2. speakers
  3. 159203-20253

Should a reference speaker be neutral, or just great sounding?

I was thinking about something as I was typing about how I've observed a magazine behave, and it occurred to me that I have a personal bias not everyone may agree to.  Here's what I think:
"To call a speaker a reference product it should at the very least be objectively neutral."

However, as that magazine points out, many great speakers are idiosyncratic ideas about what music should sound like in the home, regardless of being tonally neutral.

Do you agree?  If a speaker is a "reference" product, do you expect it to be neutral, or do you think it has to perform exceptionally well, but not necessarily this way?
erik_squires

Showing 1 response by kr4

kr4's avatar
kr4
3,651 posts
 
Reference is something that you make comparisons to, a standard.  So, logically, it can be anything as long as it is constant.

For me, a personal reference should be as neutral as possible but I see no reason why others should not have a different standard, if they choose.
More to discover