2. speakers
  3. 184961-11209

Do my ears deceive me??

     The money is in the bank, thinking of upgrading speakers, but everything I demo is no better or worse than what I have.   Willing to spend up to $6,000.      Upgraditis??   My main system is Mcintosh MX 134 that I bought in 2003, with a pair of Focal 836v's and a Parasound 5250  (250w/channel) amp I bought around 2012.   I either blew the tweeters or crossover on my 836's, so they are in for repair.   Since I've owned them for 10 years, I was considering new speakers.    The blades are way more than I would spend, but I also demoed the Kef R11s, Martin Logan xtf 200's, Mcintosh XR 100s, and B&W 703 S3.   

       None of them sounded better than what I'm hearing right now from my BP 2006s.    Would I really need to demo them in my room to make a fair comparison??  Or are speakers just not much better than they were 20 years ago?   I know I love detail, and tend to lean towards aluminum tweeters.  I pretty much only listen to classic rock and roll.   Of all I demoed, I really like the B&W 706s.   They sounded much brighter/cleaner than the others.   But they had the reciever set up so I couldn't adjust the treble/bass.  I love a V equalizer curve, and bump up the bass and treble a bit on my home/car systems.   Maybe I just have the good luck of prefering cheaper speakers.   

 

  

fenderu2
ghdprentice
6,408 posts
 

Speakers have made tremendous advancement in the last 20 years, as have electronics. But not all folks want different. If you are really happy with the sound of what you had, then maybe just stick with it.

 

Alternatively, you could go audition systems in some high end audio stores. Don’t be concerned with price. See if anything blows you away. If it does… look down the speaker companies product range to your budget. Do those sound fantastic? If not. Just enjoy your system.

Pursuing the high end is expensive and not for everyone.

mofojo
2,172 posts
 

In what way have speakers had a tremendous advancement in the last 20 years? Revel Salon 2 are over 15 years old and are still considered better than most anything according to plenty. Your Sonus Fabers are all paper driver… nothing new. I’m sure they sound fabulous but it’s quality and voicing not necessarily new tech that is groundbreaking. Many think the Dynaudio speakers in the 90s were the best they ever made although horribly inefficient. Same with the Sonus Faber Extrema and many others. 

fac
120 posts
 

so the techmology doesnt advanced??

roxy54's avatar
roxy54
7,692 posts
 

@fac Isn't that the question that you've asked about one hundred times on your own thread?

kingdeezie
92 posts
 

If you enjoy the sound of the Def Tech, maybe check out GoldenEar audio?

I believe they are the same designer. GEA is just the “newer” company with the latest designs.

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