What do you consider the most when choosing a pair of speakers?


Hi, just being curious here. 

When choosing a pair of speakers, do you consider design first? or the sound? or a particular brand? 

I want to say the sound matters the most for me, but my wife would never allow anything industrial looks or a design that goes against her taste regardless of the sound quality. 

What are your thought?

128x128monacousticusa

In this order. With my components the speakers efficiency, vanishing act, it's lower midrange properties, does it move me and then it's appearance.

@toolbox149  I think Magnepan should be proud of a loyal customer like you. A great brand that offers great products. I am also a distributor for Sanctus cables of South Korea(I haven’t really begun the business activities yet), at Sanctus cable headquarter, they have a Magnepan speakers and they were awesome!

 

@starlightdiamond is there a particular reason that you look for lower midrange properties? A particular taste in music or because of your favorite music piece?

@henry53 …”Does my foot tap, if not don't buy them.”

 

👍 The intuitive rhythm and pace test. This definitely a critical test.

For me, how they sound is what matters most.  When I first started my audiophile journey, accuracy and a revealing nature were what I tended to go for, but those were the days of analog media and the first Compact Discs; sound quality of those sources and media were highly variable. Now, with streaming and digital files my predominant source of material, I want a speaker that has musicality…it has to be engaging, fun to listen to.  As others have said, it needs to get my toes tapping.

After that, the engineering, design and aesthetics all matter as well.  That’s why, being fortunate enough to buy them at a killer-price from my authorized dealer, I ended up with KEF Blade Two’s.  A speaker that seemingly checks off every box and definitely qualifies as an end-game performer.

Enjoy your music!

Arvin

@arvincastro I do like that you track of your own taste changes throughout the hifi life. I respect that! As a music lover, streaming is just awesome for me. The availability of great music at finger touch, this is Hi-Fi life 2.0 for me. Maybe it is 3.0 for the industry, whatever. My point is, it is awesome to have that source variety. Do you think because of this streaming services, do you look for more forgiving, I mean, more versatile speakers are popular? Or people consider more measurements and DSP for their taste? It might be strange coming from a speaker brand person to say, but I love KEF products in general. I own many speakers before I became a distributor, and I still enjoy KEF LS50 W2 myself. I considered KEF Blade one, instead I went for a pair of Devore 96/O for a different sonic experience. I just love listening to a different pair of speakers like trying out different headphones. Sorry, kinda carried on. But like you said, let's enjoy music!