@inna Tell me your speakers and I'll tell you who you are


@inna. You said: "Tell me what speakers you choose and why and I'll tell you who you are."
ESL57. Love their see-through transparency. Fire away!
128x128noromance

Showing 13 responses by inna

Design is one thing but I am impressed by how much sound you can get out of inexpensive speakers with good drivers with increasingly higher level electronics and cables, even leaving a decent but modest source untouched.

noromance, you distorted my message by omitting the last part of it - "..though you might not want to listen ".
My point was, in fact, that I believe that biggest frustrations with one’s system originate in the wrong choice of speakers, which in turn indicates insufficient awareness of oneself and one's goals. There is absolutely nothing in essense you can do to fundamentally change the way speakers sound. They are what they are. It’s easy to greatly improve the sound they make or screw it up completely, but basically it will remain the same.
noromance, I just corrected what you said, that's all.
I actually sort of rephrased a famous expression mentioning " your best friend ". 
I said "biggest frustrations". You distort my words too. Where did you learn it, I wonder ? And I didn't say "all".
The key word is "fundamentally".
I have Michael Green Audio free resonance speakers, also called controlled resonance speakers. They have their limitations, but I don't listen to big scale music and anything at a very high volume.
Michael believes, as I do, that speakers are not only devices but also musical instruments. However, the full realization of this concept is I think nearly impossible. This should be the kind of instrument capable of reproducing all instruments in a convincing manner with full power.
Aside from rhythmical instruments, I like string instruments, starting with the most basic that each of us has - voice. I don't want stuffed speakers or excessively braced speakers, I want them to move and breath. These speakers are also very sensitive to even small changes in the system anywhere - I like it too. Vifa drivers in them are not bad at all, the crossover could've been made better, I suspect, there is some congestion in there somewhere, I guess. Coherence is good. Powerful and tuneful bass from that 8" driver with my amp but not overpowering. Excellent speed and dynamics, involving sound. Not the highest resolution or imaging sharpness but enough for me. Deep layered soundstage with the right cables and power cord on the integrated. Michael's used to be top of the line Chameleon speakers are great if you like this kind of sound, they were made in very limited numbers and personally voiced by him.
Anyway, speakers is a woman, woman sings, so the choice is all important.She should not be perfect or she will sound artificial, too correct and boring. At least, that's my 'animalistic' view.
In addition, it’s very much speakers/room unit. Do you want to eliminate room ’coloration’ too ? Real instruments also have coloration, not only color. How about eliminating that as well ? You will get ’perfect sound forever’ that I personally won’t listen to. And concert hall interferes big time.
By the way, Michael tunes studios and concert halls, he must have a pretty good sense and hearing.
The biggest challenge with this approach, as I can see it, is that they can't take too much power and get overwhelmed. Michael himself acknowledges this.
So, if I listened to mostly orchestral and choral music, and hard rock, I would want something else, Gryphon speakers maybe.
Not at all. But I am mostly interested in very high level equipment. I would also have no problem driving my $3k or so speakers with $16k Gryphon Diablo 300 or $25k Ypsilon Phaethon integrateds. And I do like Lansche speakers, whatever their design approach is. For now Redgum RGI120 integrated with Dominus power cord on it does a pretty good job in a medium size room. And I am now burning in a new $1500 retail interconnect that goes from $1200 phono stage. into the Redgum. Very promising. So I try to go as high as possible, but with speakers especially I see little for myself in the middle or I would've already upgraded. 
I think, Alan of Harbeth is thinking in the same cardinal direction as Michael Green but doesn't go that far. Harbeths are liked by many.
Panel speakers with not much of a cabinet is one thing and box speakers is another. It is not either/or, in my mind, speakers are both transducers and instruments, or if you wish - co-instruments. Drivers are transducers. Biggest problem is the implementation of the concept, as I see it. Designing speakers is a very special art.