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Not Enough Options for Auditioning Speakers

am in the market for a great two channel music system. They will be set up in a dedicated listening room that is 12'x17'x9'. The room is carpeted but not treated.

My budget is around $15k-$20k for speakers, wires, amp+preamp (or integrated).

I prefer towers as I like the full range and have had bad luck with integrating a sub. I started my search with B&W 805's and Sonus Faber Olympica I's (which are still on my short list)

My problem is that most of the dealers in my area do not carry very many brands, so it is hard to compare. I cannot even find one that carries the KEF reference.

I am leaning right now to the Sonus Faber Olympica III's but also really like the B&W 803 D3. I wish I could hear them side by side. The dealer with the SF's is great and has let me do home testing with several speakers and he is recommending the Olympica's.

I read a lot online about auditioning several different speakers but cannot find any place in central Florida that has most of the lines they are suggesting. I know if I pick the SF Olympica's I will be very happy, but I have not even heard the III's! I am just a little frustrated that the consistent advice is to listen to a lot of others, but I can't.

Am I the only one with this problem?

Thanks!
-Mobius
mobiusmu
prof
3,474 posts
 
soundsrealaudio,

That is perfectly understandable.  A dealer or speaker manufacturer at a show is there to show the product in the best light possible.  It's a show to benefit the manufacturer/dealer, not set up for attendees to do their shopping.

Of course, ideally attendees do get an idea of how a range of different speakers can perform.  And it is certainly nice if someone is allowed to play their own CD.  That's a perk.  But I had paid money, and went to all the effort of transportation, set up etc,  to display a speaker I'd want that speaker sounding good as much of the time, and crappy as little of the time, as possible.

soundsrealaudio's avatar
soundsrealaudio
756 posts
 
prof

I can remember when I opened my shop. We didn't have the RMAF at that time so I went to the CES in Vegas. Did all my research and read the reviews of the speakers that were of interest. I was truly amazed. Remember how I went to visit room after room with high expectations. Many of those rooms all I did was walk in and do a U turn. You don't have to eat the whole egg to know it is rotten. 

I dropped my expectations and visited rooms with brands I knew nothing about. No expectations. I found a few speakers that appealed to me,  but not as many as I thought. 


psag
518 posts
 
There are more pressing issues than audio in Florida right now. Best of luck to you.
soundsrealaudio's avatar
soundsrealaudio
756 posts
 
psag

There are pressing issues with climate change, the unregulated financial system, the vast amount of inequality in they USA. ( " if only those people would " work hard and play by the rules they would be rich" )
Politicians pissed away 3 trillion dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that is my money, my son's money, and my grandsons' money and now the politicians are on TV telling us to send money to the victims. 
oscar44
130 posts
 
Sadly, speaker auditioning is a challenge everywhere now. We're continually told by  reviewers to go hear for ourself before buying, without any acknowledgement that going to hear a pair of high end speakers is no simple matter.  I ended up going to RMAF but never did get to hear some of the speakers I really wanted to listen to as potential purchases. Hello Revel? Quad? Where were  you? Not there when I paid for a flight and hotel to audition your products.   

I understand the problems of sustaining a dealer network but the industry keeps acting as if $20-30k speaker purchasers are everywhere and don't need to be enabled and supported in their decisions.  Imagine the car industry making it that difficult to test drive. If the industry cannot make home auditions easier and more affordable for many, I don't see how many people can be encouraged to experience high end sound.
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