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Should audiophiles be disappointed?...

I have read several reports on CES '04 and it seems to me many speakers were dependent on room treatments to realize their potential. Am I in the minority... if I'm going to pay $10-25K for a pair of speakers I would expect the design and execution of those speakers to sound outstanding in any environment and without costly room treatments to enhance their performance! Not too mention the fact if I'm laying out that kind of money I would expect the speakers to play all types of music with equal aplomb, which is not the case in some designs. I understand nearfield concepts, defraction and other room environmental conditions, but come on. If I was a speaker designer my goal would be to create a design that would sound superb right out of the box (& get better with time) and require very little set-up and tweaking.

It's discouraging to me to hear the variation in sound based on set-ups for so many of the speakers showing at CES. Maybe I expect too much, or perhaps the audiophiles of this world are expecting too little. Good speakers should sound good anywhere?
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dekay's avatar
dekay
5,681 posts
 
That's what headphones and/or "real" near field setups are for.

You expect the nearly impossible.
wstritt
170 posts
 
I wasn't there but I would imagine that the rooms were not exactly designed with good sound in mind. Accordingly, the most optimal way to demonstrate the equipment would be to use room treatments.

Slappy's right though, it is the music that counts. But good equipment helps. Powerball helps with that. Question is, do I spend my next $10 on Powerball tickets or one of the remastered Rolling Stones hybrids?
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,261 posts
 
The proper use of acoustic treatments can only add to the reproduction capabilities of a set of loudspeakers. Their use can result in smoother bass, tighter imaging and a better defined soundstage. It's not a defect in a speaker design that acoustic treatments can have these effects. It's been my experience that careful setup, not absolute equipment quality, is the greatest determinate of a system's overall sound quality.

Any number of manufacturers make or have made speakers that were designed to have specific interactions with the room. The Vandersteen 5s and some newer Infinity models have built in bass equalization. The NHT 3.3s have a unique shape and require positioning very close to the rear wall in order for the woofers to "see" a room corner. The new B&O flagship speakers have built in full spectrum digital room correction. The Klipschorns required corner placement for proper bass response. The list goes on.

Slappy makes a good point. It probably is more cost effective to buy $15k speakers and spend another $10k on room treatments than it is to just buy a $25k speaker and place them in an untreated room.
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vedric
46 posts
 
Read up on Dynaudio DDC. 2nd paragraph of this link gives a brief description. I believe the product brochure has a more detailed explaination.

http://www.dynaudiousa.com/products/confidence/c2/c2ovr.htm

Vedric
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