Buying Without Audition

Discretion being the better part of valor, rather than delve into the unknown I decided to have my KEF 105/3 Reference Series speakers (circa 1990) serviced.  The foam surrounds and donuts for the four woofers have been replaced; the crossovers have been recapped; and a bad connection to one of the tweeters has been repaired.  The repair tech says they now sound great. I remember how good these speakers used to sound and I hope when I get them back home (soon) I will be well satisfied and not continue to fall prey to "Speaker Acquisition Syndrome" which affects so many of us.

Larstusor, that is a good way to start. I think having a speaker that you know and love, makes for an easier way to consider other loudspeakers that you do not have access to audition-when the SAS bites.
All the Best- Bob

" If you buy speakers that have a VERY flat frequency response, good quality drivers, good cross over design in a nice cabinet, you can get away without an audition. Mine are 34 - 20k hz +/- 1.5 db and 29 - 45k +/- 3 db. -- VolsFan846

Agreed! Toole's research has shown this to be true with most people and it certainly is for me. I look at the FR at 0°, 15°, 30° and waterfalls mostly. Polars and distortion graphs are good too ... when you can find them. Haven't been disappointed with this approach yet. I totally ignore subjective reviews and the latest forum-hyped speakers. I've been around long enough to see many forum darlings quickly lose their appeal after the herd anticipation wears off.

However, for HT speakers, accuracy isn't as important to me. It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted there. I almost got caught up on the "dynamics" train, but realized I'm not an SPL guy, and what I like is spaciousness and detail ... like a twig snapping three feet outside and two feet behind the left speaker ... the point being, I wanted to be encapsulated by sound like in the real world, so soundstage became more important. Fortunately I heard just the speakers that could do that in someone's home. I don't yet know how to pick this quality out on a graph. Maybe it can be done, I just don't know how.

I’m getting ready to order speakers from a liquidator(on the 15th.) ,unheard,using the same build parameters as VolsFan846(Go Gators!).Following these, along with a few additions, led me to speakers that reviewer after reviewer from around the world described as having the "sound"I wanted.
 It's funny but after studying review after review + several more,all extolling the same virtues across the listening spectrum you covet,a decision not only becomes easy but worry & doubt are suddenly replaced with relief,desire & anticipation.
 We’ll see if subjective reviews,specs & measurements,along with the 4 build parameters mentioned above can equal sonic happiness.I am VERY optimistic about my chances of building a musically satisfying system & hope to have a successful update in a few weeks.

Larstusor: I think Thiels are what you want based on your input and your description. And I mean Jim Thiel era models.