Quote Originally Posted by S. Jensen
As RGA concludes, then I have to face that it will be impossible for me to listen to all speakers available. Something new will always come up and the markets are different in every country.

S. Jensen
I would like to throw in two arguments - one from me and Audio Note's designer who in the mid 90s wrote an article for Positive Feedback magazine - who are quite tough on equipment.

Firstly - There are speakers out there like the Audio Note's, Spenders, Quad electrostatics that have been around for decades - basically tweaked up but the same general speakers. And classics which are still considered some of the best speakers ever made. The fact is nothing over the last 20 years is especially new except that today's CHEAP speakers are better than cheap speakers of old. There are MANY people who for example covet the Klipshhorn and believe thatthe B&W Matrix Series was and is better than the new more expensive Nautilus line.

I have more or less been listening to stuff since 1990 when I bought my Wharfedales - their last good speaker before they ran into financial trouble and produced some pretty average to terrible speakers in the Modus and Rubiance lines.

There is very little music below 40hz and a sub(preferably 2 if you want true stereo because bass is directional because Subs have a habit of going above 40hz - nce they do that I can ALWAYS tell you where it is in a room) will do a better job than ANY floorstanding speaker at ANY price producing the lowest bass at a HIGH volume level which, if set-up properly, will integrate unheard. The bonus is that high quality well set-up subwoofers with standmounts will cost you less than a big floorstander for the most part.

Don't listen to anyone who starts talking about a neutral speaker - if Dynaudio is Neutral and other speakers sound different - which they do - then that means all other speakers are not neutral...and D'uhh the Dynaudio Evidence at 70k sounds a helluva lot different right?

The 52 is not a perfect speaker - others have said it's much better than the comparable B&W's I would disagree. It may be better suited to their taste or the way they think music OUGHT to sound - there is no way to know which is accurate.

Enter the philosophy piece from Audio Note - who were not advertising their stuff it's simply a better way to audition gear - if you are on the search for accuracy. Forinstance with their way of listening you would know immediately that the Bose 901 is a total piece of crap - you may know that anyway BUT more people buy 901s than the competition so perhaps people get tricked by the extremely large soundstage.

http://www.audionote.co.uk/anp1.htm

By the way this is not to say Audio Note speakers are perfect either - It is still going to come down to preferences. The top end doesn't jump out at you neither does the bass.

I strongly recommed you listen to their gear because it is a bit of curveball into the mix - They are based on a 1940s box designs revamped by Snell and re-revamped by Audio Note. Math is the same today and if you get it right the first time and materials get better you can add on. I am sick and tired of seeing a company change tweeters every 4 years - what was the previous tweeter garbage? Obviously or why change it? (This does not apply to companies who are forced to meet a cost because they have no choice). But where Audio Note has a huge advantage is no marketing costs, little payroll, low overhead, R&D has been done and now it's a matter of tweaking.

Like the Sugden A21a integrated amp which has been selling in current form since 1989 and still thumping way more expensive amps and EVERYTHING I have ever heard in its own price range - you don't NEED to advertise you don't need features what you need is a great product and when the customer who has never heard of either brand goes in and listens to the old antiquated designs first scoffs --- and then after listening to the mainstream supposedly superior designs scratches his/her head and will never go back - because the big conglomorate's sound sounds like a glorified telephone in comparison. They seem to lack dynamics, bass at volume, and lifelike sound.

Another poster on another forum once said - if they're a big name chances are their best avoided. I would hardly go to that extreme but I find it interesting that on an anecdotal level of my own experience that a no name - not great looking speaker like the AN K can totally and handedly outclass the N805 in ALL areas.

It also takes balls for a dealer who carries HUGE easy to sell names like Paradigm, ML and B&W etc to put them in a corner and present the unknown(well not to the ultra rich) Audio Note front and center(and for 2 years now so not just a flash).

You'll find some with more bass MAYBE- but LISTEN to the whole piece of music - if you're paying attention to treble, bass, soundstage, detail, then the speaker is overly drawing attention to itself -- sure on some recordings it might if they're inept --- but before I had these speakers I though a lot of recordings were truly terrible like Amanda Marshal's first album. I have heard it on 100k systems and it did sound horrible. Ahh not so in fact it is a very solid recording and it is ruined by inferior dreck.

Jesse Cook's acoustic guitar was so horrible through highly touted well reviewed conglomoprate speakers I had to shut it off I had a headache - many get the attack but not the decay of instruments and the latter is critical IMO - and most will NEVER ever hear a speaker that does it right - certainly not if big box chains with 6 inch multi woofers in a slim box with a metal tweeter is all you hear.

And all are welcome to disagree which many will of course. Some swear by Electrostas and Planars and they don't cut it for me - so it's all about TASTE.