After the thrill is gone


I think we all understand there is no “perfect” speaker. Strengths, weaknesses, compromises all driven by the designer’s objectives and decisions. 
 

Whenever we make a new (to us) speaker purchase there is a honeymoon period with the perfect-to-us speaker. But as time wears on, we either become accustomed to the faults and don’t really hear or hear past them, or become amplified and perhaps more annoying or create minor buyers remorse or wanderlust.

I am guessing the latter would be more prevalent when transitioning to a very different design topology, eg cones vs horns vs planars etc.

While I’ve experimented with horns, single drivers, subwoofer augmentation …  I’ve always returned to full range dynamic multi-driver designs. About to do so with planars but on a scale I’ve not done before, and heading toward end game system in retirement.
So I just wonder what your experiences have been once the initial thrill is gone? (Especially if you moved from boxes to planars)

inscrutable

Showing 3 responses by rikkipuu

I have Maggie 3.7i's.  I have a pair of REL S/510 SHO subs.  Last week one of the subs lost power and even though I had one sub working the change was dramatic.  The midrange was hard and the upper range was rolled off.   I hardly noticed the drop in lower registers.

I had been using a grinder without ear protection and thought I damaged my hearing, it took me a few days to stumble on the loose power cord.  Presto magic again.

I did not spend time on the sub placement, one is in the back of the room and one on one side next to the outlets they are plugged into.  

Maggie's need good electronics and even then I have found the more power conditioning the better.  

If your electronics and noise control are good you should easily hear the difference in the top end. Smoother and more refined and overall a little more relaxed midrange.