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.
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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- 93 posts total
- 93 posts total