Philosophical question: Do I want speakers that are aggressive, accurate, or laid ba

[JonW]

I'm one that craves accuracy and all else be damned. Poor recordings really show up their flaws in my system though. A lot of my CD collection is relegated to (mostly) car duty because of it. On the other hand, in my HT setup I've got speakers that are much more "laid back" because I've found that a truly accurate (flat) speaker would become painful after two or three hours at theater levels.

I don't like the idea of speakers that have to "grow" on you. To me, speakers that you really like above other models when you audition them are usually the ones that are best for you. I was lucky in that once I had heard my speakers for the first time I absolutely knew that they were the ones for me.

Sure, there were speakers that grabbed me right away. Kind of like "Now THAT'S the sound I'm after!" within hearing 10 seconds of the first track. But will I grow sick of that later?

Interesting that you don't like speakers that have to grow on you, but you like accuracy. The speakers I found most accurate (ATC) had to grow on me. Hmmm...

[topspeed]

Sure, there were speakers that grabbed me right away. Kind of like "Now THAT'S the sound I'm after!" within hearing 10 seconds of the first track. But will I grow sick of that later?

Interesting that you don't like speakers that have to grow on you, but you like accuracy. The speakers I found most accurate (ATC) had to grow on me. Hmmm...

Speakers that "grab you" right away have a tendency to be fatiguing after a while. Make sure you try listening to those same speakers for an extended period of time, preferrably thru a home demo, to ensure they don't become grating. While I'm never for anything that has to "grow on you," there is merit to the theory of psychoacoustics whereas your brain has to be given ample time to recalibrate to the new sound.

[JonW]

Speakers that "grab you" right away have a tendency to be fatiguing after a while. Make sure you try listening to those same speakers for an extended period of time, preferrably thru a home demo, to ensure they don't become grating. While I'm never for anything that has to "grow on you," there is merit to the theory of psychoacoustics whereas your brain has to be given ample time to recalibrate to the new sound.

Yes, this is a big concern here. I don't have a stero system to which I can connect speakers. And I live 2-3 hours a collection of decent shops. So it makes in home auditioning tricky. But I need to consider it.