the big one: how do you choose speakers? By what features, data?

@grislybutter , Marketing is the fine art of lying and numbers can be misleading. Learn about the physics of loudspeakers, crossovers and drivers. Learn about acoustics. Everyone is worried about ears. You need to use your eyes first. This is so and so a speaker, now how does so and so a speaker sound? People who know what they are doing can tell in a very general way how a speaker is going to react to the environment just by looking at them. This interaction between your speakers and the room they are in is the single most important determinant of sound quality.

Anyone can make a speaker that sounds good, but making a speaker that can image is a whole other problem and much more difficult. The Bose 901 is a great example of a speaker that many people love but it is the worst imaging speaker on the market, even worse than Tektons. The reason modern enclosed loudspeakers like Wilsons and Magicos are so expensive is that in order to make that kind of speaker work well you have to make perfectly silent enclosures and very complicated crossovers aside from using great drivers. 

@yxcbandit , Very good point about controlled dispersion and very true. The wall behind my SLs is covered with 4" acoustic tile. However, the best way to go about this is to measure first to see what your speakers and room are doing. Trusting your ears is a mistake if they have no reference. People who are use to bright loudspeakers will think speakers with a flat response sound dull. Learn what flat sounds like and then adjust the system to your taste. My system runs flat from 100 Hz to 20 kHz and the gets boosted at 6 dB/oct from 100 Hz down to 18 Hz. This gives the sensation of a live performance at more sane listening levels. Flat is the reference. With the newest digital preamp processors you have perfect control over all of this and you get a measurement Mic with the unit. For $300 you can get a wonderful USB mic and measurement program. Measure first then adjust to taste.

Because I know what flat sounds like I can tell what a system is doing in loose terms. I will never be as accurate as a calibrated microphone. Nobody will.

I have also seen some very silly acoustic treatments. Find your first reflections and place absorption there floor to ceiling. The first reflection pattern is not straight. It is the cross section of a sphere. Absorption needs to cover this entire pattern for standard dynamic speakers. People with dipoles only need to treat the wall behind the speaker. Why?  

Who are these so called experts? None of them here.

I know it is all how it sounds in my listening space, no marketing, no bs spec sheets. Could care less. All sound.

I am curious how the experts choose speakers when upgrading? What are the priorities, what would make you stretch your budget?

@recklesskelly

"expert" - anyone who knows more than me. Practically ANYONE on this forum.

I have to start somewhere, what’s easier than browsing the web and compare prices, sizes, sensitivity, design, etc.

But of course, primarily: looking at pictures.

@mijostyn 

The reason modern enclosed loudspeakers like Wilsons and Magicos are so expensive is that in order to make that kind of speaker work well you have to make perfectly silent enclosures and very complicated crossovers aside from using great drivers. 

this is the kind of info I am looking for: what should I be looking for. I am good with data, numbers, detective work/analysis. I know if a speaker is made in Zurich and in the shape of a cubist sculpture, it will be expensive. It won't necessarily translate to good sound. If it's a box, made in Provo, UT, it might be good value....

@kokakolia 

I have heard a lot of Klipsch speakers, tried them at home, I was never impressed. Of course I never heard the real deal, the Heritage stuff, which may be awesome, as I have read.