2. speakers
  3. 131976-3105

Speakers are the first piece of the puzzle

Hello All!

This is aimed at understanding one particularly prominent posture on mapping out how to proceed in amassing a great audio outfit with speakers being the most significant ingredient, and initial purchase.

From the Audiogon pages alone, if you read between the lines, one can find that there are several approaches for how to erect an outstanding audio system as to which component should be the initial or by some accounts the largest system investment, or both everytime.

IMHO, The predominant system establishing camps are speakers first, amps first, or sources first. in deference to topologies such as panels vs cones, tubes vs. SS, analog vs. digital, as those preferences are options within options.

For the record, I’m not a card carrying member of the ‘speakers first’ organization. And see an eventually proud highly resolving great sounding system as a work in progress which begins where ever and endss when ever.


So, lets get to the lightening round…Questions:

1. why do you feel any system should begin life with speaker s the first building block AND its greatest investment?

2. which speakers were your first system build?

3. How long did you keep them?

4. were later speaker systems brought in prior to any other ‘component’ changes?

In other words, has the ‘speaker first and always’ theme been your blueprint forever, or at some later point, reveal itself as a much better plan?

tremendous gratitude for all the input.
blindjim
addyson815
240 posts
 
A -    I dont think that the speaker has to be the first piece to buy.    when I was putting a system last year, the turntable was the first purchase.    If in the market to put together a system, I am looking for things in a certain price range and if something is there, then I will contact the seller before someone else is also interested in it.

B : those speakers are gone....pair of Klipsch Forte 11's.   gave them away for free....

C  :   had them since new.....1993.    24 years.

D :   no.....

"  In other words, has the ‘speaker first and always’ theme been your blueprint forever, or at some later point, reveal itself as a much better plan?"

speakers are not first on the list.......
itzhak1969
515 posts
 
Everything is important cables, sources, amplification and speakers, however After many years I discovered that amplification is the most important part at the hi-fi chain .if you have good and powerful amplification it can make miracles even with modest speakers .In my current system the amplification costs more than double than my speakers and the cables cost almost the same as the speakers and I am very pleased with the sound.
jayctoy's avatar
jayctoy
4,203 posts
 
Honestly if I will build a system today , speakers first, then the right amp, lately I bought 98db speakers I paired with tube amp, works well.i kept my speaker at least 15 yrs now..,
blindjim OP
3,092 posts
 

thank you all.


Sources. It starts there.

Amps and speakrs are more of necessity than a starting point, if indeed the notion its all about signal integrity and purity, amounts to anything..

The elements that make up the rig are all malleable. Changing. Especially if it is the ‘very first’ outfit.

There is no denying an amp and its relationship to the speaker is key. I suppose it could be argued everything else, as vital as it may be are just the supporting cast.

With experience I can readily see how one could alter or begin anew, picking out loudspeakers as the foremost purchase.

Daring to pursue niche speakers seems to carry even more perils, precautions, or limitations. similarly, some amplifiers warrant the same skill set as speakers.

Even though speakers are the main attraction when folks ask to look at your system, they’ll take in the loudspeakers first. Everytime. Why not? They’re usually prettier. Bigger. Flashier. And in inescapable.

Forgoeing the room itself for a moment, the soul of music comes from the power and source, if speakers are in fact doing their jobs properly, not the other way around. That essence has to be provided to them, they can’t manufacture it.

I’ll probably never see the why of speakers first all the time as THE better approach.

willemj
1,036 posts
 
The crucial concept here is that of masking. The component in the chain with the greatest imperfections will mask the imperfections of the component with the least imperfections. Hence, focus on the component with the greatest distortion, the largest deviations from a flat frequency response, or the greatest noise.
More to discover