Would you buy speakers with out first listening ?

While I am one of the biggest advocates of auditioning a loudspeaker there is, if the right pair of Apogees came up for sale, I think I'd buy them sound unheard (going on the recommendation of people I REALLY trust).

You know Trelja...I think you would be OK with that move as long as you had a fairly large room.

That said...I had my Apogee Centaur Minors (still do) a good while before I bought my Duetta Signatures..Took over a year to find a pair close enough for a listen before I shelled out the cash.

I should have known that I would like them, still...I waited.

Now waiting for a local pair of Scintilla.

Dave

Back in my "civilian" days, I bought speakers without listening to them first on several occasions, generally with good results.

If you count all my DIY projects (which I had to pay for before hearing), then that would add another fifty or so. Results here were mixed - most of my own designs sucked.

I would say the key to buying speakers unheard is to first know yourself - know what you like and what you don't like a loudspeaker to do, and know what you're willing to compromise if you have to. Second, it helps to understand speaker design to the point where you can make a reasonable assessment of what a given design will and will not do based on objective data - especially as it relates to your priorities (what you like & don't like). Finally, you can give credance to rave reviews, but I have found this to be an unreliable predictor of whether or not I will fall in love with a given loudspeaker.

Duke

"Science is not a democracy" - Earl Geddes

Actually, Duke, that's an excellent piece of written advice (if I may say so)! Cheers!

It's my opinion that you have never heard speakers even if you audition them. Every other factor is different. The room you listen in, your amp/preamp or integrated, your cd player, your turntable, your cartridge, your speaker cables, your interconnects are all different and in some case where people have small odd shaped rooms with windows, doors and furniture in them, very, very different. I find buying audio equipment one of the most difficult things I have ever tried to do. I think that if your research finds a consensus of people liking a component, that's as good as you can get.