Maybe it's a good thing you can't or you might experience what happened to me a several years ago. I went to a boutique dealer to hear some Aerial Acoustic speakers. He had an amazing listening room with movable walls, ceiling and room treatments that he could adjust to demo all of the speakers he rep'd. I bought the Aerials after listening to them in a room designed to be the equivalent of mine in size and shape but then saw a pair of Rockport Cygnus speakers (i didn't know the brand at the time) and asked about them. Of course way out of my price range but i wanted to hear them so he adjusted the room and away we went. I have regretted that curiousity ever since--best speaker i've heard to date and although i'm happy with the Aerials i still think about that Rockport and wonder...however, besides price being an issue my wife has made it clear our marriage would also be at stake !
I'm never going to hear a megaspeaker in a good room am I?
Was thinking about something. There’s a thread about good $40K speakers which made me think that honestly despite hearing a lot of them at shows, I’ve never heard one in a decent environment. Now, perhaps we can argue:
But let’s not go that route. But I am thinking to myself, in well treated rooms the best speakers I’ve heard were merely mid-range Wilsons and Magicos. I say "merely" because they were under $40k, not because of performance. The two best speakers I’ve heard, in medicore rooms were the SF Stradivari and Snell A/III, and top of the line Vandersteen.
All the $40K + speakers I’ve heard have been at shows, and either very badly treated rooms, or in halls so big the first reflection point was like a mountain echo. Am I ever going to get to listen to $40K+ speakers in great rooms anywhere again??
As a result, I’ve developed a severe bias against the performance of mega speakers, because I only ever hear them in terrible rooms and have not heard one I’d spend money for, and honestly that's unfair to them.
If it doesn’t sound good anywhere, including a hotel room, is it really that good a speaker?
But let’s not go that route. But I am thinking to myself, in well treated rooms the best speakers I’ve heard were merely mid-range Wilsons and Magicos. I say "merely" because they were under $40k, not because of performance. The two best speakers I’ve heard, in medicore rooms were the SF Stradivari and Snell A/III, and top of the line Vandersteen.
All the $40K + speakers I’ve heard have been at shows, and either very badly treated rooms, or in halls so big the first reflection point was like a mountain echo. Am I ever going to get to listen to $40K+ speakers in great rooms anywhere again??
As a result, I’ve developed a severe bias against the performance of mega speakers, because I only ever hear them in terrible rooms and have not heard one I’d spend money for, and honestly that's unfair to them.
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Hi @wyoboy You got me a little curious, and I ran into this description of the Rockport listening room: A combination of RPG diffusers and B.A.D. panels provide the correct broadband reverberant field without coherent specular reflections, while a series of custom broadband and quarter wave bass traps insure bass linearity down to the first octave. This ultimate soundroom is an essential tool in the development of our high-performance, full range loudspeakers, and in conjuction with some of the industy’s finest associated equipment, enables us to elevate the design process to the highest level possible. In this room, the listener can fully experience the true capabilities of our entire product range. I have to say they said everything I’ve ever wanted in a listening room. :-) Linearity down to the first octave is a real challenge even for most high end stores, let alone most audiophiles and probably the cause of most disappointments. The Magico listening room is also an extravagant feat of acoustical engineering, as is the Goodwyn's room in Waltham, MA. Best, Erik |
@erik_squires I guess we haunt the same vicinity. Goodwinn's High End in Waltham is the area's most esoteric Hi Fi store. I have not been in a while. I always got good service because I drove up in a 911 Turbo. If you drive up in a Golf you couldn't get the time of day. Never bought anything from him. These store hang everything everywhere because they sell it and you need to buy it if you want your room to sound good. Total and complete BS (IMHO). You use enough to do the job and no more adding a one set at a time. This can be done inexpensively with acoustic tile. The stuff Goodwinn's sells is hopelessly overpriced but his clientele are extremely wealthy and they do not care or know enough to care. They are the set it and forget it crowd. |
I haven't ever been to an audio show so my only listening experiences have been at dealers. They have been in modest markets such as St. Louis, Nashville and Memphis. The mainstream/larger dealers that also had Sony TVs along with the full suite of Sonos devices, etc. always leave me disappointed. They haven't had this mega level of speakers to offer, but it has been the top of the line B&W and Paradigm to name a couple. They were in medium to large rooms with 2 other systems arranged as well and possibly part of a home theater. It has always been a let-down. The one visit which wasn't was here in my hometown of Memphis. George Merrill, who builds his own high-end turntables, is a gracious audiophile and welcomes his customer to stop in the store. He has a single listening room for which I cannot remember all the electronics. The speakers were Aerial 7ts. His top of the line turntable along with some fairly exotic solid state electronics were all set up. His TT is around $10k and the 7ts around $12k. I looked up the other pieces and the system topped out with an MSRP of around $90k. His room was fairly small and well treated. It was my first listening experience in a well-treated room and it was jaw-dropping. I felt as if I was in a vacuum chamber where there was no echo/reflections whatsoever. The soundstage was so 3-dimensional and lifelike! My point is that it may be better to search for these room more than searching for $100k or whatever mega price speakers that are simply connected. One would expect speakers of this level to only be connected in such a room, but I suspect that is not the norm. Regardless of our own individual budgets and purchase intentions, I feel these experiences help us in our never-ending journey for audio nirvana. It planted a frame of reference in my brain that I use as I try different components in my system. |
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