A good speaker plays music and does not punish you

Posted by Robert Joe (A) on March 6, 2007 at 23:17:15

In Reply to: One additional comment. posted by jsm on March 6, 2007 at 17:41:27:

I agree with everything you have said. My first pair of speakers was a pair of KEF 104/2. Commercial pop CDs from the 80's sounded very good and audiophile recordings sounded aweseome. Never did I think, "this is a really bad recording".

Then silly me, started reading reviews in mags and "upgraded" over 4 years to different speakers. I bought into the myth that better speakers just made my commercial pop CDs sound bad. Then after listening to a $100K system at some high end store that I did not particularly enjoy I dropped into Tweeter to look at TVs. I saw a pair of Sonus Faber Concerto's there so decided to get my CDs from the car. That was the most enjoyment I had in 4 years. Commercial pop CDs from the 80's sounded very good and audiophile recordings sounded aweseome. That is when I concluded that many "high-end" speakers tip the treble up to give that instant wow "more detail" effect. A lot of audiophile recordings particularly vocals don't have nearly as much treble energy as pop CDs so they still sound good. Put in a pop CD and ouch! It's not the recording that is bad it's the speaker!

Now I take reviews with a grain of salt. I trust what folks say on this forum than mags. Still, speakers are about personal preference. I use my own ears. I bring my 80's pop CDs, 70's Salsa music and audiophile CDs to speaker auditions. I have found most "high-end" speakers do not do well on the pop and Salsa music. Speakers such as Spendor and Vandersteen do well on ALL my music. The "best" speaker is one that plays all YOUR music well without punishing you.

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - REVIEW: Vandersteen Audio 3A Signature Speakers - krisjan 17:42:19 03/03/07 (25)

Oops. Fischer/Mahler 2 is on Channel not Pentatone (nt) - krisjan 06:03:47 03/05/07 (0)

Vandersteen Audio 3A Signature Speakers - Robert Joe 13:26:44 03/04/07 (16)

Spendor SP 100s and Vandys. - jsm 12:38:14 03/05/07 (14)

Re: Spendor SP 100s and Vandys. - Robert Joe 22:47:04 03/05/07 (11)

"Better quality speakers are not as forgiving" - jsm 11:53:14 03/06/07 (10)

Also not fun - StylinLP 15:01:41 03/07/07 (6)

It all comes down to your REFERENCE... - krisjan 06:27:15 03/08/07 (1)

Re: It all comes down to your REFERENCE... - StylinLP 09:38:09 03/09/07 (0)

Out of curiosity, do your Ushers do all kinds of music perfectly? (nt) - jsm 17:51:30 03/07/07 (3)

Re: Out of curiosity, do your Ushers do all kinds of music perfectly? (nt) - StylinLP 09:46:07 03/09/07 (2)

That wasn't really my question. - jsm 13:03:55 03/09/07 (1)

Re: That wasn't really my question. - StylinLP 16:27:52 03/10/07 (0)

One additional comment. - jsm 17:41:27 03/06/07 (2)

A good speaker plays music and does not punish you - Robert Joe 23:17:15 03/06/07 (1)

As I've posted here a number of times... - jsm 11:39:12 03/07/07 (0)

Re: Spendor SP 100s and Vandys. - Robert Joe 21:32:39 03/05/07 (1)

SF Amati Homage and Vandersteen. - jsm 12:04:03 03/06/07 (0)

Re: Vandersteen Audio 3A Signature Speakers - krisjan 16:55:21 03/04/07 (0)

Vandersteen Audio 3A Signature Speakers - shosty5 05:05:36 03/04/07 (1)

Love your moniker - one of my favorite Syms (nt) - krisjan 16:56:53 03/04/07 (0)

I Liked Richard Vandersteen - ka7niq 19:15:36 03/03/07 (3)

Re: I Liked Richard Vandersteen - Doublej 19:50:39 03/03/07 (2)

Re: I Liked Richard Vandersteen - ka7niq 20:32:58 03/03/07 (1)

There is a slight inequality here, though - suits_me 19:20:05 03/05/07 (0)

How timely, we ordered a set yesterday - Craiger56 18:17:47 03/03/07 (0)

Follow Ups

A good speaker plays music and does not punish you - Robert Joe 23:17:15 03/06/07 (1)

As I've posted here a number of times... - jsm 11:39:12 03/07/07 (0)

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