Do Horns Need Taming?

[edwinr]

In another thread, recently pulled, there was some discussion regarding Klipschorns being too bright. I have spent many wonderful hours sitting in front of higher end speakers all around the Klipschorn price range. Without fail, each of these speakers, in their own way, made an excellent fist of reproducing my music in a dynamic and enthralling way. Driven by various amplifiers, including both tube and higher powered solid state, these speaker all exhibited an unfailing ability to get to the heart of the music.

What speakers am I talking about? Among others... try the Wilson Audio Sophia, the Theil CS3.6, Avantgarde Uno and Duo 2.0, the ATC SCM50, even the Paradigm Signature series. I know there's some pricing disparity here, but they all claim to be audiophile loudspeakers, aimed at the upper end of the market.

To get to the heart of the music, all of these speaker have one thing in common - and that's an outstanding abilty to resolve fine detail. Particulary in the midrange. That's where most of our audio clues come from. Vocals, and many musical instruments, have a large part of their harmonic structures located in this vital frequency range. What are we talking about here? 400 hz to 4000hz? Right where the Klipschorn reigns supreme.

So what's my point? The point is, that all of the speakers I've auditioned, including the Klipschorn, can tend towards brightness if driven by an unsuitable amplifier and an inadequate source, or if fed substandard material.

Some people may find it too taxing to select compatible components and fine tune the system. That's okay. That's why Bose does so well with their Lifestyle systems. []

[TBrennan]

Some horns sound good and some sound bad. If one likes a horn it's good; another person may dislike the same horn and then it's bad. Simple.

Horns you like don't need taming but horns you dislike might.

[fini]

Just like women folk.

[TBrennan]

You got me, hot Lipton through the nose.