I think what you describe about speakers also applies to live music in a concert hall or an opera house. The sound is colored by differences in acoustics in different seats, how many people are seated near you, and how absorptive the clothes they and you are wearing. Because you can only so much do far worrying about the ideal frequency response and imagining which is limited by the size of each group of instruments, the same is true for the pursuit of neutrality in speakers. The advice of choosing the sound you prefer is therefore more sound.I spent a couple of months more than a couple of years ago getting my Magnepan 0.7's the way I wanted. I also wasted time trying to get a subwoofer to work with Magnepans and it can't be done. Subwoofers draw either draw attention to themselves or the make no difference in the sound with Magnepns. A pair of DWM's is the only way to balance the lower frequencies to sound natural, something easy for me to do because I series wired each of the two elements in each DWM giving them an impedance of 8 Ohms. It was a simple matter to take the 4 Ohm outputs of the Hammond 1642SE transformer for the 0.7's and the 8 to 16 Ohm taps in phase for the DWM's. Of course it takes radio station transmitter triodes to power insensitive Magnepans but that is a different subject.
My pet peeve: "revealing" speakers
The one word that bugs me the most in all of the audiophile world is "revealing."
It's plenty descriptive but it's also biased. What I mean is that speakers that are revealing are also usually quite colored. They don't unveil a recording, they focus your attention by suppressing some tones and enhancing others. The reviewer who suddenly discovers hearing things he has never heard before and now goes through his entire library has fallen for this trap hook line and sinker.
This is not always true, as some speakers are revealing by ignoring the room. They can remain tonally neutral but give you a headphone like experience. I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about the others. I wish we had a better word for it.
Mind you, I believe you should buy speakers based on your personal preferences. Revealing, warm, neutral, whatever. I'm just saying this word is deceptive, as if there were no down side when there is.
Best,
Erik
It's plenty descriptive but it's also biased. What I mean is that speakers that are revealing are also usually quite colored. They don't unveil a recording, they focus your attention by suppressing some tones and enhancing others. The reviewer who suddenly discovers hearing things he has never heard before and now goes through his entire library has fallen for this trap hook line and sinker.
This is not always true, as some speakers are revealing by ignoring the room. They can remain tonally neutral but give you a headphone like experience. I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about the others. I wish we had a better word for it.
Mind you, I believe you should buy speakers based on your personal preferences. Revealing, warm, neutral, whatever. I'm just saying this word is deceptive, as if there were no down side when there is.
Best,
Erik