Do my ears deceive me??


     The money is in the bank, thinking of upgrading speakers, but everything I demo is no better or worse than what I have.   Willing to spend up to $6,000.      Upgraditis??   My main system is Mcintosh MX 134 that I bought in 2003, with a pair of Focal 836v's and a Parasound 5250  (250w/channel) amp I bought around 2012.   I either blew the tweeters or crossover on my 836's, so they are in for repair.   Since I've owned them for 10 years, I was considering new speakers.    The blades are way more than I would spend, but I also demoed the Kef R11s, Martin Logan xtf 200's, Mcintosh XR 100s, and B&W 703 S3.   

       None of them sounded better than what I'm hearing right now from my BP 2006s.    Would I really need to demo them in my room to make a fair comparison??  Or are speakers just not much better than they were 20 years ago?   I know I love detail, and tend to lean towards aluminum tweeters.  I pretty much only listen to classic rock and roll.   Of all I demoed, I really like the B&W 706s.   They sounded much brighter/cleaner than the others.   But they had the reciever set up so I couldn't adjust the treble/bass.  I love a V equalizer curve, and bump up the bass and treble a bit on my home/car systems.   Maybe I just have the good luck of prefering cheaper speakers.   

 

  

fenderu2

Showing 1 response by stevewharton

Many great suggestions already made

I tend to agree that if you're thinking EQ is the answer then your problem is in the electronics food chain not the speakers

A speaker that I have not seen mentioned as an upgrade path is Texton

While a polarizing subject on this forum, my personal experience has been exceptional

Perform above their price point, sound is organic, and I understand matches up well with McIntosh

I do not know the proper technical terms and jargon, but in my system in my room with my music and my ears, to me it sounds like a person is singing to me and instruments are being played for me

Granted they're big and boxy and need room to get away from the wall

But for 6k one can get a significant amount of price performance with Texton 

All the best and enjoy the journey