Speakers: What's MOST important to you?...


When you demo a pair of speakers, what criteria do you use to judge the quality of sound? What must the speaker have or do that will bring out the check book or credit card?
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Showing 1 response by fathom7

It's difficult to not use the "buzz phrases" associated with this area but here's a try.

I audition the speakers with the closest thing to my setup as possible (ideally in home but let's be real). I also use several pieces of music that I am very familiar with (CDs I take with me) and these pieces of music are known to me both as they come off of CD as well as off of vinyl.

Listening to the music the issue is one of several parts:

1. How close does what I hear come to what it should sound like off of vinyl.
2. Am I hearing anything new from the recording that perhaps I haven't heard before.
3. Does the music sound like music being played or recorded music being played back.
4. Where is everyone in the ensemble -- are there defined points of presentation from individual instruments and vocalists how "close" are they to each other.
5. What do the things look like.

The evaluation is made up of equal parts of the five items above. There are some likely weightings given (particularly to points 1 through 4. I will make allowances for butt-ugly speaks if they really do the job.

That's what I go through and it's always an interesting ride.

Enjoy.

F7