If your high end speakers have these issues well they probably aren’t so “high end” after all.
You’d hope that your money gets spent somewhere.
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Large Living Voice (?) horns in a tiny room at a hotel based hi-fi show in the 90s. Sublime after all the harsh sounds elsewhere.
ESL63s round a friend of a friend’s. Initially not very impressive, but as the ear adapts to the lack of colouration and bass boom they just sounded better and better as the evening wore on!
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Yes you’re right that these problems cause distortion which then leads to a less accurate sound reproduction.
However, I’m talking about the enjoyment factor not accuracy. I don’t fully understand why Naim sounds the way it does, I just know I enjoy it very much.
I don’t know the science behind why I didn’t enjoy the Audiovector R8 driven by a non Naim integrated amplifier as much as I enjoyed Bowers Wilkins 685 on my olive Naim system.
This is an age old argument though and I guess there are many people in either camp that would strongly argue their case as we are now.
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Apertura Enigma 2. With 500 series and also Gryphon Essence.
Kharma Exquisite with Lamm electronics and Metronome player .
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2 very different systems. First back in the 90s when I still had a local dealer. Went in one day and listened to a naim 5 a cd transport probably naim or Linn and entry level Linn speakers. Really really good as I remember it. About 15 years later at my current dealer a demo with Audiovector r11, Naim 500 system also cd 555. this was the best system I have ever heard as I rememnber it also much more enjoyable than a later demo with statement and Focal speakers at HQ.
But such demo events also tend to be influenced by many other factors. The company you are in your mood, the quality of the alcohol and so on.
Claus
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SBLs. Speaker of choice since 1988.
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Heybrook HB1 - not all cheap standmounts sound unconvincing and thin!
I used HB1s (on Linn Sara stands) from 1984 to the end of 2018. Loved them, and still have them, I would never get rid of 'em. Fantastic speakers.
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I had HB1s for years. They just kept rewarding improvements upstream. Ran for quite a while with a quite serious LP12 and Roksan amps feeding a this £150 pair of speakers. They are on permanent loan to a friend. Bought them in 83 I think.
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For me at least, there is nothing like them, even to this day.
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Years ago, when I was just getting into Naim, I was invited to listen to DBLs. Dealer was swapping out active 135’s for 500’s. I was blown away and bought a pair a few years later. My favorite speaker of all time.
Current WOW speakers: ProAc K6 Signatures. Stewart Tyler was a genius speaker designer.
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High-end just refers to price, not competence. I’ve heard plenty of massive boxes that use the most exquisite materials over the years that have poorly controlled bass, midranges that don’t time and shrieking treble etc notwithstanding the radical designs and next gen materials. Likewise there are plenty of simple two-way monitors with decent construction, simple crossovers and modest materials that communicate far more effectively. Admittedly a full-range speaker has greater challenges to rise to within the constraints of a domestic environment, but high-end speakers like high-end electronics are only ever a guarantee of a product’s effect on the purchaser’s bank balance not its music making abilities.
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Well this is exactly why I used the term “high quality” in my original post rather than “high end”. I don’t really like the term “high end”. It means nothing, other than the fact that your price will be “High end” also.
My point was that low cost speakers will have many compromises that will mean expensive electronic components won’t perform at their best.
Now I’m not talking about small speakers that are also high quality. Take the Tab 10 sig for example. Yes low cost compared to larger speakers but It’s quite expensive for a very small box. It has high quality drivers from scanspeak and seas and likely a well designed crossover. Once you scale that quality up though, things get expensive.
Swap the tab 10 for something half its price and you will likely hear a difference. I know price doesn’t guarantee anything but more often than not, you are likely paying for some improvements.
For me, I’ve done the testing. I’m much happier with high quality larger speakers and what some would call mediocre components (uniti Nova) than the reverse.
However, I completely understand that others feel differently.
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That’s a very nice system with a beautiful view!
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Indeed, as is necessary for decent speakers that don’t diminish the low bass, because that is where the design and construction are far more challenging. There is a very odd tendency to disdainfully refer to systems with decent full range speakers, inevitably costing a much larger proportion of system cost, as mullets.
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Those DBLs are still a classic design. I love the aesthetic of them. I love the 80s design language
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Wilson audio SASHA DAW powered by Spectral source and pre/power amps
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Like a few other members, Linn Kans were my first wow speakers. Never heard Isobariks or Saras back then. Still not heard active Saras/Briks.
The only other speaker to impress me was the Linn Akurate 242 but I was really hearing an entire Klimax system for the first time when I’d not been to a dealership in 10+ years so HiFi had made a step on in terms of clarity and definition.
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The first WOW speakers that I owned were a pair of EPOS ES11’s powered by CYRUS 8 pre/power combo… They just sounded so much more grown-up than the Missions they were replacing.
The next real WOW for me was a pair of Image 414’s (beautifully hand-made here in NZ by a guy called Chris Ball, driven by a gagilianwatt plinius amp). My first-floor standers and were just spectacular.
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I’m slightly suspicious of “wow” moments at least as a basis for choosing hifi. What sounds really astonishing at a particular time and with particular music does not invariably translate into long-term satisfaction at home, at least in my experience. But just occasionally it does.
A relatively recent wow moment for me was the first time I heard active ATCs (SCM100s IIRC). That led to 12 months of auditioning including a couple of weeks in my lounge before ordering my current SCM40s, which have given me three years of musical satisfaction. Even now, occasionally, some aspect of a performance will catch my attention, perhaps a soloist in the depths of a choir who is just standing there at the end of the living room. That’s another wow in my book.
Roger
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