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Speakers The single most critical component

I know we've been over this Q hundreds of X's over the past 20 years here on audion, You can find dozen of topics dealing with this Q <which is the ,,,,most important component...>>
well time for yet 1 more topic dealing with this,, perhaps unanswered, un-resolved issue.
I'm bringing up the old hachet due to my recent experience acutally hearinga FR in my system. 
Let me tell you, there is not even 1 traditional/conventioanl/xover design <The Boxed Type>> in the world that could convince me  , there is something that will beat out FR (caveat, FR requires  some sort of high sens =sensitivity, tweeter)  in  the Boxy world of speakers.
That is to say, FR + Compression Horn is the future of 21st Century high fidelity. 
One lab has already brought us these ~~~SHF~~~ aka SuperHighFidelity  single drivers. 
The code word here is ~~SHF~~~ which can not never be employed when describing xover/trad/conventioanl style  aka The Box designs. db level under 91 are _<<IN-EFFICIENT>> , = dysfunctional, out dated, old school , = Dinasaurs. 
For amps, I only consider tube amps (PP and SET) as ~~SHF~~~ I can not include ss amps in this topic. 
IMHO all well made tube amps sound very close,
 a  kt88 in brand X will sound  close to brand Y. 
So amplification takes a  distant 2nd place in critical component.  No need to break the bank buying amp A vs  a  lower priced kt88 amp B
CD players, nearly all  tube DAC's , tube cdp-ers sound  close. No need to braek the bank over X vs Y.
My Jadis DAC is  only miniscule gain over the Shanling,
 the Shanling
only a  miniscule gain over the Cayin CD17. 
Now as for  best source  , phonograph is the ideal playback medium vs cds. 
I have some LP's now , but my main collection are classical cds, most not on LP version. Cables , I did note some gains employing silver/copper wiring throughout my entire system including inside the Defy.
Tweak worthy.
New Mundorf caps in all componets, tweak worthy. 
Yet the main central component remaisn the speakers.
Here is where  the entire audio resolution either rises to Nirvana or falls to <<distortion/muddy waters,/pollution/anti-fidelity  voicing  issues.
Your system's fidelity is ultimately dependent on what speaker  you have chosen to employ.
Forget all you've learned over the years, 
The new mantra is <,The speaker is key component>
All else is just extra tweaks/nuances. 
To sum up, a  ~~SHF~~ driver will match even the top of line Wilson weighing in at hundreds of lbs priced $$$$$$$ overa single FR driver. 
FR beats out any/all xover box design speakers. Mostly due to that key specification ~~db level~~~ which is everything in speaker design and thus in resolution/fidelity. 

mozartfan
mozartfan OP
2,143 posts
 
$8k in the used market, 
Thats $16k in the new market, box/xover low efficient design vs the 8FR/TI Horn speaker.
After 40 years, i finally have awakened. 
Did it all my own, even Richard Gray  could not give me the answer to my search.
All he said FR has good things and bad things. 
I;ll take the bad with the good, because the good is The Best.  whereas box style only offers,,,~~Mediocre~~~
mozartfan OP
2,143 posts
 
facts are
SEAS makes the finest most musical low efficient speakers in the  world, Bests Scan Speaks which are too warm vs SEAS clarity,  life like voicing in mids, 
'But even SEAS next to any old FR, can't hold a  candle, 
FR, fastest shooter in the west
Shot out the SEAS at the OK Coral, was really bloody, you really did not want to see that gun fight in my  listening room
RIP SEAS, you served me well past 20. 
But ain't gonna miss ya, thats for sure. 
mozartfan OP
2,143 posts
 
Don't take my word for it, Just watch and believe. 
as we say down here in New Orleans Saints land, ~~ya gotta believe~~~ 
Even the Voxativ owner knows he has the worlds very finest drivers, 
Field coil is way out my undwerstanding, not to mention out my budget
i'll stick with his entry model
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq9r_TL49Kk
mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,011 posts
 
Give me any relatively good speakers and relatively good source and amplifier, like mine which cost me 500 bucks, i will make them sound very good.... Why and how?

Nobody listen to "signals", we listen to the speakers/room interaction with our " 2 ears, and the timing difference between the 2 frontwaves coming from each speaker will made the perceptive experience heaven or hell or all in between...

Audio is about 3 things: decreasing the electrical noise floor, controlling the vibrations/resonance problem but MAINLY passive room treatment AND more importantly active room controls....

If you want to know if your room is good, listen to The Three penny opera 1958 by Kurt Weill with Lotte Lenya and if you could listen the orchestra playing in front of you, seating in front of your speakers, but the singers voices coming from your back wall where there is no speakers, your room is under acoustic controls....If not, buying a cable AT ANY PRICE will not give you this nor buying most tweaks or a costly dac or amplifier.... Acoustic is key....

I will not speak about voice timbre or instrumental timbre which sound unnatural even in many very costly systems or very tweaked one i listen to...

Then in audio forget price, think acoustic....

And audio is not about "taste" but about acoustic....

ghdprentice
6,961 posts
 
I appreciate your enthusiasm. Enjoy the speakers, I think you are going to put something together with the drivers.

When I was in college the “greatest” speakers were the “Voice of the Theater”... JBL? Maybe some other company. It was a long time ago. 15” or 16”. I spent the summer constructing massive acoustically perfect enclosures. Unfortunately, once I finished the enclosures I didn’t have the money to buy the speakers. I bet they would have sounded great.

My experience since then is that all components matter and there is a nearly infinite ways to put together a good system. Enjoy yours when you get them.
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