2. misc-audio
  3. 146960-20253

An encounter and lesson in speaker prices ...

Not to long ago, in a shop I like but will remain nameless I got to observe a customer evaluate a pair of systems side by side. The buyer had an eastern European accent. First they listened to the larger system, $50k speakers, equivalently priced amps and digital.


It sounded _really_ good. Then we moved to another system. Slightly smaller speaker pair, around $20k, completely different DAC and amp. Sounded like crap. The digititis was unbearable and the speakers were clearly out of phase. On top of that, the treble and bass balance were now all wrong.


The buyer was "I like them, what colors do they com in? " and that was that.

After the buyer left I looked behind at the amp. Yep, I was right, the pahse was reversed. The darkness of the room and angle made this an easy and common mistake to make. But the rest was unbearable.


What is my point? The people buying the top end gear are not necessarily the one’s with decent ears, so we really cannot trust price points to be any sort of guide to value. If you develop your taste on your own, independent of prices, you can score some fabulously performing gear at a fraction of what this buyer was going to end up with.


Best,

E
erik_squires
marqmike
846 posts
 
+ 1 Glupson
It seems like a win-win-win situation. Buyer bought what he liked, seller sold what he could, Audiogon gets to pat itself on the back for being better than the fool who does not know what is good.

He somehow manages to know what he likes without prejudice and technicalities and is even capable of seeing his purchase from more than one side. He can multitask and include colors, too. Kudos to an honest and capable buyer. Now, if more people would be like that...
tastyfreeze's avatar
tastyfreeze
135 posts
 
Yep.

quincy
356 posts
 
Some equipment manufacturers preamps and amps are 'out of phase' by design.  The easiest way to get them 'into phase' is to reverse the wires at the speaker posts.  One such manufacture is Conrad Johnson.  There is a plausible explanation as to why they do this.....I just can't remember why at this time of posting.  I'm sure someone will chime in.  A $20K system should sound good in my humble opinion, if set up correctly.
jnovak's avatar
jnovak
434 posts
 
Actually, one customer does not an example make. If would have been interesting to have at least a dozen people hear the two systems that day and THEN, go back one week later to hear if it still sounds the same. I've heard some decent set ups in years past. I've taken a friend back (and visa verse) to share my wonderful experience only to find.....it sounds different that day! Anyone else experience this? Joe
erik_squires OP
16,382 posts
 
Some equipment manufacturers preamps and amps are 'out of phase' by design. The easiest way to get them 'into phase' is to reverse the wires at the speaker posts. One such manufacture is Conrad Johnson.



I think that several readers are misreading my original post. This was not related to this. The L and R were wired incorrectly relatively to each other.

Best,
E

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