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  3. 123225-40

Is it all worth it?

So this week I re-foamed a pair of Boston Acoustics a40 series ii speakers I bought 30 years ago for not very much at all by audiophile standards. Put them in my 12x12 sunroom running of my main system which has very good source and amplification and these things are blowing me away. You could find a pair online or at your local thrift shop for around $50. Why bother spending the big bucks?   Really makes one think.
128x128mapman
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,589 posts
 

Older speakers can sound very good but I think that today’s speakers outperform them (sound better). Of course paying more or having more drivers or more exotic materials or design doesn’t guarantee better sound. It’s all in getting it right for your system and your ears.

Also, people do get burned out on the constant stream of New! and Better! gear that shows up month after month and the diminishing returns as you spend more for each upgrade. You have to know when to quit chasing better sound and just enjoy what you already have.

So, yes it's worth it, but you can get carried away by the hype and end up an audio burn out.

douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
Mid-Fi is about the best you can say regarding Boston speakers.  Look at the construction and specs of the A40, truly awful. This is not a high quality speaker, and it cannot produce upper end sound relative to others. Yeah, you save a lot of money, but you do not somehow leapfrog the performance of better speakers. You only get what you can achieve with any speaker, a relative improvement limited by the speaker. Put a better speaker in the rig and the differences would become apparent. 

Further, you might prefer a better speaker and affordable electronics to the pricey stuff and A40. Only listening would tell. i.e. If you spent $10K on electronics and use the A40, you may prefer a receiver with a lower price Magenpan and come out far ahead in terms of cost. So, no the A40 doesn't make me think much of it.  :) 
jafant's avatar
jafant
19,618 posts
 
Both Boston and Polk Audio made excellent mobile audio speakers back in the late-80's and early 90's. Cannot say much for their home speakers though. Mid-Fi is a fun listen w/o being in the critical side of things.

Happy Listening!
mesch
3,481 posts
 
I still think the A40s might be well suited for the sunroom Mapman has them placed in. For that matter so might the Pioneer SP22s.

mapman's avatar
mapman OP
22,200 posts
 
Yes I am listening to them now.    Very well suited for the sunroom. 

One can can call them whatever.    My point is they cost practically nothing these days and compete with new stuff citing many times more somewhat surprisingly.  

Yes se they are nothing special to look at and build quality is common.  All the more reason I started this thread.  It does not seem to even matter in this case.    
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