Well respected speakers that you don't like

Myles B. Astor said:
Or has anyone had their opinion change about a speaker?
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yeah, when i found out I could finally afford them:exciting:

its funny how that works, when they're out of reach financially they suck. I would like to hear Q7s under favorable conditions, also goes for the big Focals.
 
1. Magico Q series. I heard them with great electronics (Constellation, Boulder) and could find no fault... except they're more like brain surgery than a Thai massage.

2. Sonus Faber. As sleep-inducing as Xanax with a shot of single-malt. And no, playing them loud won't do it.

3. Focal/JM Lab. As much as I would like Diana Krall sit in my lap I'd rather not have her shouting in my ears while doing this.

4. B&W 8xx. Can you spell "screech" as in forward-sounding tweeters? They're definitely in the "bleeding eardrums" camp.
 
iosiP said:
1. Magico Q series. I heard them with great electronics (Constellation, Boulder) and could find no fault... except they're more like brain surgery than a Thai massage.

2. Sonus Faber. As sleep-inducing as Xanax with a shot of single-malt. And no, playing them loud won't do it.

3. Focal/JM Lab. As much as I would like Diana Krall sit in my lap I'd rather not have her shouting in my ears while doing this.

4. B&W 8xx. Can you spell "screech" as in forward-sounding tweeters? They're definitely in the "bleeding eardrums" camp.
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I love all of your analogies. :D
 
iosiP said:
1. Magico Q series. I heard them with great electronics (Constellation, Boulder) and could find no fault... except they're more like brain surgery than a Thai massage.

2. Sonus Faber. As sleep-inducing as Xanax with a shot of single-malt. And no, playing them loud won't do it.

3. Focal/JM Lab. As much as I would like Diana Krall sit in my lap I'd rather not have her shouting in my ears while doing this.

4. B&W 8xx. Can you spell "screech" as in forward-sounding tweeters? They're definitely in the "bleeding eardrums" camp.
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LOL, I had a good laugh. Surprised Wilsons weren't on the list based on the ones you mentioned.
 
iosiP said:
1. Magico Q series. I heard them with great electronics (Constellation, Boulder) and could find no fault... except they're more like brain surgery than a Thai massage.

2. Sonus Faber. As sleep-inducing as Xanax with a shot of single-malt. And no, playing them loud won't do it.

3. Focal/JM Lab. As much as I would like Diana Krall sit in my lap I'd rather not have her shouting in my ears while doing this.

4. B&W 8xx. Can you spell "screech" as in forward-sounding tweeters? They're definitely in the "bleeding eardrums" camp.
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LOL...Just out of curiosity, what speakers do you like?

Ken
 
iosiP said:
1. Magico Q series. I heard them with great electronics (Constellation, Boulder) and could find no fault... except they're more like brain surgery than a Thai massage.

2. Sonus Faber. As sleep-inducing as Xanax with a shot of single-malt. And no, playing them loud won't do it.

3. Focal/JM Lab. As much as I would like Diana Krall sit in my lap I'd rather not have her shouting in my ears while doing this.

4. B&W 8xx. Can you spell "screech" as in forward-sounding tweeters? They're definitely in the "bleeding eardrums" camp.
Click to expand...

That analogy escape me. Have you ever had a Thai massage? They beat the hell out of you and step all over you in Thai massage. Far from a pleasant experience. See Rolfing.
 
Myles B. Astor said:
That analogy escape me. Have you ever had a Thai massage? They beat the hell out of you and step all over you in Thai massage. Far from a pleasant experience. See Rolfing.
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Was talking about the "other" Thai massage :D
 
Myles B. Astor said:
Or has anyone had their opinion change about a speaker?
Click to expand...

I was never a Thiel fan, but I took a chance on a pair of Thiel 3.7s. Unlike many other speakers, the more I heard from them, the more I liked them. Neutral, balanced and coherent, with excellent bass and dynamics. Very nice speakers.
 
puroagave said:
yeah, when i found out I could finally afford them:exciting:

its funny how that works, when they're out of reach financially they suck. I would like to hear Q7s under favorable conditions, also goes for the big Focals.
Click to expand...

As with any speaker. Do people listen once to a speaker and come to a conclusion? Are the conclusions based on show conditions? (For that matter, does anyone really think a big speaker will sound good in a hotel room set up in a couple of hours? How long did you spend setting up your own speakers?) Did you have a chance to hear familiar music? Did you listen for at least two hours? And so on.

Problem with good speakers is garbage in, garbage out. Are the issues with what's in front of the speaker or with the speaker itself?
 
Myles I have learned to try and comment only after hearing a speaker in three different types of locations and on different gear. At a minimum. I actually own speakers that when I first heard them not only did I not like them I thought they were utterly ATROCIOUS including my main speakers and the speaker Stereophile awarded class A and "Product of the Year." Bigger bass loudspeakers can suffer horribly under show conditions which is merely the tip of the audio show iceberg of problems. Expensive speakers can take flack merely by being expensive. And bias is a real issue in this industry even though many audiophiles convince themselves they're immune. Sexy looks can sway a person positively to their sound - on the other hand some will hate the sound of sexy looks because they will figure that the money was put to the looks and not the engineering.

Most of the speakers mentioned in this thread I think I could work with and listen to - the issue will simply be choosing the right gear to make it work in the right room. The KEF LS-50 is often said to sound better but at the California Audio Show the Blade utterly trounced the LS-50 which sounded like a brittle shrill pile of crap - I walked out within 2 minutes it was so bloody terrible. The Blade being driven in a Chord set-up in a big spacious room with my music was pretty darn spectacular. Easily one of the 10 best at the show. I have not heard the speaker sound as good since - and I ended up buying the LS-50!!!!

My AN E speaker I heard at a dealer in passing and it was so utterly terrible that when I posted my experience I noted something along the lines of one of the worst speakers in the history of audio. Several months later when they bothered to set it up with good gear and basically everything else in the store became noise - I had the Wes Philips moment of overthetop praise where there was simply NOTHING ELSE. Ongaku Means Ecstasy | Stereophile.com

So a speaker goes from utter unlistenable poo to world beater.

Magico I chose as one of the 5 top rooms at CES a a few years ago - being run with Technical Brain amps. What a spectacular sound. I have not heard Magico sound as good since but I suspect nothing else has been as good as Technical Brain. The stuff sounds amazing - but apparently it has huge failure problems from reading Valin.

There are speakers I don't care for like most ribbon panels but I at least see the appeal of why others like them. Personally I'd go ESL if I went that route.
 
I have found the floorstanding Raidho disappointing compared to the bookshelf ones -- what's the point of having such awesome, transparent drives if you're going to reintroduce the sound of a long box? If you need more bass, you might as well make them from another box.
 
BruceLet said:
I was never a Thiel fan, but I took a chance on a pair of Thiel 3.7s. Unlike many other speakers, the more I heard from them, the more I liked them. Neutral, balanced and coherent, with excellent bass and dynamics. Very nice speakers.
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Exactly, the only way to really judge in your room! I can name numerous speakers that just never sound good at shows and rarely at dealers that have worked wonderfully in my home eg. Martin-Logan and Magico. Same goes for Wilson.

Peter Breuninger got skewered for suggesting a small speaker might sound better than a big transducer at an audio show but that's the truth. Smaller speakers just won't excite room and bass problems like a bigger speaker. After all, how many hotel rooms were set up for audio? Answer: none.

Otherwise to me it's just hit or miss or fans talking. That's why in some way forums such as AS are more important because posters can talk about the gear and how it sounds in their system and room. (Of course there are other issues.)
 
I think the problem with bigger speakers is not only with exciting the room and bass problems, or at audio shows. It is with exciting its own resonance. It s an intrinsincally more problematic design in which you hear more of the box and less of the music.
 
Myles B. Astor said:
Exactly, the only way to really judge in your room! I can name numerous speakers that just never sound good at shows and rarely at dealers that have worked wonderfully in my home eg. Martin-Logan and Magico. Same goes for Wilson.

Peter Breuninger got skewered for suggesting a small speaker might sound better than a big transducer at an audio show but that's the truth. Smaller speakers just won't excite room and bass problems like a bigger speaker. After all, how many hotel rooms were set up for audio? Answer: none.

Otherwise to me it's just hit or miss or fans talking. That's why in some way forums such as AS are more important because posters can talk about the gear and how it sounds in their system and room. (Of course there are other issues.)
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But how many homes were set-up for audio? This is a two edged sword. Plenty of stereos sound utterly exceptional at audio shows in the same bad room as the next manufacturer/dealer. A speaker ought to be designed to work across a broad number of rooms. And one should not be forced to spend thousands of dollars on room treatments - especially not when buying speakers that follow the anechoic design school free field monitor. These speakers typically advertise their room friendliness - just stick the things away from all walls and you will get great sound. So that means they should do well in a hotel room so longs as they are away from the walls. This set-up is an attempt at quasi-anechoic conditions.

If something never sounds good at an audio show then there may be an issue because some rooms at shows should be more than good enough to represent well a stereo system. Sure some rooms are appalling but over 5-6 different rooms if something sounds great 4-5 times and another product sounds poor every time then you can kind of draw conclusions.
 
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