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Music Lovers Speaker vs. Audiophile Speaker

In my quest for a new set of speakers to replace the Paradigm 5se I've had for 25+ years I've come across a couple of terms I'd like clarified: the musical speaker and the audiophile speaker.

What's the difference? 

I can think of two analogies, both of which may be way off mark.

One is the "mp3" analogy. mp3's dumb down the music, but capture what a music lover may consider to be the important stuff. The audiophile version is the CD.

So in this case, the musical speaker doesn't perform as well as the audiophile speaker, but it is at the right price point or has other features (particularly finish) that the listener desires.

The other analogy is the "radio station" analogy. The station doesn't dumb down the music, but it does intentionally change the sound to suit the audience. Classic rock is bass heavy, and dynamic range may be compressed to raise the overall level. An easy-listening station will have a lighter sound with different frequencies emphasized.

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Showing 1 response by erik_squires

erik_squires
15,959 posts
 
My music loving friends love my speakers, and like listening to everything.  My audiophile friends do not. The difference I think is that audiophile speakers have trends, and fads, like wine. Looking at what gets the best reviews is often not a neutral speaker, but one with particular frequency tweaks here and there. 

In a perfect world this discrepancy would not exist, but "high end" loudspeakers have become lifestyle emblems that need to serve more than just music.  That's fine, but do I see and hear a distinct difference between what the audiophile crowd swoons over and what I do? Absolutely. 
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