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Buying Without Audition

Surely I'm not the only one with the dilemma of living out in the boonies with no audio equipment dealer (other than Walmart) within 100+ miles.  How does one choose among the many speakers offered in any given price range without listening to them before buying?  The reviews are often skewed by self interest and, in any event, what you hear and what you like is completely subjective and the prosaic descriptions in the reviews mean different thing to different people.  After all, you really can't accurately describe in words what someone else might hear. The problem is compounded if you wish to buy "used" from a private party as there often is no right of return, and when there is, the cost of shipping both ways is a significant consideration, especially when looking for floor speakers.

Any educated suggestions?
larstusor
volsfan846
21 posts
 
If you buy speakers that have a VERY flat frequency response, good quality drivers, good cross over design in a nice cabinet, you can get away without an audition. Mine are 34 - 20k hz +/- 1.5 db and 29 - 45k +/- 3 db. 

Hard to go wrong if the response curve is that flat. Wish they were a tad more efficient, but getting the power wasn't that expensive. 

I wouldn't hesitate to buy anything from Jim Salk or Dennis Murphy without ever plugging a wire into them. 
mross1949
17 posts
 
That is a problem (especially for large and heavy speakers for which return shipping can be expensive). In your shoes, I guess I would begin by doing a lot of web-based research (which it sounds like you may have already done, or started doing); then pick a city with a lot of brick-and-mortar audio dealers to visit or vacation in as you can (NYC, LA and Chicago come to mind here) and make the rounds of the stores. (Alternatively, attend one of the big annual audio shows... Rocky Mountain, Chicago, NYC, etc.) to audition many speakers and systems in one place. If neither of those is an option for you, Ihen check out some of the bigger (and well regarded) online retailers such as MusicDirect, Acoustic Sounds, Elusive Disc, and Upscale Audio. Another fav of mine is Galen Carol Audio in San Antonio, Tx. This is by no means an inclusive list... just the online merchants I've had goof interactions with... Best of luck,

Michael
dentdog's avatar
dentdog
500 posts
 
Volsfan, I too spent a lot of time looking at Salk/Murphy speakers. The SS12's were out and looked promising but ran into production problems. Jim was very open and honest as far as the different lines' attributes. 
Ultimately, what did you decide on and what do you drive them with?
timlub
2,040 posts
 
Hi Larstusor,
    You're in a spot that plenty have been in...sometimes with the demand on family it is impossible to leave for a couple of days, so I understand that you can't go listen.... Your only other option is to shop and educate yourself as thoroughly as possible, then shop for values in used speakers so that you can re sell without getting burnt so bad.  Good luck,  Tim
czarivey
5,946 posts
 
definite road trip.
living in the middle of nowhere is cheap so driving must be far.
i'd research local craigslist adds or ebay listings within 100...200 miles around where you can actually drive-in and check-listen.


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