Ever discover cheapo speakers actually sound...

They probably sound good because of all the care you put into every other aspect of your system, the problem is these sort of speakers usually dont have the gear or the care in all areas of performance....nor a desire for many to take a hard look at the money they have spent by bothering to find out.....oh yeah and most speakers in that range are obviously poor performers by comparison.

I am totally amazed at the Vintage KLH 6 ( on Skylan stands ) ..I purchased for $1 and refinished the cabs..etc...They sound way beyond what they should.....

I haven't. There's always something out of balance and higher levels of distotion. But you've learned how cheapo equipment can fool our ears into thinking, short term, or on some types of music at low levels, that it sounds pretty good. Many makers depend on this phenomenon, usually by incorporating a mid-bass boost and a mid-treble peak. Listen more carefully, put on some of your more challenging music, and you'll realize that the cheapo system can't live up to it.

I would make an analogy to playing a poor quality recording on a very high quality system. As my system evolved over the years, my initial expectation was that the improvements in the system would make poor recordings sound worse, by reproducing them more accurately. But to my surprise I found that nearly every recording sounded better. I think the reason was that just about every recording gets something right, for instance, part of the mid-range, and my attention would be sub-consciously drawn to what was right about the recording, because it was SO right, and would not focus on what was wrong.

Probably the same kind of thing happens when a high quality system and recording is fed into poor speakers. The speakers manage to get some part of the spectrum right, and that is what captures our attention.

Regards,
-- Al

Thanks for the inputs.
When I first turned on the inexpensive jbl's, they sounded horrible, but after some time improved tremendously?
Did they need break in, or is my hearing adapting to the new sound, I know they don't compare to my main speakers: merlin. But they sound better than they should for the price point.
Of course my system is way up there in the source and amp areas, but I am quite surprised.
Can anyone explain why at first they sounded bad and then later on much better?