Quote Originally Posted by Mr Peabody
John, I take issue with what you said about "revealing" speakers being harsh or too bright. I know from another thread that we sometimes have different meanings in our minds of adjectives used to describe audio sound but I don't think many would agree with yours. I proudly describe my Dyn's as being revealing and they are not harsh or too bright UNLESS that is the signature, or fault of the electronics. A speaker's job is too be honest and if your equipment sounds like crap therefore your speakers should show you that.
Well, look, I've been in this industry a long time and I can tell you that many people who say "oh, my speaker is just extremely revealing" then upgrade and say "oh, yeah, the old speakers were a bit harsh, but the NEW versions......." I had a guy tell me just the other day how harsh the B&W Nautilus tweeter was compared to the Diamond tweeter and I said "you know, just a few years ago, you stood right over there and told me that the N tweeter was the finest tweeter you'd ever heard" and he said "I did not!" And I said "Oh, yes, you did, I remember it like it was yesterday, but now that it's discontinued, it's crap?" This year's "revealing" is next year's "bright". That's why I understand this subject so well. Now, the Dynaudios? I don't know. The one's I've heard 10 years ago were clearly a tad on the warm side. However, I've heard from many people that the new ones *are* bright. I've not heard one comment to the contrary, the good ones are, as you say, "revealing". But that's okay. As Cincy says, it's all personal taste. One person's bright is another person's dull. No speaker is perfect. All have distortion elements. Some of those add "sizzle" to the sound. Others fatigue. The same element that makes one person excited might put another off. However, I have a rule. If half the people say "revealing" and the other half say "bright", it's bright. I've rarely heard a speaker that is described as "warm" also be described as revealing. Those that are, are often 1st order designs that get brighter and harsher as the volume goes up. Anyway, I could go on a LONG involved rampage on this subject, but we'll just have to agree to disagree.

I don't usually disagree with Topper but I've heard gear that have had extravagant price tags and if I had the money I would purchase because they flat knocked my socks off. Price don't always equal performance but there isn't a plateau for performance either. I also firmly believe if you don't have a decent source you are wasting your money on the the rest of the system. If those of you who feel the speakers is where the money should go and that makes your system, why aren't you still listening to cassettes? I mean your system should be reasonably matched, not lopsided to either front or back end, but you should put more emphasis on the source.
I totally disagree with this. Given any price point, I can reliably produce better sound by "backloading" the system vs another store that "frontloads" it. I have two main competitors who demo frontloaded $50K+ systems and I regularly steal their sales with my backloaded $7K system. I once set up a system that used zip cord for wires, a Fisher CD player, a Carver preamp, cheapy "included" patch cables and killed a brand new $25K system with it by attaching better speakers and stole the sale. If there were a competition for best sound, I'd always take a backloaded system.

But I can respect his choice because I'm sure he didn't buy the only pair and if we all liked the same thing there wouldn't be a billion companies out there chasing the same dollar.
As can I. It's obviously a nice setup and he's happy and if 801Ds can sound great, I'll bet those do. I was needlessly hard on him and for that I apologize. My only thing is that all speakers are flawed compared to electronics. And so we have to live with those flaws (just like living with a good woman - they still have flaws). I believe that it is a good mental and emotional thing (as well as money saving) to recognize this and be able to say "yeah, they might be a tad ______ for some, but I like that" or whatever. I have a good customer that loves his B&Ws exactly because they're bright to him and he likes that. I can tell you what's "wrong" with every speaker I sell. I sometimes joke that there's no such thing as a "great sounding" speaker, only "less bad sounding" ones. Not a good sales pitch though