Should speakers be the most high-end of your components?

AVI , look at their actives.

 

My new speakers extend down to 21Hz amd although I only gave them their first workout today and they'll need more time to break in, I'm already hearing things that I couldn't hearn using my old speakers

 

Then that's all that counts .

Bill

 

I have some extremely good source components.

However, suppose that in your priority you have an amp that limits the excellent sound of your source, and then you have speakers that limit the already restricted sound of your amp. What's the point?

 

A speaker will always limit the 'sound of the amp'.

 

I think the speakers will complement the sound of a great amp.

 

I'm not sure I understand your point.

 

A speaker will limit the sound of everything.

 

A dealer I respect once noted that a lot of the questions people ask tend to get them going down the wrong paths (which lead them to endless trade ins). bass, treble, imaging, sound stage etc

For every person or reviewer that likes a speaker there will be another who doesn't. Personally, I am not the least bit a fan of the Magnepan sound. I get why people like them but they do nothing for me - and I am hardly alone on this stance. It;s a polarizing speaker to some extent. And yes I like Panels - I chose a King Sound as one of the best 5 at an audio show. Something about ribbons bother me.

Buying a great resolving speaker is all well and good but it may actually sound pretty dreadful if it is bashing you over the head with how bad your amp and source sound. The speaker itself may be very good - but it's the end "SYSTEM" result that matters and the system may ultimately fail.

There are too many trappings in audio with what people/magazines claim to be the "objective" sound that YOU should be after. I have been down the road many times now. Accuracy/Beauty - somewhere in the middle - digital versus analog - pro monitor vs home stereo - passive/active - high efficiency horn/SET amps or massive 12 driver speakers needing 1kilowatt.

It's largely nonsense - what you want to do is take the music you love and that SHOULD emotionally move you and then find something that does it - that can make you cry, that can get you jumping around your house like a lunatic and has that overall "Gestalt" of sounding bang on right. And to be clear Magnepan might very well do this for you as it does for many - but it may also leave you scratching your head.

Try not to go with any budgetary system like the nonsense of spending 30% 30% 20% 15% and 5% or whatever stuff you read. If it brings the system together and gets it right it is worth it - if it doesn't it's not. The piece may in fact work in 9 other systems and not in yours.

I would first start by finding a "general camp" of sound that you like above other camps. For me higher efficiency speakers and Single Ended amplifiers are a rather massive step up from lower efficiency complex crossovers and SS amplifiers and digital amps. And because such amps can;t effectively drive low efficiency complex speakers then all of those speakers get crossed off the list.

 

I am in the same camp.

 

Spot on about synergy, and high efficiency speakers.

 

Well said. It's how it all works together that makes a system magical, be it budget or megabucks.

Imo amp + speakers + room = "a system within a system", and imo how those three work together is particularly critical.

Most of us are stuck with whatever room we have, so it makes sense to choose an amplifier and speaker combination that works well with that room. Even if those two purchases are destined to be years apart, we should have a well thought-out end goal in mind, so that hopefully we haven't painted ourselves into a corner early on. And we shouldn't be surprised if and when that well thought-out end goal changes over time.

 

True enough, I also love my 18watt S.E.T. But now it sits unused on a shelf because I continually found myself backed into a corner as the best speakers I'd hear would always require more power to bring them to life.

 

I agree. I am the only one in my circle of audiophiles here in NYC that is in this camp. I have good friends that have nice Audio Research high powered tube systems with Proac speakers, another with the large Maggies bi-amped with mega watt solid state amps on the bass and tube on the treble. These are all great sounding systems, but they don't touch my soul the way SET amps and high efficiency speakers do. Their owners are happy with them, as they should be. What a boring world it would be if we all had the same taste.

 

How can this discussion have 6 pages? It is really really simple if you have no "beliefs" and are experienced with stereo equipment.

Okej i will spell it out so the confused ones can try and learn - "As good speakers as you can afford that integrates with you listening room in the best possible way"

Yeah, there you have it, even a 1000$ Amp can play music really well, but maybe not that loud..

 

It's not just that, though. I had a very nice Arcam integrated amp (now in the bedroom system) and on the upgrade path I first obtained a nice preamp, a BAT VK50SE. I put that in place, and split the preamp out of the integrated (there is a switch inside) so I was just using the power amp section. The BAT was handling preamp duties.

I was so impressed by the improved sound at my place, and I was using little Paradigm MiniMonitor speakers at the time. It was not a power issue.