jimmy: there's a fly in your ointment. i've listened to <$2k speakers played on $100k worth of electronics and they sounded great. but most $20k speakers played with the same electronics in the same environment sounded much better. i know you and others may find it hard to believe, but most reviewers aren't idiots. while their "associated equipment" used to audition speakers may not be the best of the best, its not generally crappy either. when it gets really tricky is where most of us come in, figuring the best synergy (god, i hate that word) among components of the same relative price range. besides, how long do you think it would take for the niche market of audiophiles to figure out that a vaunted "budget" speaker REQUIRES $100k in electronics? -cfb
Under rated speakers due to price....?
AND the resulting associated equipment?
I have a theory and am interested what others think about it. Is it possible that we underrate some speakers because they sell for a reasonable price and therefor listen to them with similar equipment?
I have a decent system consisting of the Rowland integrated amp, SCD-777ES and normally Aerial Model 6 speakers with a Storm III. I have frequently purchased many "cheap" speakers for second systems and I always try them in the good system just for kicks. Some sound OK, but some sound great. I recently tried a pair of less than $300 (Circuit City price) Polk RT35i speakers in the good system and could not believe how awesome they sounded for 1/10 the price of the Aerials. I could easily see some new high end company selling a similar sounding product for 5 times the price and getting it with happy customers.
I then thought about it - - how often do you hear about 2-500 dollar speakers being paired with a 10k system? Has anyone ever checked the associated equipment in Stereophile's class A speakers against the class B or C's? I didn't have the patience. But I bet as a rule that exotic speakers like Grand Utopias or Pipe Dreams are NOT listened to with low hi-end equipment like the lesser speakers are. If you pair some Vandersteen 2c's or B&W CDM-1's with Boulder amps, (and list the speakers at 10 grand) might people call them "some of the best?"
I have a theory and am interested what others think about it. Is it possible that we underrate some speakers because they sell for a reasonable price and therefor listen to them with similar equipment?
I have a decent system consisting of the Rowland integrated amp, SCD-777ES and normally Aerial Model 6 speakers with a Storm III. I have frequently purchased many "cheap" speakers for second systems and I always try them in the good system just for kicks. Some sound OK, but some sound great. I recently tried a pair of less than $300 (Circuit City price) Polk RT35i speakers in the good system and could not believe how awesome they sounded for 1/10 the price of the Aerials. I could easily see some new high end company selling a similar sounding product for 5 times the price and getting it with happy customers.
I then thought about it - - how often do you hear about 2-500 dollar speakers being paired with a 10k system? Has anyone ever checked the associated equipment in Stereophile's class A speakers against the class B or C's? I didn't have the patience. But I bet as a rule that exotic speakers like Grand Utopias or Pipe Dreams are NOT listened to with low hi-end equipment like the lesser speakers are. If you pair some Vandersteen 2c's or B&W CDM-1's with Boulder amps, (and list the speakers at 10 grand) might people call them "some of the best?"