the smoothest sounding speaker

spendor, harbeth, proac, neat, castle, rogers.....

1. All speakers are not flat in room.
2. Most CD players "give you ear fatigue playing CD's".
3. High resolution makes matters worse, not better

Q. What to do?
A. Alter the response curve in your room to provide smooth coherent sound at the listening position.
Q. How?
A. Use digital room correction. A used Tact a generation back (say a 2.0) can be had for a little over a thousand bucks. Get the model that accepts analog inputs (designated aaa).
cheers

smoothness and resolution are at opposite ends of a continuum.

too much smoothness obscures resolution. too much resolution eliminates smoothness.

it would seem that speaker designers may voice a speaker to provide a balance of the two.

it is difficult to recommend a speaker without listening. p[erception of smoothness and resolution is subjective.

that said, i think the aerial 10t is a good choice.

Other brands known for a smooth mid & treble range: Silverline Audio, Vienna Acoustics, Sonus Faber, Opera, Roman Audio and DCM TFE series. Of these, IMHO, the best resolution would be Silverline and Roman, and the Vandersteens offer decent resolution as well. The good news is that the sonic characteristics you seek are obtainable and for reasonable money. The bad news is that many factors play a part, not just the speakers, and just throwing money at your system won't guaranty the results you seek. I own Vandersteen 1Cs with a pair of 2Wq subs. While the sound from my rig is fairly smooth, I've heard smoother (Silverline, Roman Audio). Likewise, you cannot ignore the associated gear. Prior to a series of upgrades and fine-tuning, the same 1Cs sounded much less smooth and fatigue would set in earlier than in my present configuration.

Samujohn, I agree with you on #1, but it all depends on how you look at #2 and #3. If playing a CD give you fatigue, its more than likely got something to do with the rest of you setup...IMO more than the player. The player reads the digital info without conversion and such (as long as you keep the info digital until it has to be converted). Its the speaker and amps and other electronics (not to mention the weakest link, room) that brings about the fatigue issues...for the most part.

You are definately on track about the room correction. Without it #2 and #3 are big problems. Besides, everyone should know that precision room correction brings about better resolution to the music anyway :)

Back on topic...sorry. I've noticed that speakers that incorporate soft dome tweeters and mids tend to be more smoother than those who don't. ATC is one that comes to mind. Those using ring radiators offer many of those same traits too.