isn't the size of a refrigerator.

Have you heard them?

Active design, though, so I'd have to throw away all my current electronics.

I haven't heard the Zero (a local shop sells them). But anecdotally, I've heard avante guard speakers sound really great at some shows, with more of a "live" sound when producing jazz bands, than most other rooms.

 

[mhardy6647]

Naw, not even close. More akin to a big block SS 396 Nova or 454 Chevelle. The beasts that ate the dragstrips. LOL

Methinks you give the Klipsch too much credit.
But, yeah, I see your point -- fast in straight line.

 

[Frank Dernie]

$38k

And not horn loaded in the normal sense with an 8" full range driver and no throat and 21" diameter, so even then most of the frequency range will be covered by the non horn part of the speaker ( the horn looks like an embellishment to me and they are really using a full range driver with a gorgeous wooden horn-like surround).
Maybe I am missing something but I don't consider any of the "horn" speakers with full range drivers in smallish diameter "horns" proper.

 

[watchnerd]

There is absolutely fun to be had with the "Heritage Klipsch" products, but they are deeply flawed products. The deepest 'flaw', to me, is a harshness and aggressiveness that can render some recordings unbearable (again -- to me). The good thing about the Cornies is they're big, but not too big, and they do produce fairly extended (if flabby) bass, placed in a CORner or near a WALL. The LaScalas, by comparison, are essentially bass free and have been famously likened by Tom Brennan to Sawzalls in their audio presentation.

Have you heard the Cornwall IV's?

I haven't.

But some of the audiophile press are giving them a thumbs up.

I guess, like a prodigal son, it's time for Klipsch to get praised again.

Or audiophiles are just bored with objectively well measuring speakers.

 

[watchnerd]

I haven't heard the Zero (a local shop sells them). But anecdotally, I've heard avante guard speakers sound really great at some shows, with more of a "live" sound when producing jazz bands, than most other rooms.

They don't seem to have a US dealer that I can see. North American distributor is in Canada.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

Have you heard the Cornwall IV's?

I haven't.

But some of the audiophile press are giving them a thumbs up.

I guess, like a prodigal son, it's time for Klipsch to get praised again.

Or audiophiles are just bored with objectively well measuring speakers.

I'm baffled about the great reviews and praise that new Klipsch speakers are getting. I've heard these newer speakers and they are just as bright and harsh as in the past. I just don't get it. But then again, JBL's newer horns also sound bright and hard to me (I worked for JBL for several years).

 

[watchnerd]

I'm baffled about the great reviews and praise that new Klipsch speakers are getting. I've heard these newer speakers and they are just as bright and harsh as in the past. I just don't get it. But then again, JBL's newer horns also sound bright and hard to me (I worked for JBL for several years).

Audio is a fashion and entertainment industry.

You have to have things go "out of style" and "in style" on a cyclical basis to keep the purchases happening and new ad revenue flowing.

 

[Vuki]

A good pair of Altec Lansing horns or similar would be sooperb. They are easy to drive and sound great with the tangerine green diaphragm. Sitting them on top of a cabinet is easy when attached to the aluminum horn section.

I have two pairs - 'small and large' (414+902 & 416+288) and (to me) they sound wonderfull. I also have Tannoy Hpd385s which are great too.

 

[Zedly]

I guess, like a prodigal son, it's time for Klipsch to get praised again.

Or audiophiles are just bored with objectively well measuring speakers.

The Klipsch RP-280F (predecessor of their current RP-8000 model) measured well in a review from Home Theater Review.
https://hometheaterreview.com/klipsch-rp-280fa-tower-speaker-reviewed/

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

The Klipsch RP-280F (predecessor of their current RP-8000 model) measured well in a review from Home Theater Review.
https://hometheaterreview.com/klipsch-rp-280fa-tower-speaker-reviewed/

Even they mentioned the brightness. I'm sure that this would work well with movies, but asking one of these speakers to reproduce something like the violin section in a classical piece is courting disaster. I doubt that the typical purchaser of these speakers would listen to classical music on them however. They work well for rock, jazz etc, but so do other speakers which are more well behaved.

All that being said, my horn speakers in their stock form sounded HORRIBLE.