Above $500/pair, i don't think there are any really "bad sounding" speakers. and, according to ancient wisdom, all amplifiers sound the same...
when i upgraded my system to B&W 801's, i had a denon 200w/ch amplifier. it was well made, and looked really cool. but the B&W's sounded somewhat "artifical". i was able to trade up to a hafler xl-600, which sounded much more convincing (realistic). about 2 years later i borrowed a used levinson 23 amp to experiment with. in 2 minutes or less i was so impressed- instrumental textures were so nicely reproduced, that i decided i HAD TO HAVE it!! so i acquired a ml-23.5 which i enjoyed the heck out of for several years. the search for improvement still was not over- my next amp was a krell FPB-300, which threw a 3D stage, something i didn't know i was lacking...! the krell was more open and transparent as well,
although the levinson's bass was still comparable.
a few more years passed, and a friend let me audition his pass aleph 1.2's against the krell. the improvement was not all that big, but the "warmth" and presence of musicians with the pass amps was addictive none-the-less. which brought me to try out rowland m-12's, which mimicked the sound of the alephs without the weight and heat. still not 100% happy, i lucked into a pair of levinson 33h's at a price i could afford. they were so much more dynamic than anything i'd heard before, with an uncanny-low noise floor.
so these are still in use to this day. but on some days i feel they're a little too neutral and long for the pass alephs again... maybe i should get a pair of XA-160's...!!!
i feel the speakers and the amps that drive them are totally inseparable. rather than the car/tire analogy, i would suggest more of an engine/the gas that goes into it pairing. but the quality of the amplifier you choose is so special, that no matter how humble or elaborate the loudspeakers you bond with, i am sometimes overwhelmed by how much "life" is either added to or stripped away from the music depending on a circuit board or a power supply.
yet, in the very beginning, when i had the denon amp, i was completely oblivious to the significance of this often-overlooked "little detail".
when i upgraded my system to B&W 801's, i had a denon 200w/ch amplifier. it was well made, and looked really cool. but the B&W's sounded somewhat "artifical". i was able to trade up to a hafler xl-600, which sounded much more convincing (realistic). about 2 years later i borrowed a used levinson 23 amp to experiment with. in 2 minutes or less i was so impressed- instrumental textures were so nicely reproduced, that i decided i HAD TO HAVE it!! so i acquired a ml-23.5 which i enjoyed the heck out of for several years. the search for improvement still was not over- my next amp was a krell FPB-300, which threw a 3D stage, something i didn't know i was lacking...! the krell was more open and transparent as well,
although the levinson's bass was still comparable.
a few more years passed, and a friend let me audition his pass aleph 1.2's against the krell. the improvement was not all that big, but the "warmth" and presence of musicians with the pass amps was addictive none-the-less. which brought me to try out rowland m-12's, which mimicked the sound of the alephs without the weight and heat. still not 100% happy, i lucked into a pair of levinson 33h's at a price i could afford. they were so much more dynamic than anything i'd heard before, with an uncanny-low noise floor.
so these are still in use to this day. but on some days i feel they're a little too neutral and long for the pass alephs again... maybe i should get a pair of XA-160's...!!!
i feel the speakers and the amps that drive them are totally inseparable. rather than the car/tire analogy, i would suggest more of an engine/the gas that goes into it pairing. but the quality of the amplifier you choose is so special, that no matter how humble or elaborate the loudspeakers you bond with, i am sometimes overwhelmed by how much "life" is either added to or stripped away from the music depending on a circuit board or a power supply.
yet, in the very beginning, when i had the denon amp, i was completely oblivious to the significance of this often-overlooked "little detail".