Shopping for speakers can be a very challenging exercise. Our "acoustic memories" are relatively short making A to B comparisons difficult. At the REVEL speaker facility in North Ridge California they have developed a system for blind listening tests when evaluating their products against those of other manufacturers. Within a few seconds speaker A can be replaced by speaker B in an identical configuration. They invite dealers in for training on how to listen void of expectation. Ultimately spending as much time as possible in an live environment with instruments and vocals unaided by external amplification can be beneficial. I once observed a blind evaluation where a pair of Boston Acoustic bookshelf speakers were preferred over a pair of Linn counterparts by several "experienced" listeners from within AV industry. Removing the expectancy of performance based upon price can often be very enlightening.
An encounter and lesson in speaker prices ...
Not to long ago, in a shop I like but will remain nameless I got to observe a customer evaluate a pair of systems side by side. The buyer had an eastern European accent. First they listened to the larger system, $50k speakers, equivalently priced amps and digital.
It sounded _really_ good. Then we moved to another system. Slightly smaller speaker pair, around $20k, completely different DAC and amp. Sounded like crap. The digititis was unbearable and the speakers were clearly out of phase. On top of that, the treble and bass balance were now all wrong.
The buyer was "I like them, what colors do they com in? " and that was that.
After the buyer left I looked behind at the amp. Yep, I was right, the pahse was reversed. The darkness of the room and angle made this an easy and common mistake to make. But the rest was unbearable.
What is my point? The people buying the top end gear are not necessarily the one’s with decent ears, so we really cannot trust price points to be any sort of guide to value. If you develop your taste on your own, independent of prices, you can score some fabulously performing gear at a fraction of what this buyer was going to end up with.
Best,
E
It sounded _really_ good. Then we moved to another system. Slightly smaller speaker pair, around $20k, completely different DAC and amp. Sounded like crap. The digititis was unbearable and the speakers were clearly out of phase. On top of that, the treble and bass balance were now all wrong.
The buyer was "I like them, what colors do they com in? " and that was that.
After the buyer left I looked behind at the amp. Yep, I was right, the pahse was reversed. The darkness of the room and angle made this an easy and common mistake to make. But the rest was unbearable.
What is my point? The people buying the top end gear are not necessarily the one’s with decent ears, so we really cannot trust price points to be any sort of guide to value. If you develop your taste on your own, independent of prices, you can score some fabulously performing gear at a fraction of what this buyer was going to end up with.
Best,
E
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- 55 posts total
- 55 posts total