Just because you didn’t like something that somebody gave a review on and liked it doesn’t mean the equipment is bad. What you are expecting a system to sound like is going to be different from other people and every system is different starting with equipment to room acoustics.
Couldn’t agree more. This hobby is a tough one to crack-most of us rely on reviews and buy blindly. Speakers are more "polluted" by overt marketing than any other component. Speaker manufacturers, in order to survive, resort to exotic materials or configurations that will grab consumers who shop with their eyeballs. At the end of the day there are three practical and not-so-practical solutions; establish a relationship with a reputable dealer, travel as necessary to demo the gear in a similarly sized room with similar ancillary gear, or be prepared to buy and sell many speakers (or other component) until you find the bowl of porridge that is just right. On that last method-over at "amps/preamps" there is a thread started by "Whitecamaross" in which he went through 50 or so power amps (!) at an expense of over $500,000 according to his report!
I think the current speaker threads are boring too-primarily because too many people chase after the speakers that get talked about the most, substituting group-think for their own personal taste. I also imagine that this forum, unlike the "whatsbest" forum, is a better reflection of the economy and consumer confidence. When 95% of the posts are about speakers under $2,000, I think consumer confidence is not very high. And lastly, A-gon does have it’s own demographic of regular posters and it’s just a mystery how these things vary from board to board.
