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How should I "evaluate" speakers?

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tomscy2000:
So, for the last couple of hi-fi shows that I've been attending, I've been listening attentively to high-end speaker setups to see what the fuss is all about. This past weekend, I managed to listen to the Avalon Tesseract driven by a PASS Labs stack, as well as the Magico Q7 with a dCS Vivaldi source (forgot what it was driven by), and I came away enjoying lower priced setups such as the KEF Reference 5 and the Tannoy Canterbury GR with ST200 supertweeters running off an Esoteric stack. Also heard a Sonus Faber Aida running off a McIntosh stack, but I was too tired to listen carefully.

From my experience, flagship setups all seem tuned for old people that think they still have good hearing. They're all too crispy and strident at the top end for an enjoyable listening experience. It's possible that because it's a show, they're driving them to loud volumes that most people wouldn't necessarily listen at, but it's quite irritating. Yes, they all sound good, and the flagship models seem to best exude size of sound best, but I came away more involved musically from listening to the KEF and Tannoy. Something about point source speakers speaks to me, especially with regard to the imaging. I'm still especially enamoured with the Tannoy, whose smooth, slightly laid-back top end just seems enjoyable to listen to. It's something that I can envision coming home to, rather than the banshee screeching of TOTL setups.

I do recognize that, on some level, the TOTL speakers are better. But they don't feel better. And I can't be sure whether or not I'm just not listening to them "correctly" or not. For example, while the Magico was authoritative and effortless throughout, I couldn't help but feel that its imaging somehow felt flat. I mean, the setup they're running costs half a million, and the imaging can somehow feel flat? I don't get it.

The Tesseract managed to sound a little nicer than the Magico, if only because I was in a larger-sized room and it projected its power well. It's also one of the coolest-looking speakers around.

Anyway, I don't know whether I'm evaluating these speakers "wrong" or what. But I do end up liking "lower-end" setups more than TOTL every single time.

Pictures:


The "lowly" Tannoy Stirling GR and ST200 --- really enjoyable in a small room.


The KEF Reference 5 --- pretty solid performance from top to bottom, great smooth high end, but still detailed.


Magico Q7 and dCS Vivaldi --- thought angels were going to sing into my ear; I thought wrong.


Avalon Tesseract --- looks uber cool in person.

thegunner100:
I'd like to hear some opinions on this as well, since the only experience I have with speakers is the low-end stuff. I'll be attending the NY Audio Show next month and would like to get some tips.

alphaphoenix:
Same here.  I'll be jumping into speakers in a year or two after some house remodeling.  I recall a few years ago, I was auditioning a few setups at my local Definitive Audio and Magnolia and despite what the sales guy's persuasion for the higher price sets, my ears were never set on the highest price set.  I know that price bias comes into play as I'm not one to spend the extra coin for 1-4% perceived gain.

When the transition from headphones to speakers finally comes, I know there will be some major adjustments due to the cluster of attributes that are unique between them, and to what I'm currently accustom to.  And unlike headphones/iem/ciem, I can't afford to cycle through this and that to find one that sounds heavenly for all genres and their respective tracks.

I don't know if it's heresy here, but is the book, "Introduction Guide to High-Performance Audio Systems" by Robert Harley a good reference source?

Deep Funk:
Play Massive Attack's "Angel"? When the music does not give you the right feeling, then  p:8

DaveBSC:
I'm not surprised. As with most things in this hobby, "you get what you pay for" is and has pretty much always been 100% false. Magico is a total hype machine brand. The mags just LOVE to plaster the latest Magico (there's seemingly a new model every month) all over their covers. THE WORLD'S BEST??? MAGICO DOES IT AGAIN!!! Yada yada yada. Ignore.

Avalon used to be the darling of everybody years and years ago, but they kind of fell off the map for awhile. You can only review the Eidolon so many times I guess.

Some speakers are just not going to work for you, it doesn't matter what they cost or how gushing the reviews are. There's nothing wrong with you, chances are much more likely that there's something wrong with the speakers. Show conditions are also of course never ideal. I'm a big fan of Daedalus, but they've often struggled in show conditions and don't sound as good as I know they can. Part of the issue is that Lou usually wants to bring his flagships along... and his subwoofers, and he ends up with bass overload because of room mode problems.

Of the megabuck brands that I've had a chance to experience, I've generally enjoyed listening to Rockports, Tidals, NOLAs, Ventures, and in the right setup, Raidhos and Estelons. I look at them all as sort of interesting curiosities though, I don't ever have any expectation of dropping $30K+ on these things.

About the highest I could see going is one of the pairs of Eggleston Andra IIIs that's often on Audiogon in the $11K range. The Andra is pretty much the opposite of an "old person's speaker." It loves to rock and roll.

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