When choosing new Speakers, what matters most to you?


When auditioning new speakers have you ever listened to a pair you thought you really liked only to realize you didn’t like them at all after seeing their measurements/specifications? And I’m not talking about speakers that would be too difficult for your electronics to drive but rather, you just didn’t like their waterfall plot, or their frequency response or some other measurement even though subjectively, you loved the way they sounded? Conversely have you ever listened to a pair of speakers you did not care for only to change your mind after seeing their specs?
 

Assuming speakers can be easily driven by your home electronics, in other words, no compatibility issues related to sensitivity or impedance, what is the single most important thing you look for when finding speakers you’ll enjoy listening to? How do you go about confirming the speakers you buy will be enjoyable to listen to in your home system?

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For me it's how they sound at low volume for extended listening sessions.(3-5 hrs) I have little intrest in 'blast volume'. You can't get concert levels in most rooms due to limitations in room shape, height to and depth. Set your speaker outdoors and tell me how they image. They don't. Do you listen at different volumes? Does the image change? Your ears adjust after awhile at low volume rather than getting numb. I adjust my system with a sniffer of DJ 1942 and some comfortable slippers.

Bass/low frequency response, since it is one of the most difficult characteristics to get right in a passive speaker system.

Wide band/Full  Midrange speakers only for me. 

Nothing else, I want fidelity

Just  answering the title of the thread.....The Trim & Cover.  Only Magnepan for me, so there aren't a lot of choices beyond the size of the room.  😆   

The real choice is designing a room to build around a set of 20.7

 

How close the speakers are at portraying the live event, whether it be a chamber ensemble, symphony orchestra, intimate jazz performance, or an outdoor rock concert.  No speaker that I've run into can replicate that spectrum perfectly - there are always compromises with any design choice.

Only two speakers I've encountered that got close to ONE of those aforementioned mile markers:

Wilson WATT/Puppy 5s reproducing Horowitz on stage

Dunlavy SC-IV/As playing an acoustic performance of "Hotel California".

That said - the Wilson wasn't able to "do live" as well as the Dunlavy; and that speaker had a hard time not getting "gritty" with solo instrument performances.