the lawn, or in the basement. With the coming of stereo in the 1960s, this approach was rarely seen. Many loudspeaker buyers and do-it-yourself loudspeaker fans sought smaller designs for aesthetic reasons. Some audiophiles use horn loudspeakers for audio reproduction, while others eschew horn systems for their harmonic resonances, finding in them an unpleasant form of distortion. Since there are a variety of horn designs (of differing length, material, and taper), as well as different drivers, it is, to some extent, impossible to give such blanket characterizations to horn loudspeakers. Audiophiles using low power amplifiers, sometimes in the 5 to 25 watt range, may find the high efficiency of horn loudspeakers an especially attractive feature. Conversely, the high sensitivity can also make any background noise present at the amplifier outputs noticeably worse. Film soundtracks have great dynamic range where peak levels are 20 dB greater than average levels. The high sensitivity of horn loudspeakers aids in achieving movie theater sound levels at the listening position with typical ~100 watts-per-channel receiver/amplifiers used in home cinema. Gallery See also French horn Compression driver Super tweeter References Notes The Quadratic Throat Waveguide: A White Paper On An Invention by Charles E. Hughes of Peavey Electronics Corporation. (2000) John Murray, Peavey Electronics. External links Lenard Audio Education on horn systems Illustrated guide to horn loudspeakers* The Frugal-Horns Site - open source horn projects Smith-Horn projects Loudspeakers Loudspeaker technology