Horns - Necessary to complete the Audiophile Journey?

[tuga]

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).

Klipsh are the Indian of loudspeakers (JBL being the Harley). Loud trouser-flapping lifestyle...

 

[Robin L]

The question of the thread isn't:

-Are horns great?

The question is:

-Are they a rite of passage?

Never was tempted. An acquaintance had Klipschorns, I had a Marantz 8B he wound up using to power them, were in much too small a room, couldn't image its way out of a paper bag. The inherent colorations of horn speakers seem to dominate their sound signatures. What I needed to complete my audiophile journey were electrostatic earspeakers, Stax, and that happened.

 

[Doodski]

Horn mid driver in a 3 way system is great. Woofer in transmission line arrangement and run a 1" dome tweeter. Tri-amp'd with active crossover and a pre-amp. Lots of power and dynamics are great too. Fun for a long time.

 

[thewas]

Even they mentioned the brightness.

The RP-8000F are fortunately voiced less bright then their presedessors RP-280F:
https://osirisaudio.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Klipsch-RP-8000F-Audio-11_2018-5.pdf
https://osirisaudio.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/klipsch-rp-280f-audio-12_2015.pdf

 

[JohnBooty]

I haven't spent nearly as much time with high-end speakers as many on this forum have. So, my two cents probably isn't even worth two cents. More like 0.2 cents? Or 0.02 cents, maybe?

Anyway, count me as one of those folks who believes there's something "special" about high-sensitivity / high-output speakers and their effortless dynamic range.

Horns are the most common way to achieve that. But that raises the question. What do people like about those speakers? Is it the "horn sound" or the effortless dynamic peaks? I believe it is the latter. Horns are just one way to get there, but not the only way and maybe not the best way.

I also think that there's probably no single best speaker of course. When done well, open-baffle and flat panel speakers have their own magic too...

 

[tuga]

Anyway, count me as one of those folks who believes there's something "special" about high-sensitivity / high-output speakers and their effortless dynamic range.

Horns are the most common way to achieve that. But that raises the question. What do people like about those speakers?

Narrow directivity (less room interference above transition).
Low distortion at high SPL.
Low distortion at very low SPL (speculation, to be confirmed ).
S.E.T. amplification?

 

[watchnerd]

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/

*audiophile sniff* home theater.... *psssh*

 

[watchnerd]

I also think that there's probably no single best speaker of course.

The best speakers of your life are whatever you owned when you were a poor teenager.

 

[patate91]

I would try with those ( I already have horns from Yuchui Arai)

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...sus-direct-radiating.14038/page-3#post-448986

 

[Astrozombie]

Sometimes i find my RP-160 to be a bit bright, so I wouldn't even dare touch any older Klipsch that is said to not be "Treble reduced"

 

[Inner Space]

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 have two pairs of La Scalas, from 1996 and 2018, in different systems, and neither is bright. Both are excellent on orchestral music, in terms of balance. The problems are a degree of usual horn coloration - a little nasal and cuppy - and, worse, a cabinet "thrum" that sets in pretty early with rising volume level. The non-Heritage towers are bright, I agree, and somewhat unintelligible in the vocal region. Don't like them at all, sadly.

 

[Inner Space]

The best speakers of your life are whatever you owned when you were a poor teenager.

The best speakers were your first. No greater upgrade than going from nothing to something.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

The problems are a degree of usual horn coloration - a little nasal and cuppy - and, worse, a cabinet "thrum" that sets in pretty early with rising volume level.

That typical horn coloration can be eliminated with proper voicing and damping of the outside of the horn (I have used Aquaplas when it was available, and Bondo when I couldn't get Aquaplas).

 

[Doodski]

The best speakers were your first. No greater upgrade than going from nothing to something.

O boyyy! My first speakers that I bought and paid for in cash where a Energy ESM-3. They sounded like crap, top end was lame but I loved them anyway.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

The best speakers of your life are whatever you owned when you were a poor teenager.

When I was very young and very impressionable, I thought my transistor radio was "stereo" because I could hear sound from the front as well as the perforated cover on the back. I got better at it.....

 

[watchnerd]

The best speakers were your first. No greater upgrade than going from nothing to something.

My first were when I was a teen.

 

[watchnerd]

I have two pairs of La Scalas, from 1996 and 2018, in different systems, and neither is bright. Both are excellent on orchestral music, in terms of balance. The problems are a degree of usual horn coloration - a little nasal and cuppy - and, worse, a cabinet "thrum" that sets in pretty early with rising volume level. The non-Heritage towers are bright, I agree, and somewhat unintelligible in the vocal region. Don't like them at all, sadly.

Do you use the La Scalas with a sub?

 

[watchnerd]

On Craigslist near me:

$2500 asking price

 

[Inner Space]

Do you use the La Scalas with a sub?

For a long time I used the older pair with 2 REL subs, and thought it was a big improvement. The La Scalas are the size of washing machines, but their bandwidth is severely limited in the bass. For music I would say subs are essential. The newer pair is in a 2.0 TV system, and are doing OK without subs.

 

[mhardy6647]

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.

No, I have not, either.
Real world commentary is (still) mixed. I am sure they're better -- they'd have to be.
In fairness, I thought that the original Klipsch Chorus was a pretty good sounding loudspeaker in the couple of encounters I had with a pair.