Road trip to demo $10,000 speakers


I'm going to take a several hour road trip to the Washington DC/Baltimore area to demo some speakers in the $10,000 range for a once in a lifetime purchase. I plan on listening to some Magico A3's, Aerial Acoustic 7T's, and Spendor D-9's. One of the dealers also has Paradigm Persona 3F's on the floor, so I'll take a listen to them too. While I'm up there are there any other speakers in that price range you'd recommend I try to locate and take a listen to. I'm open to and welcome your suggestions and will take the time to research each one as well.

I'm not in the market for used equipment. Thanks for any and all suggestions.

Mike



skyscraper

Showing 1 response by shadorne

@skyscraper 

The demo would be Joan Baez Diamonds and Rust - it was a demo favourite back then. 

Bring your own music. 

You may may be challenged if your reference is Dalquist DQ-10.

The best speaker will sound good with everything. Listen carefully for driver integration. If you are aware there is a tweeter or a bass woofer then simply move on. A good speaker won’t draw attention to any frequency range - it should just sound like a musical instrument playing in front of you. 

Be wary of coloration and resonances even if subjectively pleasing.

Sheffield Labs drum track is an excellent work out. If it sounds like a real drum set in the room then the speaker has passed the test. Any speaker you buy should convincingly pass this test.