When a budget speaker is preferred to a high end one...

Yes, I've seen (heard) it happen many times.  This is why I've always loved the Epi 100 speakers, and love them even more now that they're updated with Human Speakers parts.  Rarely... rarely indeed... in 45 years have I heard any speakers that I'd rather have in my home for practical application: dispersive, tight, clear, non-fatiguing, not big size, not picky about placement.  

I'm on the hunt, I suppose... trying out the Klipsch Heresy IV currently, but so far I don't see them supplanting the Epi's linearity and beauty.  Heresy is a different experience, but not "better" to my ears.  I'm looking at maybe the Polk R700, perhaps.  But really, Epi - Human Speakers does everything, the best nice tweeter, including bass... maybe a modest sub I suppose, svs micro 3000 or something, but otherwise... 

Human Speakers website makes original HS speakers too, one by one... Model 81, as it says in the description, is likely all the speaker most people will ever need.  But of course you can use their parts and mod other cabinets, whether it be older Epi or Genesis, or one clever idea is to pop the Human woofer and tweeter into a pair of old Advent Prodigy and voila a small tower speaker that'll rival much, much more expensive speakers.

dgluke

98 posts

07-31-2022 at 12:48pm 

Considering the inordinate amount of garbage stockpiled into a Harbeth bookshelf speaker (like there was a contest to see which network could be the most complicated piece of junk anyone could produce on design day), it is not at all surprising to hear that a less expensive and well engineered speaker could wipe the room with them. While you didn’t mention brand, I did. Imagine what they could sound like if you could improve them. But you can’t. You’d have to go external to make any headway. Trying to replace all the cheap Chinese scraps in the network with quality components would be cost prohibitive in the face of the initial outlay and the fact that the cheaper parts are smaller. No room to do a straight swap in their bookshelf designs. 

Don't sugarcoat it for God's sake. Tell us what's on your mind......

We used to be small time commercial bee keepers.  I realized at some point that if i wanted to make any money the honey had to cost a lot.  

So, we did very nice packaging and branding (i used to be in marketing) and sold it at the most expensive market around.  When we negotiated the price I said that I wanted to be the most expensive honey on the shelf and have the standard mark up. 

Since most beekeepers are horrible marketers our honey sold like crazy with hundreds of jars selling out in hours.  We charged wholsale more than the others we're charging retail.  Another outlet we did custom branding for sold our honey for double what others were getting retail. 

When people evaluate for quality price is a huge part of what they use to determine quality.  

With speakers the elephant in the room is usually the room. You play the cards your dealt in that department but nobody really likes to talk about it because it's too complicated to talk about and too individual. Fixing a room isn't as fun as unboxing expensive new speakers and discussing them. 

At this point in history for most rooms good sound is pretty darn cheap. New components are designed using maths unimaginable in the near past. Speaker and amp design isn't rocket science. Setting snake oil aside you can have an excellent sounding system for very short money these days. 

The used market is also affordable unless you need to have the same vintage piece that everyone else must have. 

Confirmation bias is so strong in audio that it's basically inseparable. If you managed to realize that a cheaper speaker can sound very good, you're one the few. Congratulations. 

Years ago I had Mirage M1si speakers driven by a Krell KSA-250 amp and in my very open room it sounded great. After my move to a smaller house (divorce) I sold it all and ended up with a simple NAD receiver and Triangle Titus XS stand mount speakers. Strange as it may seem the NAD/Triangle sound was pretty amazing. A little bright that I tamed with positioning and wall covers but overall it was good. I still have the Triangles stored in my closet as they have been replaced but it was a good transition to a great sounding speaker on a budget. 

Outstanding posts!

If I recall correctly,the Dahlquist DQ-10 used a $5 Motorola piezo as a "super tweeter". Not many of us will dispute the legitimacy of this speaker as one of the most impactful speakers of our time. Genius has a way of leap frogging price barriers. You may remember a young man who built a 700 watt power amp inside a Folgers coffee can years ago? Then there are those occasions where all the stars line up, and gifted hands (and, minds) are given the freedom to operate without limitations. This is where the ground trembles (sometimes, literally) in my view, and the "state of the art" takes a giant leap forward.

A couple more comments on "budget speakers":

As a modder/hot rodder of hifi gear, we learned pretty early that the raw drivers are not necessarily the weakest link in the chain. When things are removed/replaced that "make things sound worse" the sonic results can be stunning. When the audio signal is presented in very good shape to the tensil leads on the raw drivers, "audiophile characteristics" suddenly appear, and the magic happens. Very consistently.

@fsonicsmith Well done with the Advent and B&W mods. My guess is that they retained the sonic "personality" that you loved about them, but are now infinitely more musical. Money well spent.

John