The speaker inside the PC case.
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This is an evasive answer, at least a little, but a few years back at a local dealer I heard a pair of Wilson Alexandria V2s set up in their flagship room. I had previously heard in another room some Sophia V2s to great effect being driven by VTL electronics and a good analog front end. The Alexandrias didn't sound bad, per se, but I was highly disappointed to hear the same small soundstage with mini images and that lean, hyper-detailed sound I hear so often. In fact, they sounded almost exactly like Watt Puppies. The surface loudness was all wrong, i.e. pianos sounded like pinpoints as did trumpets, voices, or cymbals. Initially I thought it was due to a lean-sounding solid state amp, but the amps were VTL Sigfried tube monoblocks and the analog front end was that overbuilt acrylic turntable with the linear tracking tonearm and the massive pendulum, forgot the name. Anyway, there was no apparent reason for this type of disappointing sound, especially from a $150K pair of speakers, especially being fronted by at least $200K of turntable and electronics. |
Definitely and most-definitely Donald Trump. When I was angry, drunk and depressed I stabbed his face all the way through TV during his debate speech with Damascus steel dagger. If I had the power of politician, perhaps I'd done it for real. Aside from DT 2nd to Talon Khorus and Talon Khorus X. It's unique speaker that has absolutely no imaging and sound stage. The sound remains inside the box no matter how good electronics are used. I heard them with top notch TacT preamp and Bryston 7B-ST. The price for used is definitely a big difference vs. new, but my Aerial 10t depreciated even lower for some reason. I 'fly' Aerial 10t MK2 since 2006 and bought them used for $1100 with one blown woofer that was no biggie to replace. Since I'm quite and definitely sure that finding better for upgrade at same price level will take forever, it means they will in my system till my heart's still pumping. |
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Cerwin Vega! but thinking back it might of also had something to do with the amplifier which is still popular and highly controversial around reviewer pages. After a break then returning to audio I thought I could build a quick and easy HIFI after growing inpatient. Instead it turned out to be more of a high-fry system. That story had a happy ending I was able to bundle it off to someone that used to frequent rock concerts and favored sitting so close he probably scared the band members. True story and I bet he has permanent partial hearing loss by now. I don’t know which is worse that stereo set up or Donald Trump but both pain my ears to the point I just cannot bear to listen to either one even in very small doses. |
Hi Adam, Well, if they cost you $7000, which anyway you slice it, isn't chump change, and lost a lot of money on the deal, you would feel the same way. Anyway, yes I did audition them, but it was very briefly @ CES '93. Yes, I did make a mistake by going by that. But, a lot of people have gotten burned in this hobby. I know I'm not the only one. You live and learn. Take care. |
These speakers sound much better making contact with an aluminum baseball bat...less ringing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzK7aSxzGN0 |
Worst speakers I ever heard are the ones I listen to daily at work. Crappy little boombox with nothing but about 1 watt of the worst midrange you can imagine, no bass, no treble. In order for us to hear it at all, we place it in a metal bowl to amplify what I would consider the worst sounding radio ever. Most overly rated would be bose. All boom hiss! I chuckle inside whenever I tell someone that I've become a stereo geek and then, in a poor attempt to relate, they tell me about some bose system that they recently heard that knocked there socks off. I usually just smile and say "yeah, bose sounds great!!" and walk off shaking my head. |
Ensemble (made in Switzerland) mini monitors...dreadful. This was back in '94.They had excellent reviews in both TAS and Stereophile. Mid/woofer made out of what looked like a styrofoam cup. It was driven by FM Acoustics amp and preamp, so that wasn't the culprit. Anyway, there was no treble, mids, or bass to be had. It was like listening through wet burlap bags. So, I took 'em back on store credit. I got some Pro Acs which I didn't open and quickly sold to try and get some money back. The cost of these pieces of crap? $7000 USD. I called Urs Wagner in Switzerland and told him he is a crook. I still feel that way today. Screw him and his crappy company. |
Why are we re-hashing an old thread that's blatantly condemning some well respected speaker brands ? C'mon guys and gals.... in the spirit of the holidays, let's remember our parents' advice .... "if you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all." Peace, health, and happiness to all my fellow Audiogoners ! |
I found the gallo 3.1's to be overrated for $3k. Other speakers I was use to in that range destroyed them. They werent the worst I ever heard, but it really shows how reviews by websites don't matter. Back in 2006, a lot of people where posting them for sale just a few weeks after buying them. IMO, $599 Magnepan MMG's were better in every way |
Mapman, would your experience with Sonus Faber and Krell have been at a Harvey Electronics store (there used to be one in Paramus)? I heard the same combo at a Harvey down in Eatontown, NJ, and it also sounded awful. It was definitely the room (flimsy sheetrock walls); the poor distributor rep doing the demo was beside himself, finally shook the walls to let us know that it wasn't the speakers that were the problem. I too have heard SF speakers sound very nice in better conditions. |
Well, the worst ones in a home stereo system are almost always the real crappy cheap ones that have come in compact stereo systems from the likes of Aiwa, TEchnics, Soundesign, Sanyo, Panasonic, Sony, Fisher, and the others for years that are cheap and mass produced. The worst ones I have heard that were very expensive and should have sounded good were Peak Consults at Sound By Singer in NYC a few years back. All bass high end, no midrange. Something must have been wrong with the setup somewhere, yet this mega buck system was demoed as if normal. I've never heard Peak Consults otherwise so hard to say for sure. Maybe it was fine and there is someone out there that would take to the flavor of the sound, which admittedly was quite different from most anything else I have ever heard. I've also heard some large Sonus Fabers sound really bad run off Krell amps in an old shop in Paramus NJ a few years back, but I know that was an aberration in that I have heard the same SFs sound very nice elsewhere set up right. |
Anything by Wilson Audio. Dry as a desert. They leave me cold every time.I've heard exactly 1 pair of Wilsons at a friend's house, WP 8s driven by Pass Labs. Absolutely beautiful sounding system, worth the price I suppose if you have the money. And I'm a SET / Hi eff guy, so it's not like I lean towards dry and analytical. |
Anything by Wilson Audio. Dry as a desert. They leave me cold every time. I listened to Wilson Watt fives at one time and was totally unimpressed. In the same room they had a pair of slightly used Dunlavy SC-1's. (Their entry level speaker.) The Dunlavys sounded better in every way. I bought them that day. $700 the pair and they were far more musical than the $15,000 Wilsons. I have never heard a Wilson speaker that I like. I have heard many speakers in the $1,500 to $2,000 a pair range that are far better. |
for the more expensive line the B&W and SOnus FAber they both have a nasty peak in the mids the B&w more so around the 5-6k range ,My freind had the 801 untill last new year inner detail was a little indistinct for single driver units the Zu druid are a little fuzzy in the inner detail compared with the a Dynaudio ,or A ZEN ADagio in a conventional speaker. |
Wow, hard to believe someone pulled a comment of mine from '03 to remark upon today. Leeistad, my guess is that the reason Velodyne didn't succeed (in either sense, businesswise or sonically) with their speaker back in the mid-90's wasn't simply because they make subs per se, but because this was their ambitious first attempt at making a satellite speaker. More than one company hasn't succeeded with their first product in a category as well as they did farther down the road. Of course, Velodyne it seems subsequently decided not to proceed any farther down that particular road, so their failure is what I tend to remember (since I was supposed to be trying to actually sell these things at the time). Moving from the specific to the general for a moment, let me throw this out there: It occurs to me, after reading the recent responses above, that the high-end nominees fall mainly into two catagories: Those with limited bandwidth, limited dynamic range, nonlinear tonal balance, and/or relatively high levels of harmonic distortion; and -- somewhat ironically -- those with wide bandwidth, wide dynamic range, relatively neutral tonal balance, and/or low levels of harmonic distortion. |
Audiofeil, they may well, and I would not presume to disagree with you. I certainly haven't heard every offering in the world. Mostly I was making a blanket statement for humorous effect. |
I'm probably going to make some enemies saying this, but I've never heard a good speaker made by a subwoofer company, and I've never heard a good subwoofer made by a speaker company. On the same note, I've never heard a good speaker or sub made by a television company. To answer the original question, anybody who has worked or shopped in CE in Western Canada should recognize this name: Nuance. Enough said. |
On the low end, any Bose Acoustimass I have ever heard sounds on par with most higher end computer-audio speakers in the $250 range. On the high end, Wilson Maxx (the new ones, whatever number they have) driven by Halcro/Meridian left me cold. Unbalanced, thin, dispersed, totally unacceptable for a $150k system. Then again, on one visit to Denver I heard some of those huge Focal JMLab $85k beasts driven by Boulder amps and it was also crap sound quality for the $200k that dealer was asking. I've heard plenty of damn good systems in the $50k range, for some reason the sound quality seems to start deteriorating when you go much above that! I'd also give a dishonorable mention for Musical Fidelity's amps from around five years ago - they could make any speaker sound harsh, brittle, and overly analytical. I haven't bothered to listen to them since. |
