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Neutral or Detailed. You can't have both

At least not how I understand the audiophile terms. The problem comes in the mid-treble.

A truly, measurably, objectively neutral speakers doesn’t come alive until the volume is turned up, but will lack the perception of detail, because those details come from exaggerated and often rough treble responses.

B&W however has some of this reputation. They are not objectively neutral speakers.

The Magico S1 Mk II has an uptilt in the treble, but is glass smooth. It is probably what I consider the best example of this combined desire for a neutral but detailed speaker.

Monitor Audio’s top end speakers - Objectively neutral, superbly engineered. Often too laid back for most people, Audiophiles would not consider them "detailed."

As always, you should buy what you like. Maybe you don’t like neutral speakers. Goodness knows some reviewers don’t.
erik_squires

Showing 1 response by helomech

helomech
1,525 posts
 
I would think that at moderate listening volume, a neutral sounding speaker, as the human ear is concerned, would have a measurable dip in the upper mids/ lower treble. I believe this why the average studio monitor leans toward brightness and fatigue.

I agree that exaggerated treble is often mistaken for detail. Case in point would be Golden Ear Tritons:
https://www.stereophile.com/content/goldenear-technology-triton-one-loudspeaker-measurements
They have quite a large boost above 10kHz. To my ears, these speakers produced about as much detail as $400 Klipsch towers, yet they were ear-piercing bright. Maybe the brightness was simply masking detail?
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