More food for thought. Something i think most of us considered.

[nj pheonix]

Legendary Speaker Designer Says Hi-Fi Accuracy Is a Myth and the “Perfect Sound” Doesn’t Exist

Chasing "the sound the artist intended" is a losing game no one can actually win, according to experts.

www.headphonesty.com

 

[kwayde]

I believe most people know this.

We're only trying to get the sound we feel best suits our desires. It may not be "accurate" but it will be outstanding with the right gear.

 

[painttoad]

just enjoy the music.

 

[onwardjames]

I had this revelation after restoration of my McIntosh XRT 20's.

There is no such thing as a perfect speaker. ALL are compromises. Like painttoad said, just enjoy the music.

 

[superdog]

I had this revelation after restoration of my McIntosh XRT 20's.

There is no such thing as a perfect speaker. ALL are compromises. Like painttoad said, just enjoy the music.

Having been through close to fifty sets of speakers I can agree that not one does everything right.I've begun listening to a couple pair of Polk Monitor 10.
Not looking for perfection anymore just something that does most things well with musicality being the primary factor.One more step towards getting off the audio merry go round.

 

[Mr Boochie]

There is no such thing as a perfect speaker.

"Perfect" is proportional to the alcohol level of the listener.

 

[Quadman2]

I think most, who have a knowledge base in how speakers function, know the many factors that influence the end results that they hear.

There's just so many things that can go right and on the other hand, things can impede the quality in reproducing the original studio/live sound.

By throwing big money at it at times might reduce some the imperfections that come with lesser quality made speakers wherein the research/testing/design had not been done, but even the better speakers are... not without inherent flaws.


It always comes down to the individual's ear as to what they, subjectively think is the ultimate in speaker reproduction of sound.


Q

 

[Mr Boochie]

It always comes down to the individual's ear as to what they, subjectively think is the ultimate in speaker reproduction of sound.


Q

I remember this guy who would bully you with, "Hear that whatever 'detail' from my speakers! There's no other pair of speakers IN THE WORLD that can reproduce that!"

You'd have to agree even if you didn't hear it, just to avoid the inevitable argument.

A real drag. I only heard his system once.

 

[Quadman2]

I remember this guy who would bully you with, "Hear that whatever 'detail' from my speakers! There's no other pair of speakers IN THE WORLD that can reproduce that!"

You'd have to agree even if you didn't hear it, just to avoid the inevitable argument.

A real drag. I only heard his system once.

That's why I underlined...subjectively. Listening is a individual personal event and the assessment of it.


Q

 

[2FarGone]

I only heard his system once.

I can see why. Once would be enough.

 

[Mr Boochie]

That's why I underlined...subjectively. Listening is a individual personal event and the assessment of it.


Q

Yup. Unfortunately, some see it as totally objective (numbers people).

 

[Quadman2]

Yup. Unfortunately, some see it as totally objective (numbers people).

And if you truly understand the concept of "objectivity", it really is the attempt to reduce "bias" on the part of the testers, which may be inherent or extraneous...or sometimes both.

Some try to add instrumentation to the assessment, which requires interpretation, which in turn adds bias with its use.

"Human intervention" is what it is!


Q

 

[Jfaustus]

That's the biggest load of BS. Everyone -- everyone! -- knows that the perfect speaker is the next one. Just. One. More. -- right?

 

[Mr Boochie]

That's the biggest load of BS. Everyone -- everyone! -- knows that the perfect speaker is the next one. Just. One. More. -- right?

It's the next latest and greatest speaker cable!

 

[RunOutGroove]

I've always felt that the gear colors the music in some way or another, no matter what it is. The idea then is to choose the color that you like best...

 

[Lavane]

Having been through close to fifty sets of speakers I can agree that not one does everything right.I've begun listening to a couple pair of Polk Monitor 10.
Not looking for perfection anymore just something that does most things well with musicality being the primary factor.One more step towards getting off the audio merry go round.

Thats it for me. I have a couple pairs of Polk Monitor 10's. One pair is used in my garage system since the cabs are pretty ratty.
The other pair is in my main system right now. Ive done the RDO-194 tweeter swap, rebuilt the crossovers with film caps, precision resistors, and replaced the flaky poly switches with .5 ohm resistors. They sound pretty good now. I also have a pair of the earlier Monitor 7's with the Peerless tweeters. The 7's are the better speakers compared to the 10's in that they are a well balanced speaker. But I still prefere the impact the larger passive radiator the 10's produce. If I had tone controls I may have left the 7's in my main system. I also tend to keep a pair of Marantz Imperial 6's in my system as well. My system is tube based and I have two stereo amps and two large tube mono blocks on a speaker/amp switch box.
The Imperial's aren't the best speaker by far, but they play everything well, they do well with SS or tube, and they're just so easy to listen to and they do get a lot right. I have a bunch of other smaller speakers setup in various small systems around my bench too.
But in the end, I'm happy with how everything sounds and just enjoy the music.
I can listen to those old Imperialss all day connected to a 17wpc Dynaco ST-35 tube amp. Its a very musical combo. Mid-Fi and be very enjoyable to listen to.

 

[superdog]

Thats it for me. I have a couple pairs of Polk Monitor 10's. One pair is used in my garage system since the cabs are pretty ratty.
The other pair is in my main system right now. Ive done the RDO-194 tweeter swap, rebuilt the crossovers with film caps, precision resistors, and replaced the flaky poly switches with .5 ohm resistors. They sound pretty good now. I also have a pair of the earlier Monitor 7's with the Peerless tweeters. The 7's are the better speakers compared to the 10's in that they are a well balanced speaker. But I still prefere the impact the larger passive radiator the 10's produce. If I had tone controls I may have left the 7's in my main system. I also tend to keep a pair of Marantz Imperial 6's in my system as well. My system is tube based and I have two stereo amps and two large tube mono blocks on a speaker/amp switch box.
The Imperial's aren't the best speaker by far, but they play everything well, they do well with SS or tube, and they're just so easy to listen to and they do get a lot right. I have a bunch of other smaller speakers setup in various small systems around my bench too.
But in the end, I'm happy with how everything sounds and just enjoy the music.
I can listen to those old Imperialss all day connected to a 17wpc Dynaco ST-35 tube amp. Its a very musical combo. Mid-Fi and be very enjoyable to listen to.

I had a couple pairs of 7s that I should never have sold.I was into large speakers at the time.I regret never fully auditioning them.That's what happens when you have too much.Never have been down the tube road other than a tube preamp that I have with one system.A friend of mine has some Imperial 6 that I'm sure I can get off him but I've reached a point of not acquiring any more gear.I have come down to the point of restore the speakers I have which is the plan similar to what you did with your Polks.Two pair of KLH Model 23s ,ADS L810,KLH Model 6 await their turn to see if they make the cut.
I tried some newer speakers and while much tighter and focused they just didn't have the musicality that I have eventually come to want.I do have some newer big Polks RTi150 pushed by a Krell 250 wpc amp and pre that play the orchestration on the Moody Blues at full tilt "The Day Begins" off Days of Future Passed better than anything I have ever owned or heard.Gonna be tough decision to ever get rid of that setup. Yeah I'm ok with a good midfi setup that is based around the Polk 10s.

 

[gizzyman47]

I've never subscribed to the "I've got to build my system to replicate what the original engineers/artist heard during the recording". It's impossible, and I couldn't care less. I built it to please me.

 

[justjed2]

Most of my music is more than 40 years old. My main system is all new in the last couple of years. NONE of those artists had ANY clue what kind of gear I would be listening to their music on, 40+ years later.

I listen to music for the enjoyment it brings. As long as the artist intended for someone, like me, to enjoy listening to their music, however I choose to reproduce it, we've both achieved our goals.

 

[Lavane]

I had a couple pairs of 7s that I should never have sold.I was into large speakers at the time.I regret never fully auditioning them.That's what happens when you have too much.Never have been down the tube road other than a tube preamp that I have with one system.A friend of mine has some Imperial 6 that I'm sure I can get off him but I've reached a point of not acquiring any more gear.I have come down to the point of restore the speakers I have which is the plan similar to what you did with your Polks.Two pair of KLH Model 23s ,ADS L810,KLH Model 6 await their turn to see if they make the cut.
I tried some newer speakers and while much tighter and focused they just didn't have the musicality that I have eventually come to want.I do have some newer big Polks RTi150 pushed by a Krell 250 wpc amp and pre that play the orchestration on the Moody Blues at full tilt "The Day Begins" off Days of Future Passed better than anything I have ever owned or heard.Gonna be tough decision to ever get rid of that setup. Yeah I'm ok with a good midfi setup that is based around the Polk 10s.

The ADS speakers may surprise you if you haven't spent much time with them yet. I keep an eye out for the larger ADS speakers. The smaller L570/2's I have sound nice.