Choosing Speakers
 

After reading the posts in the XR 200 thread I thought I would start a new thread where we could discuss the issues related to selecting speakers for our systems.

I thought some of the last posts touched on a few of the problems we face in finding the a speaker that fulfills the majority of our expectations.
Here is an initial list that I have come up with. Feel free to add your own. Remember not everyone will have to deal with every issue.
1) Does the speaker hit the right buttons when you first hear it?
2) Does it fit into your room?
3) Do you like the way it looks? Does it have WAF?
4) Does it fit you pocket book?
5) even if you have no problem affording the gear, are you willing to pay a lot extra for those small improvements you get for those dollars?
6) Can you take the hit if once you get it into your system and it does not work, then you must sell them?
7) Will your current gear allow you to get the most from your selection?

Here are some of the problems we face in purchasing the best speaker for our needs.
1) Not every speaker we would like to hear is carried by a dealer close to our homes.
2) If you find a dealer who has the speakers, he may be driving them with gear that is very different than what you have in your home?
3) No matter what it sounds like in the showroom, it is going to sound different in your room.
4) It is very difficult although not impossible to get a dealer to allow you to demo the speakers in your home.
5) If is very difficult to A-B two speakers especially when the optimal spot for each speaker is approximately the same.

I think that these are good starting points for discussion. I have some other points but I think they will come out as we proceed.

Jim,
You've mentioned all great points. The biggest issues around the problem list revolve around the unique variables of the listening room and the components therein. Short of having a demo of each speaker you're seriously considering in your own room, you'll always ask yourself "is this the best?". That being said, it shouldn't get in the way of enjoying what you've got, whether you're at the beginning of your journey or been at it for decades.

I think if the speakers in question sounds good in a bad room then it should be solid in my room.

Jim,

You have given your post alot of thought, all good points. I don't think you missed anything except sometimes you just want something different :D

I had a pretty good discussion with one dealer a week ago. My position is that you are probably going to have to select a speaker that you have heard at a dealer, a friends home or at a show without ever having it in your home. If you like the general sound in one of these locations then when you get it home you can begin working with the other gear, your cabling, your room acoustics to get it sounding good. You may have to swap some of those out to get it just where you want it.

You are right sometimes we just want a change.

I used to have a few pairs of speakers to switch around from time to time but I kept going back to my JM Lab as reference. I still have some bookselfs speakers to fool around with but not big ones. If you can keep two or three pairs around for when you feel like changing things up you can without buying new ones. I do that with amps & pre-amps too.

Jim.......It is interesting how little emphases was placed on sound in your original lists. I agree that many of the points expressed carry various levels of importance, but for me, it is not about just hitting the right buttons during an audition, or fitting in the room, or being bless by a significant other, it is about thoroughly satisfying my hunger for a low distortion, wide dynamics, full range audio performance. It goes without saying for most of us, cost is often the most prominent constraint in the decision making process. Unchecked by budget restrictrictions, we would all simply choose the speaker of our dreams, and the remaining dilemmas would be dealt with as an after thought.

Dan
I am not sure if I am consciously thinking about distortion or dynamics as separate from the overall sound and presentation when I first audition a speaker.

How long would the speaker of our dreams remain so. Mine has changed a few times over the last couple of years.

Jim.......That's a good question. To be perfectly honest with you, I don't really have a dream speaker in mind. I have a dream room, but not a dream speaker, at least not at this time.