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Speakers which always sound good

This is brought up because I'm home shopping, but I'm not actually looking for speakers right now, so please don't take this as a request for advice so much as opinions.

As I shop for homes I've realized how few are really equipped for the audiophile.  Too many fireplaces and windows and damn kitchens and bathrooms placed completely inappropriately for us! :-)

And as you may know, I'm a big fan of appropriate room treatments.

So, wanted to step away from this world for a bit and ask, what are speaker brands that you feel always work?  Or at least, work really well without having to think about the room acoustics or placements?  Reminder that this is 99% of the buying public.  We who have laser line levelers, a closet full of measurement microphones and a chair which bolts our head into a fixed location may not believe it is true, but this is the majority of the buying public. 

What do we, the audiophile community recommend to them to actually be helpful in getting them as many positive music listening experiences as possible?

Best,

Erik
erik_squires

Showing 1 response by duckworp

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duckworp
256 posts
 
The most problematic issue with speaker choice in the rooms of my own, my friends, and at shows, seems to be bass boom. This may be more a feature of Europe: we have smaller dwellings and hence smaller rooms on the whole than the USA. Even small 2-way stand mounters can boom away in some rooms.
There are 3 speakers which never seem to cause this problem.

1. The LS3/5A. This classic monitor always sounds great. It may need a subwoofer in some rooms but it sounds good wherever you put it in any room.

2. The B&W 804D - a floor standing speaker which sounds good in every room I’ve heard it in. It can stand against a wall or in free space, it doesn’t care. The smaller stand-mounted 805D seems less flexible, oddly. And the 803D and down can overwhelm small spaces. I own a pair of 804s in my second system and would never get rid as they’re so versatile.

3. Boenicke W8. These stunningly beautiful small floor-standers like a bit of space behind them to sound best but they always sound good in every single room I’ve heard them in. Small rooms, large ones, odd-shaped, even troublesome cuboid spaces...the lot. And it has a wide sound field so they work in busy rooms for all present.
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