sometimes it is that I am listening to the performance. Sometimes it is the sound of the recording, regardless of its real merit. Even that has its variables. I love "gear". I love music too. What luck I can actually rationalize in such a way that the recording, performance, and gear can all be married together in my perceptions about how this works. It is a blessing to me, and a bit torturous too. But, overall, I am happy that my mind and heart can be given to such considerations. The advice to listen to Speakers before you buy them is solid. They have their own sound and that contributes to what you hear, and i guess you could say your speakers have the final word since they are speaking for the system as a whole. The individual contributions of the components that make up your system are accounted for here, and that is from your electronics to your room to the way you perceive sound and performance. Being largely subjective content means that what your speaker tells you could be as changeable as your perceptions, and most influenced by your preferences rather than the handful of absolutes you might come up with. This is more about love than obligation, and therefore not always reasoned with effectively. Listen and you will know- at least for the moment, if you are beyond reason.
What does listening to a speaker really tell us?
Ok. I got lots of advice here from people telling me the only way to know if a speaker is right for me is to listen to it. I want a speaker that represents true fidelity. Now, I read lots of people talking about a speakers transparency. I'm assuming that they mean that the speaker does not "interpret" the original source signal in any way. But, how do they know? How does anyone know unless they were actually in the recording studio or performance hall? Isn't true that we can only comment on the RELATIVE color a speaker adds in reference to another speaker? This assumes of course that the upstream components are "perfect."