How much of High End Audio is Horn Speakers?
An audio friend of mine had been discussing my future speaker purchase. We discussed, Harbeth, Devore, Spendor, Audio Note and other more traditional speaker brands. A week or two later he called an asked me what speakers I had purchased. When I told him Klipsch, there was a little silence on the other end of the line. Our call probably ended a little sooner then usual. I could tell he was disappointed in my purchase. Is it the Klipsch name that illicits this type of response or is it Horn speakers in general? After thinking about some of the other Audiophiles in town, a good deal of them are on the low power high efficiency speaker route and more than a few I know are using Horns. Does anyone know how the high end market share is divided? Is there a stigma associated with certain lower cost Horn speakers? Or is this just Klipsch? I now own a pair of Klipsch Cornwalls and am enjoying the journey associated with tweaking the sound to my taste. Is there an unwritten rule that friends don’t let friends buy Klipsch?
@vladtheimpala Another example of how different our ears listen, because with my Avantgrade, I have no issues playing at low dbs and getting as good and engaging, if not better, sound as my Wilson Alexx V and Sonus Faber Aida. Clearly they all have their own signature, that I like or I would not have bought them, but I tend to listen most of my Classical and Spanish music on the Avantgrade, Jazz and rock on the Wilson and Sonus. |
There are many to choose from. Take your pick. If horns were the answer, then I suppose that Magicos, Rockfords, Bowers and Wilkins, Focals, Raidhos, KEFs, Monitor Audios, Sonus Fabers, Stenheims, Wilsons, MartinLogan's, Dalis, TADs, I have owned Dali, Wilson, and Sonus Faber. I listened at great length to every speaker you mentioned above and then I heard a horn speaker. Specifically, AvantGarde horn speakers. From there, I eventually decided on Viking Acoustic Grande Voix Dual Horn speakers. I absolutely love the horn sound especially on live albums. I will never own any other type of speaker except a horn going forward. |
