@shadorne wrote: "Horns tend to have an uneven radiation pattern with frequency."
It depends on the horn. Many horns (such as tractrix or exponential) tend to have a wide pattern down low and a narrow pattern up high. Often PA horns have a constant pattern in the horizontal plane but then the pattern narrows aggressively in the vertical as we go up in frequency. But some horns have very uniform patterns across their passbands. Radiation pattern control is actually the main reason that I use horns, but they are a specific type: Constant-directivity, waveguide-style (the latter term signifying that they don't use diffraction or slots as part of their pattern control).
"[Horns] can be perceived as shouty or unbalanced."
Good waveguide-style horns don't have this problem. The "shouty" thing is often a characteristic of diffraction horns especially at high SPLs. Most PA horns are diffraction horns, and most people's primary exposure to horns has been crappy PA systems, so most people think horns are inherently shouty, but that is not at all the case. Horns that are shouty are ones that have been optimized for things other than sound quality.
If any of you will be at T.H.E. Show in Long Beach in early June, stop by room 519, especially if you would describe yourself as someone who "hates horns". We'd like to have a go at shifting your paradigm.
Duke
dealer/manufacturer