Best all around speakers

I agree that most speaker manufacturers tailor the speaker to a particular genre and I am not convinced that one set of characteristics are best suited to all types of music; even the volume level which can be achieved and the amount of distortion desired or unwanted comes into play. I find listening to a string quartet at low spl's completely satisfying. However, "sympathy for the devil" or "my generation" just seems to lose something when heard at 70 db. While auditioning a wide range of speakers for many months - basically everything I could find in a 100 mile radius - I came across the Monitor Audio GS60's. I did not find those speakers suitable for my needs. My impression of the speakers were that there was nothing wrong with them. They seemed accurate, sounded fine, added nothing to the sound, could produce acceptable spl's in a medium size room, etc. In short, there was nothing special about the speakers one way or the other - to my listening. I heard other speakers that worked well for vocals (classic spendors driven by low powered tubes for example - not particularly accurate but sounded very nice) rock (the largest paradigms driven by a bryston), classical (B&W 800 series, Genelec monitors and Dali floorstanders). The GS60's would be a serious option for me if I regularly listened to music of more than one genre. However, I do think that separate systems would give me more of what I would desire in that instance. There are really two broad schools of thought with speakers and sound in general. One is to build the most accurate system possible, the other is to treat the system as a musical instrument in and of itself. In my opinion an example of the first would be a digital source amplified by solid state system with low THD and with speakers designed for flat response across the audio spectrum. Of the second, an analog source with tube amplification (but specifically, tube amplification that is not designed for low distortion and that is almost meant to go into distortion) coupled with speakers that are not designed via laboratory measurements but more for an agreed upon sound. Both are viable options. The GS60's are worth a listen for speakers that can go across genres - if your pricing is more or less, Monitor Audio makes a higher end and less expensive models. Usually a company that goes in one direction or another tends to do so across their offerings.

Its almost like investing.....maybe never put all your eggs in one basket.....

Also, I believe sharing listening time with multiple speaker designs in my house helps keep my ears unbiased.

Sometimes when you hear the same thing only day after day, it can get stale sounding, no matter how good it really is.

A little variety in anything usually helps keep things interesting, doesn't it?

That's probably why so many of use change components so often always looking for something better or at least something a little different that we think sounds better.

08-15-08: Musicnoise said:

"... the amount of distortion desired or unwanted comes into play." and "There are really two broad schools of thought with speakers and sound in general. One is to build the most accurate system possible, the other is to treat the system as a musical instrument in and of itself."

This view boggles my mind. How can adding distortion on top of distortion replicate a performance say, "Sympathy for the Devil"? If the recording itself is full of distortion, then don't you want to hear what the artist intended??? I don't see that as a valid approach at all. A system like that couldn't reproduce anything well, IMHO.

If you want to reinterpret the recording, then load it into a music suite and modify it to your tastes, but then play it back through an accurate system, rather than a crap shoot, distorting system.

Dave

I hate to think you're right, Mapman, but I can sure think of a number of times after adding a new piece of gear when I've thought "Ah, this is what I needed" and yet a few months later I've figured out that there is this or that problem with the sound that sends me out searching for some and different piece of equipment to "improve" things.

Music to equipment makers' ears...

This is such a subjective hobby, I really got into this hobby when I accidentally heard some Magnepan 1.6r's when I went into a high end audio shop with a buddy of mine. He was looking for an expensive video set up, and we both walked out with Maggies. They just had such a different sound from anything else I had/have ever heard. Since then I have owned and listened to tons of different speakers, but I always come back to the Maggies. To my mind, only Vandersteens and well set up Klipschorns are in the same league as far as all around musical ability.

I currently own 3.6R's (for the second time) and couldn't be happier. I love to change out the upstream equipment because they so vividly reproduce what is upstream, it's really fun to try and "get it right".

My listening tastes are primarily vocal jazz, classic and hard rock, and I could not be any happier with the SLAM of these speakers. Although, I still believe that the best rock speakers I have ever heard are Klipschorns.

Well, that's my opinion, the Magnepan 3.6r's are the best all around. If you add in price, I think they are a slam dunk. I have never seen any speaker with better overall reviews. The fact that Magnepan has not changed them in nearly 10yrs says quit a bit about the design.