Referent point


Look if we are going to get anywhere in this discussion on speakers,,,we've been at here now going on 20years +, We need to figure out how we are going to go forward into this 21st C, which now is 21 yrs and going.
Time to establsih some sort of reference posit, a  speaker that we  can all agree on which is neutral, efficient and worthy to be considered true high fidelity, Last qualification, is that any amp can drive the Speaker, From  Jadis JA 800 monos blaocsk a  4 chassis 800 lb amplifier to a  1 watt SET amp.
Sure I realize this is asking for the impossible, 
'But really its not.
There is such speakers.
These would be the wide bands.
You know the Fostex/Lowther you atried back in the day and found less than high fidelity.
Well we should not throw the babt out with the  bath water.
The wide bands were developed in Berlin and Chicago back in the 1920;s. and IMHO are the finest design in any speaker (exception are the horns).
We can not make the big horns as reference, as few of us here can afford the big guys, + many other issues which make  horns not a  practical reference point.\
The only speaker i know that can fill the parameters to be designated as The Reference Point, as wide bands.
All speakers  must be judged next to a  high tech wide band.
Wide bands will expose the glares and flaws in your speaker, which are completely hidden from your ears at the moment.
I mean if we are all seeking true high fidelity  its high time to face the facts of 
1) bigger is not better
2) throwing money at a  speaker will result in great sound
3) thinking outside the box is  the creative approach to discovering high fidelity.
4) a  lab name means nothing when heard next to a  high tech wide band.(We can lay this blame at Sterophiles feet)


mozartfan
To these ears what horns do better than most is their ability to get closer to the dynamics of live music.
Reference speakers are speakers others have access to.  It doesn't have to be a great speaker, it has to be a reference.

If your referring to HIGH quality HiFi, there is no reference. There is a matter of opinion and certain preferences about what people like. Nothing more nothing less. 

The person who has hearing loss from 8K and gone by 12K is NOT going give a hoot about 25khz speakers other than to look at..:-)

There is more than one standard being met here too. Looking like something made from surplus cargo containers AND looking like crap isn't in the cards either.. I like what I LIKE.

A lot of speakers today are really functional and sound fantastic but are so UGLY. You can't put enough lipstick on some of these designs, no different with great sounding speakers of old to.. JUST UGLY and big.
There are reasons for speaker grills. :-)

I KEEP hearing this 1920s rant about Chicago and Berlin, 101 year later OP.  A reference speaker would NEVER be hard to find or difficult to build. It's a reference. 40hz to18khz  Maybe something like a JBL100 without the crazy cost (NOW). It's not a perfect speaker it's a reference..

Regards