Quebec audiophile shows off his new Hi-Fi system, very expensive set up

[fpitas]

I don't think of Zu as the most egregious. They're not real expensive, compared to some in our Rogue's Gallery:

Worst measuring loudspeaker?

Do we have a thread already if we have my apologies, Is this the worst, https://www.stereophile.com/content/klipsch-klipschorn-ak6-loudspeaker-measurements I have only heard a Klipsch loudspeaker on two occasions, Keith

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[gsp1971]

I am not sure I understand the tendency to justify customers who subjectively enjoy a bad speaker. There are well designed speakers and there are poorly designed speakers.

Below is an example of a poorly designed speaker: the Triangle Esprit Australe EZ. Starting from about 700 Hz, it swings 7-8 db up and down all the time.

If the manufacturer had a specific niche in mind when designing this speaker, I don't care. It's still a poorly designed speaker.

If there are many happy customers who own this speaker and have found audio nirvana, I don't care. It's still a poorly designed speaker.

If this loudspeaker sounds great to you, with the music you like, I don't care. Maybe it sounds great to you because you don't know any better, maybe you haven't heard well designed speakers in order to hear the difference. For whatever reason you like this speaker, it's still a poorly designed speaker.

There are no two ways about it.

Now, between two well designed speakers, say A & B, subjectivity might come into place. Whether you like speaker A or speaker B might eventually come down to personal preference and the type of music you like, but at least both speakers are well designed.

GS

 

[Flaesh]

2 REL

A bit boring. Better to add a dozen more subs.

 

[Flaesh]

a pair of D&D 8C? or Neuman KH 420? Or Genelec 8361?

Price for piece

and additional subs may be required in a normal room..

 

[Keith_W]

I'm not surprised that the industry has chosen to brand audio reproduction as an art form. If it's art, then anything goes

If ASR members did not appreciate speakers as art, then there would be no reason for this thread: most beautiful speakers in the world.

IMO there is art involved, but this does not give designers license to take liberty with the sonic performance. The art involves attractive design within the constraints of function and engineering. It is no different to architecture, where architects have to balance function, engineering, put the building in context, are constrained by budget, etc. Or even car design (sorry) where it has to have aerodynamic performance, meet safety standards, still be functional, but also look beautiful.

A true piece of art has no function apart from decoration. And maybe some messaging. Examples: paintings, sculptures, music, jewellery.

Like all industrial design, designers sometimes sacrifice function for form. Examples are the Marc Newson Lockheed sofa, Alessi Citrus Squeezer, levitating Bluetooth speaker, camouflage golf balls (now that is a stupid idea!!!), stupid staircases, and Miniot vertical turntable. The trouble with audio is that we are sometimes not sure whether the designer has done this.

And then there are designs which are all function but no form. They make great performing but ugly designs. There are quite a few examples on ASR (which I won't list because i'll get piled on!), but speakers like the Kef Blade is proof that you can have beautiful design but great performance at the same time.

 

[lindberggreger]

The B&W 801 D4 are not bad speakers, in a proper setup they sound very good.

What the's point of raining on others like this? He's happy with and proud of his system, what's the problem?

Masteringsstudios use B&W800 series.
I got some 804:s that sound fantastic! Doing a little mastering on them myself.

All in all, it cant be that bad of a system he got!
Midway thorught plowing this thread.
What system to 1/10th is better then his setup, you mean the big Genelec? I buy that. Would not mind those speakers myself.

 

[Sokel]

Masteringsstudios use B&W800 series.
I got some 804:s that sound fantastic! Doing a little mastering on them myself.

All in all, it cant be that bad of a system he got!
Midway thorught plowing this thread.
What system to 1/10th is better then his setup, you mean the big Genelec? I buy that. Would not mind those speakers myself.

I prefer the studios using this (mounted):

Quested Q412D - 3-Way active Studio Monitors 4 x 12" Drivers

The Quested Q412 3-Way Active studio monitors are the largest of their 3-way monitors and are designed for soffit mounting in large control rooms.

studiocare.com

Ok,a little half the price over 801 for a pair but...

 

[Killingbeans]

If ASR members did not appreciate speakers as art, then there would be no reason for this thread: most beautiful speakers in the world.

One hideous monstrosity after another. I mostly view that thread as a running gag, but I do acknowledge the struggles of making an audio setup function well as part of an interior design.

IMO there is art involved, but this does not give designers license to take liberty with the sonic performance. The art involves attractive design within the constraints of function and engineering. It is no different to architecture, where architects have to balance function, engineering, put the building in context, are constrained by budget, etc. Or even car design (sorry) where it has to have aerodynamic performance, meet safety standards, still be functional, but also look beautiful.

A true piece of art has no function apart from decoration. And maybe some messaging. Examples: paintings, sculptures, music, jewellery.

Like all industrial design, designers sometimes sacrifice function for form. Examples are the Marc Newson Lockheed sofa, Alessi Citrus Squeezer, levitating Bluetooth speaker, camouflage golf balls (now that is a stupid idea!!!), stupid staircases, and Miniot vertical turntable. The trouble with audio is that we are sometimes not sure whether the designer has done this.

I was 100% talking about the sonic performance.

There's no doubt that the visual presentation of audio gear is an unavoidable subjective component.

Maybe the "art" part of sonic performance can better be descibed as when people are approaching the gear as an additional musical instrument. On some level I understand that. Audio reproduction is a flawed exercise no matter what, so why not just get creative? Not something I personally subscribe to, but I get why others do.

Doesn't change the fact that any muppet with a workshop can get "creative", while it takes real skill to keep the creativity at a minimum.

And then there are designs which are all function but no form. They make great performing but ugly designs. There are quite a few examples on ASR (which I won't list because i'll get piled on!), but speakers like the Kef Blade is proof that you can have beautiful design but great performance at the same time.

Both of my dream speakers, the Danley HRE1 and the Genelec Ones, are extremely ugly and extremely function over form. I don't mind getting piled on for saying that

IMO, the Blades are almost equally fugly. But yeah, eye of the beholder and all that.

I prefer the studios using this (mounted):

The word 'Quested' is pronounced the same way as the Danish word 'kvæstet', roughly translating to 'badly injured'

 

[Sokel]

The word 'Quested' is pronounced the same way as the Danish word 'kvæstet', roughly translating to 'badly injured'

You could very well be exposing yourself to the full force of these 130 kg babies

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

No do

I prefer the studios using this (mounted):

View attachment 339032

Quested Q412D - 3-Way active Studio Monitors 4 x 12" Drivers

The Quested Q412 3-Way Active studio monitors are the largest of their 3-way monitors and are designed for soffit mounting in large control rooms.

studiocare.com

Ok,a little half the price over 801 for a pair but...

No dog in this fight but ... Would it cost them more to make it less ugly? It looks like they went out of their way to make it look like a garage job gone bad ... I'd like to see their measurements just for information.
If I were to need that kind of output in my home, I'd probably go Genelec, A pair of 8361 + W371A would be sufficient for ear destroying high fidelity in most normal rooms, I believe...

And you @Killingbeans , you dare put the Genelec One & the Kef Blade in the same aesthetics universe as the above abomination??? Come on Man! ...

Happy New Year!

Peace.

 

[Killingbeans]

And you @Killingbeans , you dare put the Genelec One & the Kef Blade in the same aesthetics universe as the above abomination??? Come on Man! ...

The Danley HRE1 abomination, not the Quested. But yeah. Or rather, different universes, but same level of fuglyness

 

[Ken1951]

Hi

No do

No dog in this fight but ... Would it cost them more to make it less ugly? It looks like they went out of their way to make it look like a garage job gone bad ... I'd like to see their measurements just for information.
If I were to need that kind of output in my home, I'd probably go Genelec, A pair of 8361 + W371A would be sufficient for ear destroying high fidelity in most normal rooms, I believe...

And you @Killingbeans , you dare put the Genelec One & the Kef Blade in the same aesthetics universe as the above abomination??? Come on Man! ...

Happy New Year!

Peace.

If that speaker was done properly it should be covered in some horrid looking carpeting!

 

[lindberggreger]

Nice

I prefer the studios using this (mounted):

View attachment 339032

Quested Q412D - 3-Way active Studio Monitors 4 x 12" Drivers

The Quested Q412 3-Way Active studio monitors are the largest of their 3-way monitors and are designed for soffit mounting in large control rooms.

studiocare.com

Ok,a little half the price over 801 for a pair but...

Nice!! Never seen those! Gonna have to look them up.

 

[Sokel]

Hi

No do

No dog in this fight but ... Would it cost them more to make it less ugly? It looks like they went out of their way to make it look like a garage job gone bad ... I'd like to see their measurements just for information.
If I were to need that kind of output in my home, I'd probably go Genelec, A pair of 8361 + W371A would be sufficient for ear destroying high fidelity in most normal rooms, I believe...

And you @Killingbeans , you dare put the Genelec One & the Kef Blade in the same aesthetics universe as the above abomination??? Come on Man! ...

Happy New Year!

Peace.

Oh,I'm a Kypon audio Gaia lover about aesthetics in my cave so anything should just about do it as long as it delivers such control and no BS ability like Quested which is suppose to be mounted.
On the other hand,the only thing that would live in my living room would be something of the dark colors of SF or a pair of these controversial works of art.

 

[Sokel]

If that speaker was done properly it should be covered in some horrid looking carpeting!

Light brown one

 

[ferrellms]

So could you.

You don’t know him. He may routinely give more than your net worth to charity.

People accuse him of over compensating. I’d say it seems people on this thread are making a poor showing via dumb ass virtue signalin

I appreciate and feel sorry for you and your evident unhappiness but you do not know me.

The 20K I sent to GiveWell last month costs more than my stereo that sounds much better than his.

I feel he is a sucker, but he may not be. If he feels he got a good value because of the sound quality of his system, he is a total sucker. If he got it for show-off or fun or because he digs the looks, so be it. It is his money to waste on mediocre, over-priced glitz. And cheers to the local McIntosh salesman!

 

[Anton D]

Thanks for making my point!

 

[Keith_W]

I feel he is a sucker, but he may not be. If he feels he got a good value because of the sound quality of his system, he is a total sucker. If he got it for show-off or fun or because he digs the looks, so be it. It is his money to waste on mediocre, over-priced glitz. And cheers to the local McIntosh salesman!

There is no need for that We don't win people over to our side by insulting them, we should aim to educate.

 

[Justdafactsmaam]

There is no need for that We don't win people over to our side by insulting them, we should aim to educate.

I was just saying exactly the same thing on another thread. I would go even further and try to NOT make these things about taking a side. At the end of the day I think most of us are on the same side. We want better sound (although we may not agree on what that is) and I think we want to make well informed choices.

 

[Jaxjax]

My theory of speakers is that bad speakers sound wrong to everyone. Even the owners. It's just that the owners blame something other than their loudspeakers for why so many recordings sound bad.

Usually they blame the recording but other options are:

needs more burn in,
mains quality,
cables,
lack of synergy
not got enough foo products in the system yet.

See also: 'Zu'.

You can put everyone's favorite Genelec's in my room & it's almost certain it will sound like shit. No dsp is going to fix that.
I need a dedicated proper room
Joe