Article in The Guaurdian
Interesting to note that they follow a Speakers First approach to audio hierarchy!
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Well, it is article for the general public. And I agree, the speakers are the most important.
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Last Easter, in Japan, we came across a beautiful little cafe, in a forest, run by and elderly couple and serving delicious tea, coffee and cake whilst playing Jazz LPs on a small but good sounding vinyl system. In Kagoshima in the south. Murakami all over, expected talking cats outside.
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I know thereās been a bar with Tannoy Westminster Royals in London for a good manty years, though Iāve never been to it., and donāt know if it is the same place.
As for speaker first, not all of us in hifi succumbed to the source first doctrineā¦
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Hi Brendan - can you tell me where in Kagoshima the listening bar is? My friend lives in Kagoshima city and we visited a Jazz kissa when we were there but I was not aware of the one in the forest. We will return there next year.
The actual quotation about speakers is: āThe main focus that we put towards the public are our speakers, because the speakers are the crown jewels, the showpiece.ā
Thatās not quite the same as saying the speakers are the most important item for SQ.
(Mind you, someone else in the article claims vinyl sounds better, so what do they know? 
)
Mark
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Interesting read, would like to visit something like that - anyone know if there is one in Swansea?
My tongue was firmly in cheek when i paraphrased that bit 
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Despite owning arguably* the best brand of speakers in the world, I still believe in the ārubbish in rubbish outā philosophy regarding audio. Matching speakers to your room is a different matter.
- Ok I realise this is contentious, but why buy speakers unless you believe they are the best at your price point?
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But what sets your price point? Is it 1) I have Ā£X left over after buying rest of system, speakers maybe being like an afterthought, or perhaps 2) Ā£Y feels about right in the context of my system, possibly where Y is a certain percentage of system value, or maybe 3) Ā£Z is the maximum I can afford. Or 4) what are the best sounding speakers that I could conceivably afford now, or save for in the next couple of years while managing with something nondescript in the meantime, or maybe buy on credit?
The GiGo, albeit RiRo in your words, coined from the computing industry, is patently meaningless in respect of a music system, where information is limited by the weakest link, wherever in the system that is, while sound character, the subjective feel of a system, is directly linked to enjoyment,
I did some digging, and the bar in London Iād been aware of before was the same place, Spiritland, but when I last saw a picture the speakers were plain (if thatās not a misnomer! Tannoy Westminster Royals, without the additional multicell horn on top as in the linked Guardian article photo. That additional horn will boost the HF, which in hifi terms would be unbalanced, though with a lot of absorbing bodies in the venue they might be needed.
There was another thread on this back in 2023:
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It does, thanks. Much appreciated.
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I agree with you that the weakest link does limit information but if the weakest link is the source then the rest of the system is hamstrung by this, hence my belief that the source is key. Get everything right upstream then your speakers of choice will be able to deliver more of your choice of music. As I have improved my system, my ATC 40s have delivered much more than they did when my sources and amplifiers were not as good as they are now. I agree with you fully about the subjective feel of the system being key to enjoyment.
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