I was sorta’ in your positon several years ago. After owning them for over a decade, I was
considering replacing my Soundlab stats., with a newer Soundlab model.
Before spending considerable funds, I wanted to have a clue whether anything else would better suit my fancy. Hence, my son and I sojourned to RMAF.
We did so, primarily to listen to every speaker we could, which we did. After hitting all the rooms, we kept returning
to what we termed “effortless” reproduction. As a generalization, lower power SET friendly speakers tend to also provide this.
My son has a penchant for horns, which I believe, represents the
definition of a speaker being “effortless”. Thus, we found that we received the
most satisfaction from panels, horns and open baffle designs. After returning home, I ordered the new pair
of Soundlabs.
Thus, this experience has suggested that listening to as many
types of speakers as one can, is a worthy endeavor! From that, perhaps a type (box, open baffle,
horns, various panels etc.) can be selected.
Then the shopping begins.
I’ve adhered to the premise of speaker “type” since my first
high-end system which consisted of ESS Heil AMT-3 (“Rockmonitors”), with their “effortless”
sounding Air Motion Transformer. These
speakers had their limitations (especially coherence between drivers), but
decades later, the Heil’s are still going strong in my son’s game room and AMT's are still being utilized in speaker design. Thereafter, I’ve owned Apogee’s, Martin
Logans and Soundlabs. Presently, I use
Logans in my up stair’s home theater and
newly purchased the Soundlab Majestic 845’s reside in my 2-channel room.
Everything in this hobby is personal as far as taste
in presentation and sound is concerned. There
is no one answer (or speaker) for everybody – it’s too personal. That’s why I believe it’s imperative to
listen to as many different speakers (especially types) that one can. Although audio shows with their limited days
for setup, multiple combinations of unknown components and impractical room sizes, are the NOT
the best venue for critical auditioning.
However, they are a superb venues for checking out speaker types!!
