Quote Originally Posted by RGA
JonW

I would not assume that because some of your recordings are reegated to sounding harsh that you are listening to a more accurate speaker that is revealing poor recordings - while it is true many recordings are not great neither are they as bad as some sepakers make them out to be. I have heard too many dealers use the excuse when there is a harsh sound that "well these speakers are super accurate and they are bringing out all the faults in the recordng or upstream equipment." It sounds very logical after all, but if you start listening longer to a lot of gear I don't fint it to hold much merrit.

For instance if another speaker(let's call it B) is hitting the same upper frequency in a complex violin passage as speaker A), but Speaker A sounds fatiguing or has an echo or an airy noise(detail?) then what is this supposed to mean that it is revealing a fault in the recording while speaker B is not detecting it? Yet if speaker B is producing the instrument in a full extended way then what exactly is that "air" one is hearing -- "air" is not heard at any live event and it is not there when someone just plays the violin in your house. That air which is called detail is grain.

none of this is the least bit important though because you have a choice you can buy a speaker you enjoy or you can buy a speaker that is deemed by OTHER people or magazines as accurate. Accurate to what -- the live event, the recording. Do you listen at live volume levels. I mean if I put on an Aerosmith album what exactly i am supposed to compare the recoridng to? If I was not at the recording session then I have no way to know what the intended recording sounded like. Am i going to compare it to when they came to my town and played their song -- well your system better be able to 125decibals minimum and you better feel the drum in your chest (and here you will be simply compairing your system to whatever amplifier and speaker they were using at the concert in a massive auditorium to your living room.

The article that is in my signature will apply to all the speakers you are evaluating and is another way of conducting auditions that make sense -- no experience and no golden ear telling you what you should or should not like.

The only thing that is of prime importance in listening to the speakers you listed is that they all need to be evaluated in the same room with either the same equipment or equipment that is best complimentary to them. So Paradigm also Makes and often matches Anthem to their speakers -- the designers at Paradigm should then stand by their products and say that one is probably getting the most one can get out of a paradigm when using Anthem Amplification. Anthem however will probably suck donkey balls on my speakers - therefore it would be fitting to use what is recommended byt the maker of my speakers as an amplifier - their own amps. This way in the same room you are hearing what the manufacturer more or less slightly what they intended you to hear. (taking room size recommendation and placement into account as well). My speakers for example are supposed to be placed in corners toed in and preferably use SE amplifiers and preferably from the company making the speakers. So it is not adviseable to if listening and compairing them to other speakers place them in the same position as what is good for a B&W - 3 feet from back and side walls with little to no toe in running a high watt SS amplifier.

Linn I always felt was an underrated speaker maker.
Hey RGA,

Thanks for the thoughts. Good points- how do I know what is accurate if I wasn't there?

I was thinking that the ATC speakers I heard were more "accurate" because the bass drum really sounded like a bass drum does in real life. Not just that thump. But it was on a recording I had never heard before. That same speaker also made a recording that I thought fine, sound quite poor. But the other songs sounded fine. So that was my basis for saying "accurate," be it correct or not.

Unfortunately, most of these speakers are being heard at different shops. I can't find one place with a full complement of speakers from each of these companies. And this must make a big difference. Heck, the Totems were run by a $750 Jolida tube amp. The B&W's by about $15,000+ of McIntosh amps. That can't be a good comparison. And I am really wondering: the incredibly tight, powerful, deep bass I heard came from the B&W 703, but it's only rated down to 38 Hz. Conversely the Totem Forest is rated as "<33 Hz" and had almost no bass at all. Is that the amp, room, placement, etc? That's probably a topic for a new thread I'll post soon.

Yes, I read the article in your signature prior to hearing any speakers. That's a pretty anitseptic approach to it all. What I'm wondering is, at least in part, is that the way to go? Or should I get what moves me right away? Or should I be concerned about what moves me now may become annoying later...?

-Jon