I think maybe the point Jimmy is making is that good speakers that have no major sins of commission, will continue to improve in quality when mated with very good electronics. I have had the same experience recently, substituting a pair of Linn Indexes for the Vandersteen 2cis I have in my main system. The Linns sounded surprising good with a system in which the digital source, preamp and amp EACH retailed for about 2.5-3x the price of the speakers. Sure you won't get the great results when you bring the speakers up to the level of the electronics, but I believe that the results would generally be better than the converse; speakers much higher end than electronics and source.
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?"