If I had a tight budget, did not want to to do much research, and wanted a matched system of various brands I would buy THX certified gear. That company’s sole purpose is to test gear so the THX standard plays together as a team. I have a THX receiver by Onkyo and a THX amp by Carver, absolute war horses punching way above their cost. Perlisten is winning awards for their speakers and they are touting the "THX Dominus" creds. So if the OP is really concerned about a mix and match recipe that one seems to work. When you look at these THX certified products all of them seem to hit high marks for quality. If you really want a mix and match app here is the THX one:
Speakers and amplifiers show audiophiles are confused.
An audiophile buys a pair of speakers for $50K or $100K then asks what amps make them sound best. That’s about as smart as marrying a girl without knowing her personality. What are the specs that will insure your expensive new speakers and amps will work optimality with each other? There’s got to be an app for that, well no there isn’t because there are too many variables and companies don’t present their specs in a standard ways. Why is it that speaker and amplifier manufactures don’t recommend specific amps for their speakers? Beyond power, impedance, and making your own crossovers how do you choose amplifiers to get all the potential out of your speakers?
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Today matching amps to speakers/crossovers is rooted in personal feelings and corporate marketing, the definition of confusion. Your post is confusing, crossovers and speakers are typically matched by the speaker designer and if they get a lot of returns and hurt a lot of personal feelings its bad for business. Amps are designed with the notion that they need to drive various types of speakers and specs are posted to help customers choose based on their type of speaker. Maybe @donavabdear can post a link to one of these sinister corporate marketing campaigns touting mismatched crossovers and speakers or amps that are making claims they can't support??? |
Selecting a grab-bag of "THX" gear and hoping it all sounds great together as a 'team' is an interesting approach but one I'd deem aimed more at mid-fi, and folks who don't have the time or inclination to audition (or don't trust their ears if they do). As for me, I'll stay clear of that general approach towards gear acquisition as I trust my ears over THX on the front label. My system has been a work in progress over thirty plus years. I'm not much into guessing/hoping (except jellybeans in a jar). It is a bit of work, but in the end it's a personally tailored system you can enjoy. |
Selecting a grab-bag of "THX" gear and hoping it all sounds great together as a ’team’ is an interesting approach but one I’d deem aimed more at mid-fi, and folks who don’t have the time or inclination to audition (or don’t trust their ears if they do). I think that is a fair assessment, exactly the market that needs something like that to guide them +1. The THX rating seems to also have a high end market as well, Perlisten, KEF, Meridian, Parasound, and Benchmark. KEF’s US demo room at their NJ HQ is THX Dominus certified and they wear that like a badge of honor. Perlisten partnered with Storm Audio and Dirac at CES and bragged about their THX Dominus creds, this room is pretty high end: Look how Benchmark positions their THX amp in the high end: Pair the DAC3 (DAC-preamplifier) with the AHB2 (power amplifier) to create the ultimate high-resolution music system. These matched Benchmark components are designed to reproduce music without imparting audible noise, distortion, or coloration. https://benchmarkmedia.com/collections/amp
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