The most criminal practice in the speaker industry revealed!! Keep reading


Today we are going to expose the most criminal practice within the speaker industry bar none. Thats right folks. Keep reading and you will be disgusted just as I am.

Some audiophiles like to think that speakers are like wine. You just buy whatever one you prefer and pay no attention to cost. This is wrong. Speakers are devices that have a job to do and just because nobody has figured out how to measure how well speakers do the job, does not give the speaker industry the right to pull the wool over our eyes.

Now even though nobody on the planet has been able to figure out exactly what set of measurements we need, that is not to say that we have no measurements at all to rely on when it comes to assessing how well a speaker does.

One obvious example of a measurement that matters is frequency response. This tells how loud every tone is that we can hear from the bass up to the highs. It is the same measurement that is used to assess how well our ears work. Clearly this is important.

The shocking truth is that 99% of high end speaker companies DO NOT, publish frequency response charts of their mega expensive supposedly high end ultra high quality speakers!! Thats right folks, we have been duped all along. Now just in case you think I am lying, I implore you to immediately visit your favorite speaker companies website to check whether i am right. The truth will surely leave you disgusted.

This is no different than buying a fridge that provides no data about how cold the fridge gets. Can you imagine the problems that would cause? We all know that food must be kept below a certain temperature, otherwise it goes bad very quickly and if eaten, can lead to serious illnesses.

Audiophiles must understand that speakers are a tool. It either does the job well or not very well. Obviously we expect much more expensive speakers to do a better job than a cheaper speaker. Thats what measurements are there for. But if the measurements are not provided, then theres no way to tell. and if theres no way to tell, then it is horribly easy for the speaker companies to make any claim they like with impunity and get away with it!!! And that means speaker companies can set the price of a speaker as high as they like even if the speaker does not perform far better than a much cheaper speaker!!! In other words, we are being taken for a ride folks.

Audiophiles need to wake up and smell the coffee and understand what it feels like to be short changed. How often are we not getting what we pay for?

Audiophiles are no better at telling if one speaker is better than another purely by listening, than an average person is able to tell how cold a fridge is by putting their hand inside it!!! That’s right folks. VERY few folks are actually able to rely on their own hearing to tell which speaker is better than another. I am among the small minority who can. However that is beside the point...The main point we need to focus on is that despite the supposed importance of cumulative spectral decay, when it comes to assessing sound quality, very few manufacturers are willing or able to provide this data. The fact that reviewers sometimes do measurements does not justify the fact that the manufacturers do not provide it themselves. Who is going to verify whether the reviewers measurements arent biased?

The truth is speaker companies rely on word of mouth and reviews to sell their wares because its far easier to claim that their speaker has won multiple awards, than it is to prove that it has superior measured performance. Audiophiles prefer to read speaker reviews in magazines than go through a bunch of measurements because that requires too much effort.
Do not be duped. I am the master audiophile and you have been warned.
kenjit
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Who cares about specs??

i don’t look at specs when I buy a car?

Mo sir!

I just told the dealer at the high end audio shop I had $25,000 to spend on speakers. He fixed me up!

I don’t need no stinkin specs!!
I hope you are not implying that what you want is same thing that everyone else wants...

Personally I do not want a "tool". I'm willing to pay premium for entertainment. I want speakers to sound better than life and improve every recording with whatever majic flavor I find most pleasing to my ears at that point in time. I do not want flat response, because there is zero entertainment value for me in that. 

I look at it same way as going to restaurant. I'm not paying for ingredients, but for excitement of experiencing something new.



That is why responsible magazines publish independently measured consistent test results including frequency response curves.  And informed commentary on the same if you read Stereophile.  Bravo Mr Atkinson.
As to the curves varying in every room...something is better than nothing.
If I buy a pair of speakers without knowing it's measurements, then I made a decision based on looks, sound character, brand recognition, size, etc.  I guess that would be a decision made by an adult with a free will with no one to blame but myself if I made the "wrong" choice.

Bill