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The Room, not us, determines our speaker choices

A bit cryptic perhaps, but after going through several pairs of expensive speakers, one just clicked with my room in an incredible way. It was like the errors in the speaker complimented the errors in my room so perfectly that the speaker actually sounded better to me than other "better" speakers. Unfortunately, you have to just keep trying until it happens. There's no way to predict which one it's going to be, but when the stars line up, it's a beautiful thing.

I guess if you have a dedicated audio room, where you can place the speakers 6 feet out from the front wall, 5 feet away from the corners and 10 feet from your couch, which is 5 feet from the rear wall, you may have some predictable performance, but how many have that? I would wager that many of us are fighting with clutter, TVs, computer desks,,,

Keep working at it - if you find the speaker that clicks with your room, you'll be a long way towards audio bliss. As a former musician, I always knew that NOTHING affects the sound more than the room. The greatest acoustic guitar played in a POS room sounded like a POS. You just have to find a friendly speaker and you'll know it when you do. It's a worthwhile quest.

I'm not saying your source or amplification components are not important. They make a huge difference once you find the right speaker. It's just without that speaker you're back to the great guitar in the shitty room. Experiment people. A bit of a crazy rant, but my pills are kicking in, so i'm more prolific than ususal. Have at it.
chayro
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onhwy61
5,215 posts
 
The speaker/room interaction is the most critical element in obtaining high quality sound reproduction. You don't have to absolutely nail it as in a professionally designed dedicated room, but any compromises will limit, possibly severely, the quality of your home sound reproduction.

I agree with Mrtennis that soundstage is overrated, but that doesn't mean one should live without it. It's possible to get realistic instrument sound and excellent soundstage reproduction, isn't it?
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
Unfortunately, you have to just keep trying until it happens.

You can do a lot to fix room problems with a lot greater chance of success than randomly trying speakers in the hope of finding one that is sufficiently bad or uneven in reponse so that it will happen to compensate for the room.
chayro OP
2,983 posts
 
02-05-09: Amandarae
May I ask about what speakers are you talking about?
Can you post your system here? Anything visual can make your post much more effective in conveying your message don't you think?
regards,Abe
______________________
I don't think it really matters that I post my system, as what works in my room really has no relevance to anyone else - but for some reason, the Opera Callas Monitor just cliked in my room like no other, even some more expensive speakers that I would probably prefer in a good demo room.

Shadhome - it's true that one can often do a lot to treat a room, but not always. When you live in a one-bedroom, you are often relegated to certain choices, such as having the TV between the speakers and having a couch flush up against the rear wall.
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gerrym5
286 posts
 
Charyo, I think you are on to something here in this discussion. Since this room is usually some reflection our music expectations and living taste, speakers must work well in the room. Our living room is also our audio listening room. I owned and tried in my home over 50 speakers, maybe more. For years I put music reproduction way over how they worked in my room situation. That was a huge mistake that cause me to change speakers wasting a lots of money along the way. A few years ago I selected the best speaker for music reproduction, aesthetics, and budget for our room situation. I'm happy.
unsound
7,329 posts
 
I think one must truly know (1). their total budget, and (2). their room, to choose the right speakers.
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