My pet peeve: "revealing" speakers

As I've posted in many other threads, recording engineers, equipment, speakers, all are so different, and trendy, the idea of getting perfectly accurate reproduction is impossible. The best we can do is pick a sound which bowls down the middle of the lane more often than not, get good sounding tone controls and go with what we have.

For me, that tends to be following neutral B&K speaker curves (on axis).  I find I can listen to a wide variety of music enjoyably that way, but it may not be for others.

This thread has actually changed my goals from assembling "revealing" equipment to "sounds right to me" equipment,

If I can help one person get to their happy place, then I've done my duty. :)

Glad you found it useful, @site7000

Thinking of line/panel speakers also made me think of "revealing" which is caused more by speaker/room interaction than tonal choices in the speaker.

That is, like a horn, line and panels, and open baffle speakers, interact with the room differently.  When those are revealing, they are ignoring the room acoustic issues.   Of course, there are usually other trade-offs.

Best,

E

What is YOUR suggestion for the correct wording to use in order to describe undefined speakers you probably won't like?

So many putting words in my mouth.  Let me try to clarify.  Usually, when I read "revealing" the reviewer treats this without a down side. I'll give you a great, precise example.

The modern Dali speakers have a raised treble profile.  That's not opinion, that's measurement, and they treble runs significantly hotter. Now, it would be fine to call it "revealing."  In a sense, these are ideal low volume speakers as they will "reveal" more treble ant lower listening levels than another speaker, and if you like that (I do not) then that's a great match. However, if I were to review them I'd put that out there.  They are going to be better at low volumes than high volumes, but the average reviewer will just go nuts over the hot treble, say they've never heard such detail in their records, blah blah, without addressing the downside.

Again, these may be ideal for you, your hearing, your paper thin walls, whatever.  It is the use of "revealing" to call out something that is not neutral without further explanation.

Best,

E

Are Revel models especially revealing?

I think they are very good speakers, with a great wide sound stage.

To be revealing, IMHO they have to show you something other good speakers don't.  I would call them high performance, neutral, good values.

Sounds like a lot of audiophiles are frustrated having not achieved success in getting that revealing speaker

FTR:  I'm not at all frustrated with my sound system.  I'm frustrated at the use of the word "revealing" used in reviews and impressions.

I am very much frustrated with my room though, so I am planning a cross-country move to fix it. :)

Best,

E

I worry that many times these claims of having less loss, actually mean "more treble" or "distinct treble."

Eric that is a very generalized assertion.

Sir, this is a political debate.  If you want specifics you should go to a car dealership.

why would anyone buy a pair of speakers solely based on the manufacturers claim that they are revealing?

@phd 

I certainly never brought up manufacturer's claims. I was talking about reviewers, both professional and amateur.

It could be that the word revealing is over-used and is not the end game.

I think so.

@newbee :

That's definitely a very popular method, and honestly this is a great solution for listening at low volumes.  The current line of Dali and some Dynaudio go this route.  Some create this by having a low impedance in the same area you described.

The other way is more subtle, to introduce peaks and valleys in the tweeter.

I'm not criticizing these speakers per se, buy what you like.

Best,

E

PS:  My second pet peeve are reviewers who hear "revealing" and very colored speakers and call them "neutral" when they are clearly not.