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Are smaller high end speakers really better

I have gone the route of small Dynaudio etc....Small speakers(Standmount) that the various companies try to get to sound big. In the long run I find them fatiguing to listen to. I have even had a pair of Sonus Faber Guarneri Homage! I came back to a simple set of Boston Acoustics A200's(80's vintage!!!!) I'm sorry!!! But I like them alot. They have great imaging, are very flat and very open sounding. I found the high end speakers of today are almost too revealing, too clinical, not as smooth, too much information. I know it's subjective but that's how I feel. I know I'll take heat for this but all I can say is trust your ears and really stand up for what you like, not what all the reviews say. Look at me from a pair of 8000.00 Guarneri I ended up choosing a set of 700.00 Boston Acoustics A200's(A great speaker in it's own right)that sound great to me. Especially when you consider the price difference!!!!!!!By the way I listen to all kinds of music from classical to fusion to the Stones, perhaps that's the key, the old vintage high fi speakers do everything well. Now it's like speakers are too specialized in one category. If all I listened to is violin I would have stayed with the Guarneri, but they came up short when I listened to the Stones etc.....The A200's don't. Makes you wonder if we're really making head way or just making really expensive limited speakers! By the way my electronics are two Tandberg 3009A monoblocks with a Tandberg 3008A preamp. Once again very smooth sounding vintage gear, and built like tanks. Anyway good listening and remember, less is sometimes more.

Cheers,
Nocaster
nocaster

Showing 1 response by tubegroover

tubegroover
2,320 posts
 
This is one of those priority issues. I too am very familiar with the Boston Acoustic line and the A200's. Once upon a time there was a local dealer that carried them. Other than their tizzy etchy sounding HF, they were ok for the money especially for R&R since most of those recordings I listen to are compressed anyway.

I agree with the posters that suggested a component mismatch with the Guarneri's, sounds most plausible for the fatigue you were getting. So far as not enough bass well that is more a taste issue as well as again, you probably didn't have the right amp for the speakers.

We both agree on one thing, if all I ever listened to was R&R its not too sure I would even be around here cause the gear has always been a means to an end. For R&R satisfaction came quite easily with a Pioneer receiver and Sansui speakers, why spend more? Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Debussey, Rachmaninov, Stravinsky, Gershwin etc, jazz, acoustic and choral music, thats why to me. Your taste and mileage may vary but it is quite true that there is no need to spend more than is necessary to achieve the end goal which is musical satisfaction. How we each listen, what we listen to and what is important to hear is the reason that this hobby is so healthy of a wide variety of equipment to realize those differences.
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