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Cannot find perfect sound

I've been listening to supposedly some of the finest speakers that currently exist. These include b&w 800 Series, revel high end, vivid audio, Psi audio and kef blades.

None except the kef blades satisfied my high level standards.

When I play my reference tracks on cheap earbuds I hear timing accuracy that is missing on all the above speakers. Only the kef blades came closest to what I hear from cheap earbuds. 

Explanations please?

I really suspect that none of these high end speakers are accurately reproducing the sound on my CDs despite all the marketing claims about accuracy and high quality sound.

What could there possibly be that my cheap earbuds can do that eludes these super high end speakers?  

I'm not so eager anymore to spend any money until I have a good explanation.

kenjit
audiokinesis
1,872 posts
 

"Anyone who's genuinely interested in experiencing great sound from loudspeakers must be willing to do the work required in the room."

Good point.  If the goal is indeed "perfect sound", consider how much effort goes into the acoustics of a good recital hall, wherein the unamplified voices and instruments naturally start out projecting "perfect sound".  

What might make the most sense is engaging the services of a professional acoustician.  Let me suggest Jeff Hedback, a many-times award-winning acoustician who is still affordable.  http://www.hdacoustics.net/

I have stopped trying to armchair quarterback the acoustic treatment of people's rooms after witnessing how much better job a professional acoustician can do.  Simply adding absorption to a room is like randomly adding resistance to a crossover.  Just as a crossover calls for the right amounts of inductance or capacitance or resistance in the right places, so too in our rooms call for the right amounts of diffusion or reflection or absorption in the right places. 

Duke

enliten
38 posts
 
It's so funny you guys are all trying to 'fix' this guy...

So there's no perfect sound - even the real thing is not 'perfect' 
I know I face the pitfalls of live music ALL THE TIME even purely acoustic.

So audio is a mirror to the soul - what are you really trying to prove here?

It's a path of self expression from another's self expression - this ain't like math or something - its all fuzzy. Can you find a path for happiness or are you setting yourself and all of us up for failure anyway?

There's plenty of jaw dropping sound out there, is just not obvious and on the surface in this day and age. Are you willing to do the walking? Or is there something underlying this all... Think about it.

Many times the best for you is what you do with your own hands without listening to all the noise of other people's viewpoints. Your work tailored by your own biases and viewpoints. A LOT of people have found this out.

Think about it, that's where all this 'hifi' started anyway...
kenjit OP
101 posts
 
Of course the room is important however if you hear problems in the mids that only occur with one speaker but not others no matter what room you're in, then it must be the speaker itself. 


enliten
38 posts
 
Here I am, 'OM' coming from speakers... I though of an experiment for you:

Take those speakers you're disappointed with and put them outside somewhere you can - along with some version of your gear you can move. Don't get too wound up about the techie stuff...

You will be blown away. It's ILLUMINATING

Don't get too tripped up from the loss of bass but listen to the midrange 'timing' or 'pacing' you're complaining about.... on high end speakers I bet the resonances and smearing you hear are GONE. Speakers in this day and age typically aren't the problem now adays...
kenjit OP
101 posts
 
@enliten 

Of course I've done that already. I can still hear all the same problems it's actually easier to hear without the room now.




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