What would your "perfect speaker" sound like.

A perfect speaker would reproduce some of the most important characteristics (to me) that I hear in live instruments:  timbral complexity, richness, full, with dense, palpable imaging and presence.  And yet with a sort of combination of clarity and ease.  In fact, Joseph Audio actually gives a good description in terms of what he is trying to reproduce:

"Live, unamplified music has unmistakable presence and clarity. Yet, at the same time it also sounds relaxed and warm."

That's exactly as I hear it.  And funny enough...I find my Joseph speakers get about as close as I've heard to these qualities, especially with my CJ tube amps.

Another property the perfect speakers would produce is "surprisingness."  Whenever I close my eyes and listen to real voices and instruments, the range of timbre and sound seems sort of unlimited.   Whereas every sound system homogenizes things to a great degree.  Once I hear a few tracks with drum cymbals, or sax, or acoustic guitar or whatever, I pick up the particular timbre of that speaker and I know what those instruments are going to sound like forever more on that system. 

Again, one reason why I actually became infatuated with my Joseph speakers is because they offer more "surprisingness" than I've ever heard in that regard (with the possible exception of the MBL omnis I owned).

Good drivers and very good crossovers are not enough...

They are not even necessary if you understand acoustics, you can do with what you have for the price you had pay for ...

I will let you the "perfect speakers" at astronomical cost  ...

I will keep my imperfect modified one...

The speakers to which we add creativity and acoustic knowledge is the best ... Especially mine:  incredible soundfield and timbre at 150 bucks ...

 High end is a mindset not a price tag, to use the extraordinary post of mikelavigne ..

😊

Like a pair of KEF Blades with the Mac MC611’s driving them.

Kit Speaker 

Demo' played through Class D Amplification.

@mahgister wrote:

Good drivers and very good crossovers are not enough...

They are not even necessary if you understand acoustics, you can do with what you have for the price you had pay for ...

A good driver needn’t be hellishly expensive, that would be my main takeaway. A bad driver is mostly just that, a bad driver, and one that’s oftentimes difficult if not impossible to work around and improve upon. However, look at what the late Peter Snell did with his speakers in the early 80’s with rather cheap, yet quality drivers (Philips, Audax, Becker and others) and how he paired and measured those speakers to very tight tolerances. Implementation is paramount. Crossover components needn’t be expensive either (to a degree), but needless to say their design is vital - be that passively or actively. Of course acoustics matter, but quite frequently I find acoustic measures (not least absorption) can lead to overdamping, which is hardly ideal either - worse even, I find, than a listening room a bit too lively. Balance is key, and preference is obviously a factor. Active config. takes better advantage of both amp and driver potential - another way to more effectively harness a potential within a price range.

I will let you the "perfect speakers" at astronomical cost ...

I will keep my imperfect modified one...

The speakers to which we add creativity and acoustic knowledge is the best ... Especially mine: incredible soundfield and timbre at 150 bucks ...

High end is a mindset not a price tag, to use the extraordinary post of mikelavigne ..

One thing to keep in mind is that your attitude, which I appreciate, can as well be applied with a budget of $1,500, $15k or more, not to mention a physical framework of the speakers that’s much larger. As you imply astronomical budgets can be put to very little use, and for some reason people spending that much money on equipment typically get more leeway with regard to being considered serious in their venture, but spending more money (than very little), not least on the basis of much larger speakers, shouldn’t automatically be considered a slippery slope. Even "magical" acoustics won't transform small drivers into mean air shifters with the ease, scale and dynamics that offers.