I’ll go even further: Even if the box is not rectangular but some incredibly fancy shape, even if it’s huge, even if it costs more than a luxury car, if it’s sealed or vented and the drivers are all in front, it’s a monkey coffin and will sound like a monkey coffin—boxy and, to varying degrees, not quite open and transparent.
I dont want to offend but Aczel never lived in a good acoustical treated and mainly controlled SMALL room ...
My box coffin did not sound like in his description...
2 years ago, yes they sounded like box speakers compared to magnepan....
They sound today more like magnepan than "monkey box".... Get me right they are NOT magnepan by any means, but i will never describe the sound closed and lacking transparency...
These words confirm my suspicion that almost no one in these audio forums had ever experienced the complete transformation of the same system from a small bad room to a small good one....If you are not coming by yourself from a bad one to a good one, how do you know?
Box speakers are KING only in a SMALL acoustically controlled room...Read that slowly....
Box speakers are not what he think they are, "monkey coffins".... Why?
I dont understand for sure the reason why this "specialist" never experienced a good small room with box speakers ? His prejudice come from here....
I prefer the sound of my box speakers in my actual small room now to the sound of one of my magnepan’s friends in his bad room....There is a difference: his speakers are more open yet than mine, they had more transparency yes, but my sound is not closed and dont lacked transparency and is more natural and musical.... In my room they are more musical because they are rightfully embedded...In my 2 positions of listening nearfield and more regular position....
Then Aczel is right in principle, magnepan are more open and transparent in a BIG room in particular, but he is wrong when is disqualify box speakers by his misunderstanding of SMALL room acoustic...
He is not the only one, these confusions are the rule throuh most audio forums....
Box speakers are KING only in a SMALL acoustically controlled room...
There they may shine.... the confusion of Aczel comes from his lack in distinguishing approprietely the deep differences, huge one, between controlled and treated room and the room which are not, and especially the great difference between SMALL room and BIG one, uncontrolled or not....
I never trust audio reviewers anymore this is the reason why.... Distinctions like objectivist/subjectivist, scientist/audiophiles, analog/digital, box speakers/ magnepan or any other type, and many more other distinctions, when pushed to their opposite limits in a competition are childish and gross and created misplaced prejudices....
Audio for me is the business of learning how to trust my own ears in listening experiments experience... Nothing else for me...It is not science but more an art....
Listening music must be learned, listening to sounds must be learned also.... The "bat" ears metaphor reflect stupidity more than anything else....My ears are normal old one, but very educated....Not in a "bat" sense, in a personal history that is reflected in my audio system and room and music choices....
