Why do people care what their speaker wants?

When Arnie Nudell was designing his state of the art speaker systems some of them were real amp testers. I think he pushed amp designers to their limit and it's still true today. Big systems like the Genesis Prime are working at the limits of what is possible. Not your choice for high efficiency loudspeakers but for those that can...

Because speakers is a woman, you want her to sing.

Why do people care what their speaker wants?

Quite simple really. You can’t take a random bunch of components, hook them together, and get the sound you want out of an audio system. You have to go about it in a systematic manner to have the best chance at success.

So, where to start? Speakers are a very good place to start. Find a pair that you like the sound of, then ask; What amp paired with these speakers will give me the sound that I want? Or, to say it in slang, What amp do my speakers want?

We know that speakers don’t want anything. They’re inanimate objects. We also know that certain speakers sound better (or different) with certain amps, and that’s what we’re asking for opinions on.

It’s the same as saying, My speakers like it when I suspend my speaker cables with rubber bands, when what we mean is, My system sounds better when I suspend the speaker cables with rubber bands.

Real speakers are 'alive', just like instruments. 

Harbeths want Stradivarius' varnish and Tektons want flush-mounted bass drivers.

When I switched to Lowther Fidelios (well, actually when I paired them with 300B SET, bass was too shy with solid state), I noticed that there was a synergy between them and wind instruments.
I cannot say I cared, but the synergy was there, it was enjoyable, and it affected my listening choices.
After years I wanted smth. else, now Lowthers gather dust, but I’ll connect them again some day.

It could be earphones but with speakers you can play with more stuff in the chain. 

G

What I mean is, people are always asking, "I have Wilson Sabrina, what cables should I get?" Or right now it's, "Speaker cable recommendation for Joseph audio perspectives2".  

But when its not that, its someone asking, "What power cord should I get for my Binford 2000 DAC?" Or, "What interconnect will go with my Bombastic Symphonic MkIII CDP?" 

They never say anything about what kind of sound they like, or what kind of sound they want, or how it could be better. Nothing about what they want at all. Instead the focus is all on the component. 

So I have to wonder, if they care so much about the component, why ask us? Why not just ask the speaker? 

What I mean is, people are always asking, "I have Wilson Sabrina, what cables should I get?" Or right now it’s, "Speaker cable recommendation for Joseph audio perspectives2".

Good point. More information from the OP about the sound he has now and what changes he would like to hear will greatly increase his chances of getting helpful advice.

Exactly! But they hardly ever do!  
So what are we gonna do, mind meld? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW3AJ3twQMo

All speakers are different. They don’t want anything, instead they need. So they are needy...😁 give them what they "need" and they will reward with great sound. As one poster stated, you can just throw a bunch of sh*t together and hope it sounds good. There is impedance, sensitivity, tone, timbre, dark, bright, neutral, warm....etc etc....but you know this. However if you do not care about such details and what you threw together sounds good to you, then I guess that is all that matters. Ears are like fingerprints, no two are the same. What may sound good to you may sound awful to someone else. I say who cares, as long as I’m happy and it makes me want to listen.

If speakers are women then give them want they REALLY want:
Shut up and listen.

Folks are merely asking what experience others may have with equipment matching. With a vast plethora of combinations hard to make decisions without starting with a few opinions from fellow audiophiles. 

i think miller has finally lost it completely 😆

fuzztone, sometimes of course that too, but we got to be more creative.

Popcorn anyone? I truly believe most people have zero idea what they want to hear. They think if they put x-a-d and p together it should equal amazing, and then don’t understand why it doesn’t, or they get lucky. This is a weird hobby, almost too many variables at any price point. To find the right blend takes time.. I think most just want it now... in some ways this isn’t a good hobby for the those of us that like to fiddle with stuff. But at the same time, fiddling is what makes the magic happen. Tough one for sure.

Unfortunately, in most cases they do not provide enough information.  Further, you get answers all across the board.  Then it becomes information overload adding more confusion.

My favorite is when someone asks for the best amp for $1k that will provide great power and sound.  Well, let's see....just go to best buy and buy whatever is on the shelf as it does not matter at that price point.  

Millercarbon, perhaps its only because many audiophiles with way less experience than you either do not realise, or do, that there are so many different ways for speakers to sound, and no single speaker or system will be able to playback every kind of song in the most 'accurate' way, or the way the sound engineers and/or artistes want them heard.

This hobby is the strangest balance between what each of us wants to hear, and our need to know if there is a deeper truth of what could be heard.

So, the best way to know more is on a forum such as this, where there are audiophiles experienced in the specifics of a certain speaker perhaps, that has its particular signature familiar to them, that they can advise plays what kinds of music best and which would require what kinds of complementary equipment to do so most ably.

Do be patient with those who do not know how to ask questions to have them best answered - it is why forums like this exist, no? : )

In friendship - kevin

One possible reason for catering to speakers is they are a pain to ship. 

My equipment just wants to be played!

I tell my wife that all the time....

You know, when the speakers have been sitting idle too long. TT needs to be spun and arm moved.

( What equipment did you think I was talking about??!)

Can you get her up to 33 1/3 ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDgGmiHxlTA 

I agree with MC to a point.
I think the exception would be amp suggestions for hard to drive speakers such as Maggie's.
I see (read) a lot about the fact that that it takes current to run them properly. 
That would be a speaker that I would ask the forum their thoughts on the proper amp in my price range.

Other than something like that, I think the only one to be asked what goes with what is our ears.

Hello millercarbon:" Are speakers so haughty they get all moody and pouty if you don't give them what they want?"

Hello millercarbon,

     You do know speakers are female and amps are male, right?

     A young and pretty pair of speakers may have a hankering for a big, young, strong, powerful, assertive and solid state sort of an amp, or a pair of them, and you offer them only a little, old, weak, temperamental, low energy, timid, high maintenance, tubey and sissy sort of an amp, or pair of them. 
      Do you understand now why these young and pretty young lasses might get a bit haughty, moody and pouty?  Birds and the bees simple, man.

Hormones,
   Tim

 

    

Yes of course. Everyone knows that stuff. Which is okay I guess when they’re ported. The ones that are sealed however, who cares? And don’t even get me going about the flat panel ones! The best get the horn on. Some of them really put out!

     If the speakers aren't ported, it's not so bad. At least you won't get any unexpected mini-monitors running around.

Later,
 Tim

It happened once. The immaculate connection.

Hah! 
     Hey, if you get liquored up, get a bit randy and consummate your relationship with your young and pretty ported speakers, I believe it would be called a speaker hookup.....with a very small gauge connector.  Ka-boom.
     And remember, don't even think of using the speaker's rear port without absolutely clear and mutual consent.  I also  definitely suggest you don't use your old creepy guy strategy of 'it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission', women hate that.

Later,
 Tim

Hello,
I agree with MC that a lot of people are not getting to the point or being detailed enough to get the right advise. On the other hand we do not need to respond. Maybe their could be a list of questions answered before a question is posted. This can be a very expensive hobby. Some just want the sound, some want the ultimate equipment or both. I consider myself an equipment and music audiophile. If we make a mistake on equipment it can be costly. Costly depends on the individual. $100 mistake can make or break someone but for others it’s what is spent on a meal. Regardless of what I am interested in I always help people when I can. It’s the right thing to do if you have the time, knowledge, and means. Now and in the near future money will get tighter and tighter. Hopefully there will be people like us to help people in need with the hobby we all love. 

Their are a lot of speakers that do not play all types of music it is the rare one that does so yes most just sound awful if not set up and played correctly in their comfort zone but like i said their are speakers out there that do not have a comfort zone but they are always the biggest and ugliest ones out there you cannot defy the laws of physics. Think of an engine would you drag race with a small 4 cylinder or would you want the 572 hemi.

Interesting, it takes an audiophile to equate speakers to having a sexual connotation....much like exotic vehicles, one doesn't buy a car.  You've purchased an audio mistress, who will want from you more than you can provide.

"What do you want from me?!"

(More than you can ever can attain, even more than you fear...)

Instruments in their way....voiced like a sailor on leave, or subtle and smooth with a sirens' sway....one forgets that it's just a mechanism, and begins to give it a character, much like a pet that recognizes your voice without understanding your words.

Does one listen to music for what it is, or listen for what one thinks/feels it ought to sound like?  Does one swap out the trophy wife or the Porsche for the new flame or Jaguar, or finally settle for the spouse that satisfies or the Lexus that doesn't drain ones' finances?

Each answers the question in their own way... ;)

You guys make me laugh! I think, just like the pursuit of the ideal and unattainable woman, audiophilia is all about the pursuit, not the final conquest. If our systems actually did sound exactly like real live music we'd still be underwhelmed. I think a lot of us are searching for the idea of some kind of transcendent listening experience. And that search, in and of itself, is what makes this fun (or sometimes maddening). It's an expensive and weird hobby for sure, but it's probably better than a lot of other vices!

Virtue. Or else you're doing it wrong.   

Some speakers just wanna have fun.

Hate to break it to ya, but you need a better system. The line she sings is Girls just want to have funds.

Just think. My response to this post, which btw, was the first, was removed because I used a familiar word for coitus! It wasn't profane either. It ended up devolving from whence it evolved!

*L*  ...and the segue into "Money Changes Everything"...

Did you buy that lotto tix?  A billion bucks certainly would.... ;)

Spouse and self would turn into the Ultimate Nomads and go see Everything....

I'd show up at your doorstep and ask to hear what you Think you've got....*evil laughter*

Just so you guys know, it wasn't me.