Thoriated_Tiger Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 Horn Coloration (and the cupped-hand play) are tools used by speaker salesmen to sell you a pair of cheaply-made cone-and-domers for a huge margin, instead of well-made horns for a very slim margin. Horn Coloration is something people read on the internet, where some self-appointed guru declares "Horns are Bad! They're colored! They're honky, harsh and screechy!!" and 30,000 inbred retard audiophiles chime in and say "YUP!"... of course, it's on the net, in a nice bedlam-type facility for mentally-handicapped audiophools, so it MUST be true... so the poor sap reading it, being too dumb to think for him/herself, believes it. I'm so fed up with the perception horns have in the world Joe Sixpack lives in. Screw 'em. Let 'em live with their little screechy boxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steamer Posted January 18, 2006 Author Share Posted January 18, 2006 Thanks everyone for your input. It seems there are alot of perceptions about the "perception of Horns". I guess I am not as sensitive to the cupped hand theory.I just don't hear that. I like the LIVE sound theory as I enjoy local bands and that energy during the performance. I agree with the idea that all speakers have distortion or colors. I did like the difference when I put the 511's in the system. Oh BTW my 511's are black. I did something really stupid in 95' sold my Scalas for a kickbut STEREO#$^%@!~ recommended system.The speakers I bought were a bi-polar design Mirage m3si.Very accurate,no coloration about 86db 1watt/1mtr.They just never did anything for me.I dont own them anymore.They did that reflection thing....all I know is that I am enjoying the compremises of that horn coloration with incredible dynamics,clarity,speed,emotional impact and most of all my speakers have SOUL!!!!!!!!!! Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 This is a really interesting discussion. Especially from people who obviously like the (Klipsch) horn sound. While I'm fairly young...I've been into high end audio for at least 10 years...due in large part to my father's interest in high-end audio. I've listened to a lot of speakers, a lot of different speakers. My dad has owned ribbon, planar magnetic, and electrostat speakers. That doesn't begin to list all the types I've heard in "boutique" audio shops including many horn loaded speakers including Klipsch. All of them had strengths and weaknesses. And I think it all comes down to what you think sounds good. I have Klipsch speakers (obviously) and the sound the horns impart is unique. All I can say is that I have a pair of RSX-5's (the compact Cinema-10 Reference series monitors) and they are amazing speakers. They sound like no other speaker I've heard in that size and I like what they do. These speakers have challenged my definition of what an audio system can and/or should sound like. They have also revealed what I can only call "inaccuracies" in the high frequencies of congruent (non-horn loaded) speakers that I have owned for many years. I was a percussionist at one time in school...I've never EVER heard cymbals, bells (aka Glockenspiel), high notes on pianos, things like this sound as good as I have through other speakers in the RSX-5's class...or on speakers that cost double, triple, or some exponential factor of the price range of the RSX-5 with better upstream electronics behind them than I can afford. So I suppose they might be "colored" but not simply because they are horn loaded on the top end frequencies. Speaker Cabinents, Ports on them, grilles even...ALSO placement, room acoustics, things in rooms, can all "color" the sound no matter what type of technology is employed. It's how that sound is colored when it gets to our ears and if we like it that is important. In that I certainly disagree that Horn-loaded speakers are at any disadvantage to any other type of speaker. Unless you just can't decide what color of finish to choose...lol I don't know about any other audiophiles (I noticed that's almost a bad word around here) like myself, but if someone claiming to be knowledgable about audio made a blanket stament discounting horn speakers based on the assumption of coloration I'd be tempted to show them my copy of PWK's little yellow BS badge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiggerIsBetter Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 In the general audiophile world horn are colored, period! Unless, they are expensive and cool enough looking to be accepted as "high-end' and "different" then those other "cheap" "bad" horns. Avantgarde comes to mind. "Good" enough to be speaker of the year. I would not argue that Klipsch models are better, but I would argue that they are not that much better to be put in an entirely different league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted January 22, 2006 Share Posted January 22, 2006 I am enjoying the compremises of that horn coloration with incredible dynamics,clarity,speed,emotional impact and most of all my speakers have SOUL!!!!!!!!!! . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steamer Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 here is an interesting thread on the Decware forum on horn coloration,they have some different perceptions: http://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=General;action=display;num=1136965613 Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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