Do any of you enjoy speakers with bad measurements?

[pozz]

I enjoy almost every speaker I hear. The lack of pleasure usually comes in when other stuff about the speaker gets factored in, like hype.

 

[RayDunzl]

That's interesting, pretty good other than the bass issues.

That's the room, and I don't seem to have enough DSP power at low frequencies to selectively twist the phase enough (+90 degrees on one side, -90 degrees on the other over a range of about 15 hz) to fix it at the listening position.

My left and right go 180 degrees (inverted/cancelled) out of phase at 48Hz at the listening position in my asymmetrical room.

 

[Blumlein 88]

My speakers are terrible.

I'm doing the world a favor by keeping them here, isolated from all of you, and not contributing to the local landfill.

Although, here, it is a land mound.

It looks like another roof here, but that is a pile of dirt covered trash about 1/2 mile further away.

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You have your speakers entombed in a native American Indian burial mound in Florida? Or is that just good planning for sea level rise near the end of the century.

 

[RayDunzl]

You have your speakers entombed in a native American Indian burial mound in Florida? Or is that just good planning for sea level rise near the end of the century.

No, that's about 4 miles away, and has been caused by all us immigrants.

I should be good here for a while, at least for seawater incursions, as the land elevation is 83 feet ASL.

 

[Martin]

Yes. Didn't realize it was next weekend.

Saturday for sure, with my Audio Buddy.

I'll be the one that doesn't look like my avatar.

Drop by afterwards for a White Russian or two.

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My hair is always in a ponytail and I’m considerably heavier than the dude but I do resemble him when my hair is down. I’ll probably be there Saturday, too. Unfortunately - or fortunately depending upon how you look at it - I gave up White Russians over 30 years ago. (I did love them.) We need ASR t-shirts.

Martin

 

[Blumlein 88]

My hair is always in a ponytail and I’m considerably heavier than the dude but I do resemble him when my hair is down. I’ll probably be there Saturday, too. Unfortunately - or fortunately depending upon how you look at it - I gave up White Russians over 30 years ago. (I did love them.) We need ASR t-shirts.

Martin

No cooler than something that obvious. We'll just wear the sunglasses on Ray's avatar. Then you'll know who is ASR.

 

[DonH56]

Magnepans for ~40 years. Revel for the past couple so maybe now I'm one of the masses.

 

[IAmHolland]

I have fond memories of my pocket transistor radio, when I was young.

 

[DJBonoBobo]

I do wonder sometimes if I'm just chasing graphs

I think the keyword here is "chasing". I would say, if you are enjoying your stuff and feel satisfied, there´s no need to change anything. But in my experience many "audiophiles" are not satisfied. Too often this leads them to buy expensives cables, change amplifiers or whatever and never get satisfied or more realistic about their goals. If you feel the need to chase for a better sound, i would recommend laying the foundation with a neutral speaker and then concentrate on the acoustics (positioning and acoustical treatment of the room). Chasing graphs IMHO makes more sense than chasing a better experience without using graphs.

 

[tomtoo]

Buy this.
https://teeshirt21.de/de-eur/produc...MIstKV0baw5wIVyuR3Ch1iQg0YEAQYAiABEgI61fD_BwE

People will recognise you as ASR reader. ; )

 

[MZKM]

Yes. Didn't realize it was next weekend.

Saturday for sure, with my Audio Buddy.

I'll be the one that doesn't look like my avatar.

Drop by afterwards for a White Russian or two.

View attachment 48170

I went last year and will likely go again; it was cool to see Gene from Audioholics (who lives just north of me, sometimes I see the gear he’s selling on Craigslist) and some of the Stereophile staff. I was surprised by the KEF Blades in the Bob Carver room, as they weren’t advertised, and how frank they were about tubes (didn’t claim they were a better tech than solid state), and I liked how I overheard a few people say that Vanatoo was a standout, compared to the speakers costing 6-figures, that it still sounded good.

And then speaking of MartinLogan’s, I went with my father and when he heard the Neoliths (1 seat off from center), he asked me if only 1 speaker was playing, I was in the center seat and swapped to show him that these speakers do in fact have a thimble sized sweet spot.

 

[steve59]

I sold my beethovens a few years ago on a quest to upgrade, I had some money and wanted speakers that would play louder. After a couple kef's, and few revels I found another pair of beethovens to replace the pair I mistakenly sold. What I learned is many designers use complex xovers to alter the natural output of their drivers creating power hungry monsters that require serious power to get the best out of them. The R107/2 so highly regarded by all, did have great bass in my room, but couldn't hold a candle to the VA's when it came to listening pleasure. I can say the same for every other speaker that I tried, while they might have some special quality, they ended up being dull.

 

[steve59]

I should probably add that despite all Dr Tooles accomplishments I think the idea of auditioning a single speaker to determine its quality is useless unless you listen to a single speaker at home.

 

[DonH56]

I should probably add that despite all Dr Tooles accomplishments I think the idea of auditioning a single speaker to determine its quality is useless unless you listen to a single speaker at home.

Have you read the reasons behind that procedure? It is a very popular argument but generally (IME) uninformed.

 

[anmpr1]

I think I 'get' those who say that loudspeaker measurements are the main purchasing criteria over listening. A couple of ASR members here have expressed that opinion. I can see it as a starting point for shopping. I did the same thing with DAC/amplifier. I wanted the best electronics I could afford, spec-wise.

But loudspeakers are the last of the 'subjective' components (discounting record players, I guess). I have no idea how a Quad or LaScala would measure. I'm guessing not too well from an absolute Klippel standpoint. But every time I sit back and listen to my La Scalas, I'm happy, so I don't really care or think much about it.

 

[steve59]

Hi don, I have bought the f52, salon1 and salon2 for my stereo along with several other well regarded and excellent measuring speakers and I've ended up with active/dsp because the passive models and especially the more expensive ones without fail sound nothing like the demo once I get them home. Soundstage and imaging are top of the list and the new revel's don't pull me into the music. Home theater sure.

 

[RayDunzl]

Those trash mounds mentioned above are small potatoes compared to the piles of dirt (they call them Gypsum Stacks) Mosaic has created with their phosphate tailings.

 

[scott wurcer]

I have fond memories of my pocket transistor radio, when I was young.

Me too, my father was a Zenith junkie we had a Transoceanic and a 500B. I have fond memories of listening to the Milwaukee Braves especially the time Warren Spahn won his own game with a solo home run.

.

 

[Davelemi]

I auditioned a few speakers for my family room prior to settling with the Klipsch Forte IIIs. They don't measure perfectly, but they produce a great deal of sound with very little effort in my large family room. I was convinced I'd end up with the F208s but I learned that perfect measurements isn't the most important factor when choosing what's best for you and your room.

Here's Stereophile's measurements and mine (w/ SVS sub)-

 

[MattHooper]

I really like the sound of the Devore Orangutan series speakers which are a favorite whipping-boy for measurement-oriented audio geeks