Is it possible to really know what you're doing?

But you missed a very important consideration - are they designed to emulate a point source of sound?

@richardbrand 

You’re absolutely correct. It’s interesting that MBL’s founder was motivated by the desire to move about the listening room without loss of sound quality. 

I completely empathize with that approach. I find the idea of sitting at length in a single chair in a windowless, mausoleum-like room triangulated as if by a land surveyor, unappealing.

I can move around my room, including in the 15 ft-deep space behind my speakers, without experiencing a major deterioration in sound quality. Which actually makes sense, since they have 3 open-baffle mids, arranged in a modest line array; front- and rear-firing ribbon tweeters; and two 10" woofers in sealed, divided enclosures.

I wish I could say that extensive research and countless auditions led me to a speaker architecture that works in my room and is right for me, but I got them off craigslist because they were cheap and they looked good. They were intended as interim speakers while I looked for my "real" speakers, but a funny thing happened: I grew to really like them.

I say this as someone who’s always loved the transparency and speed of planar speakers. I was this close to buying a set of Sanders 10e, but merely standing up from your chair felt as if someone had put a motorcycle helmet over your ears. They are amazing-sounding speakers that I warmly recommend to anyone who doesn’t mind their beaminess, but at the end of the day I’m glad I didn’t buy them.

Answering this simple question can eliminate 99% of speakers!  Not to mention, antagonising the 99% of audiophiles who own those speakers.

Worthwhile outcomes both! 😂

I would say that the first step is for a person to determine what type of speakers they prefer. That is, not brand or model; but rather speaker architecture. 

Is it open baffle? Planar? Stand-mount with subs? Active or passive? One of these will likely agree with a given room better than others.

If one finds ported enclosures unworthy of consideration, they are in luck for they can now safely ignore 90% of speakers on earth. Why are 90% of speakers ported? Because glueing one foot of ABS pipe into a 2" hole in the cabinet is a heck of a lot cheaper than a second woofer.

Once one is settled on a speaker type, they are free to narrow it down further to make / model.

Then, to find amps that makes their new speakers smile and sing! This step is perhaps the most crucial. Many people think it's easy, but it's not.

Then, to locate an excellent preamp; or, at least, one good enough to make their sources shine.

@pindac often speaks of the End Sound in his thoughtful posts, and that is a very good concept indeed because the end sound is not determined by any single component, but rather by the entire system coming together as one in a holistic way.

And no matter how deep you go, you’ll never quite reach the bottom.

Oh, many folks do! And then they keep digging.

@lanx0003 Playful sarcasm aside, your post is right on point.