Sold speakers you really enjoyed?... But why?

I think we've had this discussion before Shakey! I auditioned the GMA Eos HD, and although I cannot rule out bad dealer set up, I was not remoely tempted. I'd have said "edgy"; since you think the PBNs "plodding," and I hear "natural" and "relaxed," I'm guessing we've got different ears.

J

Timrhu, I appreciate your response. It's hard for me to audition a speaker for just 6 - 8 hours and familiarize myself with them well enough. I feel more comfortable keeping them for at least a month or so before I make a conscientious decision. Congrats on your Thiel CS 1.6s, they are remarkable speakers for the price.
Kiko65

Kiko, have you never walked into a dealer showroom and listened to a speaker and decided within a few minutes whether or not the speaker could be a contender? It's the same thing for me except I don't have a showroom to visit.

A couple examples are the Dynaudio 1.3SE and the Sequerra SET7 MK6. Both of these speakers have been well reviewed, although the Sequerra was also panned by at least two reviewers. With the Dynaudio I could hear the virtues of the speaker and really tried hard to like it. It was also a thing of beauty to look at. Unfortunately it just didn't work in my room/system. I kept turning the volume down, not a good sign.

The Sequerra speaker, on the other side, was just awful. I know some people here enjoy that speaker, but for me it like I was listening to music through my laptop speakers.

I do enjoy the Thiel speakers. And for what I paid, $400 for the pair with the optional outriggers, a super bargain. When I saw them listed by a seller less than 50 miles away I did not hesitate. Almost asked him if he meant $400 per speaker.

Sold Sonus Faber Stradivari's to move up to Sonus Faber Aida's. Huge mistake. They didn't work in my room and I had no way to test drive the Aida's ahead of time. The Strads on the other hand were perfect in my room and likely would still have them now if not for that mistake.

I hear you Timrhu,
As a matter of fact, I have. So I perfectly understand what you're saying.

I've been visiting my local dealer in South FL for years and, one day as I walked in to pay a visit to my friend Larry (owner), I was floored by the sound!

A pair of unassuming Spiral Groove Canalis Anima driven by top of the line Rogue Audio. Simply breathtaking!

So much satisfaction that I'm saving to buy me a pair.

On another note, that is what I call a bargain! $400.00 for a pair of speakers with a $2,000.00 price tag.

Lucky you :-)

Have heard the Rockports now and I enjoyed them very much. Honestly, though for the money, the Vandersteens for me are still as good as anything else. I've heard them on different amps and no matter what they are revealing, stage, image and are flat out musical. I'm into just wanting to enjoy music as this point in my life. I go to concerts to enjoy the music and listen for every mic movement or breath. It has to be there of course and in a great speaker it will be. Vandy gives me even more information than most as it's designed that way. there are a lot of good speakers out there, but some real dogs for me. Many of the dogs are the speakers everyone is talking about or posting in this thread about. I often wonder if our ears are that much different or if folks just don't listen or have never heard a proper set up. Coherency is lacking in so many speakers and most of the upper ranges make my ears bleed. Some are just toooo rolled off. I can't believe that people don't spend the money on cables and amps too. it's a system and I've heard less expensive speakers sound awesome with more money being put into cables and amps/front ends than getting very expensive speakers and using average components at best. Even at the dealers they are often pushing you into higher priced speakers and less expensive amps/cables/front ends. If your speakers are good, they will keep getting better and better with major upgrades. Even the smaller Vandy's have sounded awesome with some major Ayre gear and higher end AQ cables. That told me a lot about the speaker. Most dealers I have gone into have said to get the most expensive speaker you can and then save on the other gear. I bet that most audiophiles never get everything out of their speakers that they can. Just a guess.