The statement that the 8HD was "not particularly well regarded (not even by the engineers that designed it)" is presented without any evidence from Electro-Voice engineering reports, design notes, or factory literature.
[audiokarma.org]
What's interesting is that later in the same thread, other experienced EV users say almost the opposite:
- One member claims the real weak link was the T25A driver, not the horn itself, and reports much better performance with other drivers. [audiokarma.org]
- Another member says the 8HD sounds "pretty good" with 1828R, 1824M, and 1823M drivers and that its bad reputation came from the T25A. [audiokarma.org]
Looking at EV's history, the 8HD was used in a lot of factory systems for years. If EV engineers truly thought it was a fundamentally poor horn, it's hard to explain why it kept appearing in so many commercial and consumer products. That's my opinion, not something explicitly stated in the source.
The one thing in that post that is well known is the vertical-mount recommendation. The 8HD's dispersion pattern was intended around vertical installation, which is why you often see the horn stood upright in EV literature and cabinet layouts.
[audiokarma.org]