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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
 
Acoustical treatmenst? 
Not my interest. 
I'm into near field, small room listening.
I should have stated this at the beginning. 
Some of you have cathedral size listening rooms, So testung results may vary from my room acoustics. 
Also note, many of you listen at high db  volume. This is yet another factor, I listen at a  comfortable low  db.
However I did crank up the vol on the last video and there was no break up, no distortion at all with the tiny 6.5 Diatone.
You crank upa  xover low efficiency speaker, the sound will attack if not assult the listener, small  room or large, does not  matter. 
Over the years I've never been impressed with any  traditional xover designs, most were just obnoxiously muddy, polluted  the musical image.

These wide band Diatone, $110/pair, really have out performed in most areas of speaker characterists if we add all up together. 
The Seas Thors, which represent the finest old school drivers, in the world, just can not hold up against a  wide band/no xover driver.

I have no idea , can not comprehend why FR/wide band is not the main topic interest here on Audiogon these past 10 years or so. 


I imagined if only i can upgrade the Thor xovers with high quality Mundorf caps, now i will have a   reborn Thor. 
Wrong, the  nuance was  ~~miniscule~~
Thats when I on my own, decided to ck out FR/wide band.
Once you  auditione a  wide band driver, you'll never consider going back to old school.

I guess  it all comes down to different ~cups of tea~

douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
+1 limomangus

Now we learn the biggest, or shall I say the dominant, reason for the thread, "My room is tiny at 10x12, so contraints [sic] on both amp and speakers does limit my choices."

Explains the infatuation with small, FR speakers. 

Without disparaging the OP, the budding audiophile can learn from this thread. Declarations (such as seen in the opening post) are often made out of context, as if applicable to all. Hold tentative such declarations until you know the context.   :) 



pesky_wabbit's avatar
pesky_wabbit
1,183 posts
 
The context was never made clear. Just sweeping uninformed statements. Hear a pair of active ATC monitors with a good front end. Goodbye Voxativ.





co93
61 posts
 
It’s like saying your lungs are more important than your heart or your brain.  They all need to work in harmony.  
mozartfan OP
2,143 posts
 
Explains the infatuation with small, FR speakers.

Without disparaging the OP, the budding audiophile can learn from this thread.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You would be very surprised at  one of Ricahrd Gray's ~~~ Guess what speaker or amp (he perforams both tricky blind auditions)  is  now playing behind the curtain. ~~~ He chuckles as to how often seasoned audiphiles can get their guesses WRONG, some folks get hoy headed to the point ofa  fist in the face.
So small room yes, but even ina  larger setting a  high fidelty 8 FR will knock your socks off. 
Yet can also accustom itself to a  small room setting with pleasant richness, never ever do you feel under attack, as with the other <brands>


As to 2nd point, Correct. That is the  main goal of this thread. 
Had someone wayyy  back in 2000ish when I opened one of Agons longest running threads, ~~Speaker Shootout at the OK  Corral~~~ seems in all the k'sm of posts, somehow i missed out on the FR alternative, Electro stats were HUGE favor back then, so they along with xover brand took up most of my attention. 
I knew i did not like SET sound, so FR somehow got deleted from my serious considertion.
Now some 20 years later, I am FR/wide band /high sensitivity worlds biggest fan-atic.
Guess you can;t tell 
;--))
anyway. sure glad Douglas saw through my rants as to the main goal of this topic. 
Newbies can now look at the speaker mountain from different angles and make their own wise, well researched decision 
In these troubled times, makinga  speaker purchase can be a  1 time event for some newbies here. 
They wish to make it count.
Besides note the speaker board, 99% is all about xover traditional designs. 
I feel thats a  bit biased if not  tunnel  vision. 
FR technology has come alonggg way, lets not shove FR off the table.
Fr will give xover low sens speakers a run for their money in comming decades. 
Its just a matter of EDU and time. 
I can see a  new revolution in speaker  choices.
Remember when we would go ina  audio store and ck out the rooms full  of all sorts of xover designs,, hahaha, I picked the Philips 2 way, paper 8 woofer, nice tweeter.
I thought they were the most cleanest,, Then I placed the next to the Thors and dumped the Philips 425's for $50 on craigslist.
Now i am dumping the Thors. 
Never could go back-wards to xover low sensitivity speakers.
But hey whatever floats your boat. 
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