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After the thrill is gone

I think we all understand there is no “perfect” speaker. Strengths, weaknesses, compromises all driven by the designer’s objectives and decisions. 
 

Whenever we make a new (to us) speaker purchase there is a honeymoon period with the perfect-to-us speaker. But as time wears on, we either become accustomed to the faults and don’t really hear or hear past them, or become amplified and perhaps more annoying or create minor buyers remorse or wanderlust.

I am guessing the latter would be more prevalent when transitioning to a very different design topology, eg cones vs horns vs planars etc.

While I’ve experimented with horns, single drivers, subwoofer augmentation …  I’ve always returned to full range dynamic multi-driver designs. About to do so with planars but on a scale I’ve not done before, and heading toward end game system in retirement.
So I just wonder what your experiences have been once the initial thrill is gone? (Especially if you moved from boxes to planars)

inscrutable
rikkipuu's avatar
rikkipuu
271 posts
 

Oops hit the enter.  Referring to the Mangepan 1.7i vs 3.7i's.

zavato's avatar
zavato
1,399 posts
 

I'm as thrilled with my speakers today as I was the day I bought them in 2015. 

taxonomy
14 posts
 

I solved this by not reading forums and dropping out of my audiophile club. I don't read blogs or reviews either.  I glance at the weekly audiogon summary and will sometimes look at a conversation if the title is interesting.  

Seriously, the press part is trying to sell you something and that's based on sewing discontent. The forums are all about, I don't know what actually, but the comparison and upmanship doesn't help. 

I settled on a small power tube and efficient speakers because I like it for the low volumes we listen at augmented with absurdly large subs. I'm 55 and can't hear over 13 khz anyways so highs don't matter.  

Stop reading this stuff and you'll find that you chill out a lot about your system.  Like all social media it's a trap that makes us feel sad and poor. 

nottmkid
13 posts
 

I was somewhat fortunate to hear a set of speakers at a store an hour away from home. I do not have a large room but struggle when staring/listening to a small box mounted on a pedestal. The speakers in question found their ways into my listening room and I have not even thought about looking for anything else. The final touch was to move away from all solid state amplification and boy it sealed the life long desire to keep what I have. I never tire of listening to the ensemble, and neither do my friends.

System comprises:

Pro-Ject turntable (soon the be replaced with Transcriptors Hydraulic Reference)

Wolf Audio Server

T+A DAC 8 DSD

Circle Labs A200

Audiovector R3 Arreté

i have been lucky enough to find what works extremely well in my room (typically the biggest problem to solve).

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