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When choosing new Speakers, what matters most to you?

When auditioning new speakers have you ever listened to a pair you thought you really liked only to realize you didn’t like them at all after seeing their measurements/specifications? And I’m not talking about speakers that would be too difficult for your electronics to drive but rather, you just didn’t like their waterfall plot, or their frequency response or some other measurement even though subjectively, you loved the way they sounded? Conversely have you ever listened to a pair of speakers you did not care for only to change your mind after seeing their specs?
 

Assuming speakers can be easily driven by your home electronics, in other words, no compatibility issues related to sensitivity or impedance, what is the single most important thing you look for when finding speakers you’ll enjoy listening to? How do you go about confirming the speakers you buy will be enjoyable to listen to in your home system?

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Showing 2 responses by perkri

perkri
891 posts
 

Vega. Cool.

My friend in high school had a Vega with a balanced and blueprinted 400. Rear end was shortened and tubbed. That thing moved…

perkri
891 posts
 

“Auditioning” some speakers as I write this. (Sort of…)

Ive had a speaker design in mind for a while, ordered the parts, built the enclosure and spent several days tweaking  the crossover and damping. They are at a point now where I need to listen to them for a while to see what is missing and what is bothering me.

No measurements as of yet. There was obviously some math that needed to be done prior to any of this happening based on specs of the driver and the components. Since CV19 happened I’ve built at least 3 dozen pairs of speakers. I’ve been working towards the pair I am currently listening to. 

Not sure I really care how they measure, but I will be doing detailed measurements as I may take them to market. (Which is what the last year and a half has been about - building, listening and trying things)

So, the question is timely for me as I met with my business partner earlier today and discussed what I thought the problem with the the sound presentation was. He didn’t hear anything out of place, and I explained what I thought was off and how I planned to address it.  Then we discussed measurements and what to do if they measured terribly. Am I all of a sudden not going to like them? Does it invalidate what I’ve worked towards, designing and building a speaker that I, and everyone who has listened to them,  really enjoy?

Emotional resonance, tonal presence, contrast, clarity, balance, physicality and impact are what I listen for. Do they present an engaging image of the recording? Not a live performance, but rather the recording.

Much study has gone into these, but in the end it’s about how they sound. I have never bought speakers based on measurements beyond the basics of sensitivity, impedance and size. 

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