How close were you seated to them? Old horn styles require 15 feet @ least, from my experience with them years ago, in order for them to sound right. Even 20-25 feet was not an uncommon listening distance, where I grew up in the Midwest, for nice sounding residential horn systems. Many of these speakers were also used in bars, meeting halls/auditoriums and movie theaters with huge rooms. I did not pay much attention to the "size" of the sound back then, but did acknowledge a more seemless presentation as the listening distance increased (it just sounded a lot better, more like music and less like speakers, even to a kid). Hard to guess as to what your listening room did to the sound as they are so variable.
Klipschorns
I once owned a pair of Klipshorns for about a year. I was never able to make them sound very good. Everything sounded HUGE which is good for some music - Pink Floyd comes to mind - but music that should sound life-sized was also HUGE. Voices emanated from the ceiling, mid-bass dominated everything (until I used an equalizer), there wasn't much of a sense of depth, and the sweetspot was about an inch wide.
Nevertheless, many people think they are the best speaker ever made. I'm willing to blame my experience on the room and/or the inability to find the magic combination of associated components. I'd like to hear them again in a system where everything is right. Was my experience unusual?
Nevertheless, many people think they are the best speaker ever made. I'm willing to blame my experience on the room and/or the inability to find the magic combination of associated components. I'd like to hear them again in a system where everything is right. Was my experience unusual?