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epiphany in the high-end listening room...

Going to try to keep this brief... 

I was recently in the market for a new pair of floor-standing speakers.  After a few decades in the klipsch heritage line I wanted something more modern like my uncle's recently acquired Paradigms.   A few months research and scouring the ads I had pretty much landed on a used pair of paradigm founder 120's for about $5k. 

But honestly I was just choosing those because I knew the sound and I felt like I should go do some listening to some other brands before I pulled the trigger.  Honestly I was obsessed with the idea that there was some perfect speaker out there, perfect both for my ears and for my tube analog system.  Sitting in the high-end stereo store listening to some Sonos Faber speakers and the youngish, slightly hard-sell, salesman said something to me that just blew my mind and changed entirely how I approached this speaker hunt...  

He said, "The goal of all these manufacturers is to create a speaker that disappears and makes you believe, with your eyes closed, that the musicians are in the room with you."  

Now I don't know if this is true, but it seems likely and does reflect what I've been observing subconsciously in all the speaker reviews.  Most of the reviews of the higher-end lines sound more or less the same.  Lot's of attention to appearance and build quality, but then when it comes to sound all the speakers are described with the same adjectives; transparent, detailed, wide and deep soundstage, tight bass, etc, etc, etc.  There are very few critical statements made against any of these $10,000+ speakers!

So, if it is true, if all these speakers manufacturers are aiming for the same thing, then the higher up the line of speakers you go, the more convergence in sound you should find.  What matters more than which brand, is how far up the hierarchy of quality within each brand you go.  I went home and totally changed the parameters of what I was searching for in the classified ads.  Instead of fixating on brand I started looking for the best deal on a top-level reference speaker I could find.

Instead of the paradigms, for the exact same price I purchased a pair of Canton Reference 2.2 DC.  Endgame speakers for me, from a brand that wasn't even on my radar. 

argonsteele
pryso
2,069 posts
 

Yes, it pays to keep an open mind.

mapman's avatar
mapman
23,602 posts
 

I find Ohm Walsh speakers accomplish that noble goal best and for way less than many much pricier options out there. 

ghdprentice's avatar
ghdprentice
9,455 posts
 

Congratulations. 

I think the comment: "The goal of all these manufacturers is to create a speaker that disappears and makes you believe, with your eyes closed, that the musicians are in the room with you." Is a great one. Definitely one of the goals of high end speakers. It is a trick that requires all your components to work together to achieve. 

Different designers still end up with very different sounding speakers. The soundstage, image size, and focus on details (kind of the volume control on details vs the primary instruments). The weight of different female vocalists. You would think all high end speakers would converge... but they don't as much as you would think.

Just a word on disappearance. One of the traits of my Sonus Faber Amati is their ability to disappear. I loved these speakers from the moment I replaced my Sonus Faber Olympica 3 with them. After about a year just loving them. I realized, they really did not disappear. That got me interested... so I started working with their placement. I made a few big adjustments just to verify I was not way off (listening for a few days)... I quickly realized I was close, then small adjustments... particularly with toe in... the rule of thumb, cross the beams behind your head. Turns out in my room, straight forward... they were gone. 

I guess another plug for taking ones time... over time dialing you speakers in. 

 

tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,685 posts
 

My perspective on the topic is that there are a large number of great speakers out there now and most people would be happy with any one of them.  They do sound different from one another though, so if you are particular about your sound you have to research and listen a lot to get the right one.

This is the result of manufacturers really trying to get the best sound, not just jamming a bunch of cheap parts in a fancy box as they are often accused of doing.

curiousjim's avatar
curiousjim
5,985 posts
 

@ghdprentice 

Interesting.  When the dealer set my G5’s up, they said that they were trained by SF to Angle them down about 10°-15° and aim them right behind my ears. Supposedly they took a two day course.  I of course undid everything that they did and spent months readjusting.  I found that it was easy to get the G5’s to disappear, but I lost almost all depth when they were straight out. As I brought them in, the presence came back and now I can close my eyes and point to where the singer, guitarist or drum is. Now, they are back close to where the dealer set them up in the first place.

An aside,

My speakers are 8’ apart, but when I sit 2’-3’ from them, the G5’s sound amazing!  Not only are they invisible, but on some recordings, It sounds like I am playing with the band or at least I’m on the stage facing them.

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