As mentioned earleir, big horns need a active crossover/processor, dsp. It is impossible to design such horn speakers without one. A concentric driver design, tannoys and such can get away without active crossovers/dsp, but, a horn just can’t get there without it for a high fidelity application. I just got my hands on a Accuphase DF65. It is also the dac in the horn chain, i.e., no adc, i come into it digital --> triamp.... Omg... the resolution, detail, clarity, separation...it beat out all the magicos and the cadillac boressens and whatever i heard.
Such is the possibility with high efficiency horns if executed correctly. On the same note, i use horns designed by TAD. But, Klipsch has some potential. You’d have to add a lot more cabinet bracing to address their lazy cabinet, no-rez, etc. and go into it active with peq.
The big horn, flea watt tube because the horn was soo sensitive , passive crossover archaic crap comes from a time when these guys just didn’t know any better....Or what a severely gimped horn could do was still good enough, beat out some other crappy speaker designs out there. The pros have always known about this, but, for hifi, it may cost a little more for something like an accuphase processor.
@helomech wrote
No, amplifier pairing is not remotely the issue. I probably tried at least a dozen amps of all manner of topologies (A/AB, PPtube, D, SETs, separates, integrateds) on my Heresy 3s. Certainly some sounded better than others but none removed the speakers’ inherent weaknesses. I heard the AL6 LaScalas on both some expensive VAC separates and some Rotel Michi. They sounded pretty bad in both scenarios. Even in many YT recordings of these models their faults are glaring.
Anyway, there are wholly better options for less money is my main point, especially if willing to go DIY.