|
Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
|
|
|
Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
|
In Reply to: This does not mean that Harbeth is the only good speaker out there. posted by Bob Neill on August 3, 2009 at 15:26:36:
The fact that one given listener who mostly listens to rock buys Harbeth and is happy with them proves exactly that, and not a damn thing more.
Surveys "prove" that Christian women who were virgins when they married are "happier" with their sex lives than porno starlets are.
Or, to tone down the rhetoric a bit, researchers for Ford Motor were confounded in the mid-1960s to find that handling was both the "best" and "worst" feature survey respondents cited for their new Ford Mustangs.
Duuh. If you owned a Buick and traded it on a Mustang, holey schemoley.
However, if you traded an MGA in on a Mustang, what a joke.
Does my point begin to emerge from the murk?
Most companies will be happy to ship most speakers to me for an evaluation listen. And yet, however hard I work, there are lots of speakers I have never heard and am not likely to. Altec-Lansing's repro "Voice of the Theater" is special-order only. They don't want to build a pair and have it come back B-stock. JBL's $60,000 Anniversary speaker, I would not even ask for. MBL's biggest unitary omnis are tempting, but again, what, $69,000? My personal best was the $40,000 ESP Concert Grands. So what can a consumer do? How many guys can tell their wives, we are going to spend $1000 on planefare and hotel to go hear some speakers?
In the car business, the commonplace is that a salesman needs to give three test drives before he sells one car, because most people have the time, interest, and patience to put up with three test drives before they give up and buy the best one they happened to drive.
I sure as hell have not heard about a slew or a bevy of rock tracking studios changing over to Harbeths!!!
As far as your idea, a fond dream of mine was that Stereophile could have let each writer have one room at a Home Entertainment Show, and everybody would be under the same economic rule, whether it be $15,000 or $25,000, and invite products to make up their idea of a great system for a given price--new products only, no lucky finds on Audiogon. Apart from all the other issues, the current economic climate makes sure that will remain a dream.
I must say that hearing a Jerry Bruck recording of a Mahler/Wheeler 10th symphony live performance played back on Audio Note $19,000 bookshelf speakers remains one of the most memorable listening sessions in my life.
To return to the first subject, one of the most perceptive things Ken Kessler ever said was, "If something sounds good on Tuesday, it still sounds good on Wednesday."
A rocker who stops his speaker hunt at Harbeth might not have found the Platonic Ideal Rock Speaker at a Given Price. But: Really "good enough" is "really good enough."
JM
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- Really "good enough" is "really good enough" - John Marks 18:09:07 08/03/09 (1)
- Just finished listening to B-52's "Party Out of ..... - MWE 19:14:18 08/03/09 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
