What speaker could safely be ordered without hearing it first?

@mtbiker29 

What price range would be acceptable for you?

I am not trying to be a shill for Stereophile, but I starting out looking at the Recommended Components for a good start. I bought my ONLY speaker without  listening to them. They were Quad S2, and love them. They are not my primary speaker, but I do, play them on my second system often with a SET amp. Just wonderful sound.So, IMO, anyone can design a expensive speaker that sound good. But, its harder with cheaper alternatives. Just a guide, but I figured the class sections helped me.

I can't hardly imagine buying a new (unused) expensive pair of speakers ($10k+) without hearing them first - or at least a model by the same manufacturer. If someone has a budget like this then they should be able to swing going to an audio show or making a trip to a dealer.

But when you get into the clouds regarding a speaker upgrade it's not practical to audition them at home with a return privilege. My favorite speakers at this point are MBL 101 E Mk II (I've heard them at two audio shows) and the nearest dealer is over 1000 miles away. Even if they would let me do this I wouldn't take them up on it. OMG, what if I damaged one? Not to imagine the hassle of uncrating them and then repacking them if I wanted to return them. Who's going to pay the LTL freight of over $1000?

On the other hand, if you are buying from a dealer and you can offer them a low friction transaction (no audition, no return privilege, no delivery or home setup) then you should be able to ask for a significant discount. If you can drive to their location and pick up the speakers it's even better. If you are buying mail order then you you can shop for the best price. If you are buying a large heavy pair of speakers used then the seller is probably requiring local pickup. In this case you can at least make sure they work before you pay for them and you are getting a substantial discount from new price.

Bottom line, there is no way I'm going to restrict my audio purchases to gear that I can audition at home. I just bought a Jay's Audio CDT3 Mk III transport that was shipped from China. There is simply nothing else on the market like this transport and I was willing to believe the reviews and take a chance. I totally love this thing. If I restricted myself only to gear that I could audition I would have missed out on this incredible component and many of the best components in my system.

Any speaker can be safely ordered provided you can return it.

For sure when i spoke about buying speakers on reviews analysis , i spoke about relatively low cost speakers...

i dont have the money to buy high cost speakers anyway...

What i know is in many cases it is better to buy relatively low cost good speakers with acoustic basic knowledge in a dedicated room than to buy high cost speakers put in a living room... 😊

Speakers design matter yes, but is of no great use in a living room sometimes... No living room is the same for sure but...

Speakers/room relation for me was the discovery...not just the speakers design...

i always looked for speakers/room soundfield filling the room out of the speakers plane with the intimacy and details of headphone... And i always look for an headphone with a soundfield filling the room out of the head and with speaker like realism...

the headphone case is the harder bill to fit acoustically... Almost all headphones are failure... At least the 9 i bought, save one...I never listen to 5,000 bucks headphone, but reading the reviewers attentively dont put any shade on my AKG K 340 the most mythical flagship of AKG history... No it is not the K1000... Because headphone must have very deep bass too to be speaker like...

i know because i succeeded to reach these acoustic level to seme satisfying degree in the two journey speakers and headphone ... Acoustic basic knowledge beat most price tag..not all but most... 😊

Recommanding brand names is usdeless, because there is many very good speakers brand name... But there is only one room : the owner room... And his ears will be in the obligation to couple and pair the speakers to the room...nevermind their brand name...