Use Your Own Ears

Ricred1 ..., I agree 100% with your comments. And so do many others.

Here's a "sanitized" version of an e-mail I sent last summer to a reviewer with whom I have occasionally traded messages over the years. The e-mail describes my experience comparing a Paradigm limited edition speaker (call it the "S5") to another very popular brand speaker, so-called Brand X. The S5 is very similar to my Paradigm S8s (v3).

I am reluctant to mention the name of the other brand because I am not interested in starting a speaker war. Just telling about my experience and expressing my personal opinion. And yes ... I was very surprised. OK, here's the message:

"[A] friend in the business had taken in trade an ARC VS-115 amp. He also had a pair of [Brand X speakers] and Paradigm Anniversary S5s on the floor. He called me to come over and compare the two using the VS-115 (my [former] amp). For some strange reason, [Brand X] sounded dead. Imaging and soundstage were flat compared to my S8s. Perhaps it was a matter of cabling or room placement. Don't know. I was surprised. I checked the amp's connections and even checked the bias on the tubes to make sure all the tubes were working. Nothing seemed out of order.

"Was getting ready to leave. My friend offered to plug the S5s into the VS-115. Wow!!!! Major big time difference. They sounded like my S8s. Imaging and soundstage was spectacular. In fairness to [Brand X], I thought they had slightly better bass -- a tad tighter and more 'honest' for lack of a better word. But all in all, I walked out thinking the S5s cleaned up the floor with [Brand X]. Of course this is all my opinion."

FWIW, the reviewer who is very familiar with the Paradigms and Brand X shared a similar opinion. Btw, Brand X was a more expensive speaker.

Just saying.

BIF

I have discussed this thought for many years after hearing a friend of mine who is not an audiophile at all system. He basically purchased most of his components forma garage sale total cost was $27.00 Something like Cambridge sound CDP for $5.00, Peraux (spelling) power amp 200 wpc $10, plastic ICs, cheap bookshelf speakers with powered sub $13, etc. and it sounded so involving I was stunned. As long as you are happy, then that sounds good to me.

Happy Listening.

This entire discussion is an affront to the audio elite who selflessly share their hallowed science backed opinions while buttoning their shirts up to their scrawny, unshaved necks when feverishly blogging away to the great unwashed about cryoed wall plugs and 2 inch single driver speakers powered by 3 watt hand made amps costing 40 thousand bucks built by a hermit in Kobe.

Sorry Wolf. Right you are. Maybe I should either dump my ARC gear and (1) pick up some Radio Shack stuff, or (2) pick up some $100K gear, financed by me selling my house. Uuuhmmm. Decisions, ... decisions.

Btw, where does that hermit live??

Interesting thread.

My personal preference has been changing from a very detailed (cold, analytical?) sound to a more musical sound. It's interesting how some systems thread the music together and let you hear the music, the nuances, and the pace, while others let you hear all the imperfections of a recording and are hyper detailed yet the music sounds disjointed and uninvolving.

I think my assesment of components within my system will now be strongly based on how I feel while listening to music. Is it involving? Does it draw me in? Does my mind constantly wander onto something else other than the music? If it does, how quickly will the music draw me back in and gain my attention?

My assesments of components before were based more upon the micro details, bass extension, brightness or harshness of the highs, blackness of the background, imaging, etc. Sure, all of the aforementioned is important, but did you notice how many times I mentioned "Music" in this paragraph vs. the previous one?

I used to listen more to my equipment but now I prefer to listen to the music.