Horn speakers , high efficiency but not “shouty”

Agree w Volti mods for Klipsch.
Mods cost more than the K-horns(used~ ‘70’s vintage) & Worth every penny.
Took a couple of weekends.

Another vote for Charney.  I have been by his place a couple times for a demo and they are special.  I have BD-Design and love them but the Charney will be in my 2nd system... soon.  FYI, I very much like the Voxative driver Charney uses.

I'm a bit surprised that nobody here has yet mentioned early James B Lansing Corner Horn speakers.  These used the earliest and biggest of their famous "potato masher" horns (with diffraction grids) for both midrange and treble.  To my ears the JBL C31's were the most accurate and realistic horn speakers ever made.

@atmasphere --

As far as 'shouty' goes, this is an artifact of distortion. Horns can exhibit it if the throat interface to the mouth of the horn isn't designed properly. These days with computer optimization that really shouldn't be an issue. ...

(just some further thoughts)
Even the latest, whizzbang computer modelled horn that doesn't technically exhibit horn modes, i.e. shouting tendencies, could by virtue of being a horn - with all that entails - produce a sonic outcome that leads some to believe it's "shouty" sounding. The use of the term is definitely loose, and moreover the habitual exposition to a sound character that doesn't closely emulate live sound will easily label that which actually does, not least dynamically, as an outlier; a (more) realistically reproduced trumpet, saxophone or drum set at full(er) tilt will have you wince almost, like a voice 'shouting' forcefully, and may appear "exaggerated" to the uninitiated to whom more stale sounding, low efficiency direct radiating speakers are the norm.

When assessing "quality" we're very much lead on by the power of association and habit, to some simply subjectivity and to-each-their-own, but its more predominant nature is that of excluding true diversity as well as a more established live reference. 

The use of the term is definitely loose, and moreover the habitual exposition to a sound character that doesn't closely emulate live sound will easily label that which actually does, not least dynamically, as an outlier; a (more) realistically reproduced trumpet, saxophone or drum set at full(er) tilt will have you wince almost, like a voice 'shouting' forcefully, and may appear "exaggerated" to the uninitiated to whom more stale sounding, low efficiency direct radiating speakers are the norm.

In my case, 'shouty' refers to sounding 'loud' in an unpleasant manner not related to the music itself. IME when you have all your ducks in a row, a good system will not sound loud even when it is, it will only sound like the music and if that is loud, like a brass fanfare, so be it, but the system does not editorialize.  ESLs can do this as well as a few box systems, but so can horns if properly designed. When measured, the system will be found to be low in higher ordered harmonic generation, free from mechanical resonance brought on by microphonics and no weird frequency response anomalies on axis, with gently rolling response off axis, finally with good total room energy (entirely off axis, which must be absent of any high frequency peaks).


Horns can be very nice when interactions with side walls are going to be hard to avoid if you don't have controlled directivity. This is because side walls can have early reflections which the ear interprets as harshness.