My pet peeve: "revealing" speakers


The one word that bugs me the most in all of the audiophile world is "revealing." 

It's plenty descriptive but it's also biased.  What I mean is that speakers that are revealing are also usually quite colored. They don't unveil a recording, they focus your attention by suppressing some tones and enhancing others. The reviewer who suddenly discovers hearing things he has never heard before and now goes through his entire library has fallen for this trap hook line and sinker.

This is not always true, as some speakers are revealing by ignoring the room.  They can remain tonally neutral but give you a headphone like experience.  I'm not talking about them.  I'm talking about the others.  I  wish we had a better word for it.

Mind you, I believe you should buy speakers based on your personal preferences.  Revealing, warm, neutral, whatever.  I'm just saying this word is deceptive, as if there were no down side when there is. 

Best,

Erik
erik_squires
Sounds like a lot of audiophiles are frustrated having not achieved success in getting that revealing speaker, being bought or homemade, so they attribute it to other factors, which is a mistake. It’s a variation on The Fox and the Sour Grapes.
You read the thread a bit too swiftly..... :)

I was distinguishing "revealing" and "resolving" because the most resolving speakers in the world will reveal some needing controls in the 3 embeddings and not only defects in the recording source materials....

What you call "other factors", meaning non important one, because you are being too carried away by the hope to have bought the best speakers you can (upgrade urge to solution a complex audio problem or evacuate it under the wished brand so called ideal product) are the most important factors in audio experience, not only the ideal design of a pair of speakers.... Buying better gear does not implicate that they would be correctly embedded by the magical property of the speakers design........

But i dont doubt that in a way or in another, your future "resolving" speakers will "reveal " to you the defects needed to be adress in your 3 embeddings and not only from your source recordings cd or vinyl....


And to design a "resolving" speakers even the best one is also and always a trade-off....

Audio, being an empirical endeavour, and not reducible to electronic design, electric engineering, or acoustical engineering,or mechanical engineering, rather encompassing all that with our specific ears history, is the art of trade-off....

Simple ready made solutions to all audio problems dont exist except for the marketing companies that sell them .... It is not my road..... :)

My best to you from a fox who has eaten already no so sour grapes of his own.... :)
Try to be more subtle my friend.... Sarcasm is an art.....You seems to want to be a professional entertainer but it is a bit boring....Others perhaps like that, call for a vote, and if you win, i will go..... :)

Myself i am a bit too serious then i apologize to you.... But i dont like laughing at the expanse of others.... I prefer discussions....

My best to you.....
Sounds like a lot of audiophiles are frustrated having not achieved success in getting that revealing speaker


FTR:  I'm not at all frustrated with my sound system.  I'm frustrated at the use of the word "revealing" used in reviews and impressions.

I am very much frustrated with my room though, so I am planning a cross-country move to fix it. :)

Best,

E
had my share of revealing speakers and had musical speakers and some companies give you both but then you need an arc welder to drive them or wife says Not in my house. D&D are onto something, but Jim Salk (I think)said In a recent post on asr that while his active speaker got great feedback at a show there was like no interest in it, audiophiles want separates. I probably butchered the quote but thats what I got out of it.