How do you know what a good speaker is?


Frequency response for high end speakers at every price level is usually relatively flat. The differences in audible sound quality reported by audiophiles is disproportionate to the differences in frequency response between different speakers therefore frequency response cannot be a very significant factor in what we're hearing.
Distortion is usually below 0.5% so again the same reasoning applies.
I'm not convinced that polar response is quite as important as is sometimes claimed. 

If you look at the specs of most ultra high end loudspeakers,  there's no hard evidence provided by the manufacturers to justify their claims that their speaker is vastly superior.
And if there was it would need to be independently verified.

So how does the consumer know how close any given loudspeaker is to the ideal loudspeaker? How do we know how close a loudspeaker is to recreating the sound of a violin, cello, piano, human voice, or anything else? 

What makes a magico vastly different from a yg or Wilson? On the other hand if the difference between these speakers is extremely small then why is there such a discrepancy in opinions and why do we need a yg and a magico and Wilson and tidal audio and b&w etc on the market if they're all so similar?  







kenjit
But the 'true' sound of an instrument does not translate well with electric instruments. Once saw Andy Summers on a TV documentary make synthesized piano notes with his guitar demonstrating that with the available tech, he could generate any sound he wanted to with his guitar.
Agreed with @shadorne.  Harbeth comes to mind with their classic design that haven’t changed much but updated with kept up with new development in technology....
For the most part, all speakers designed for HiFi are "good" speakers provided they are in good working order.  What you really need to determine is "what's good for you."  Consider your room size, application, and listening preferences.  If you are building a system, I recommend starting with speakers, then selecting complementary electronics.  You will end up with entirely different systems if you are designing for a small room and listening to chamber music late at night vs. a large party room where you are playing rock music at high volumes.  If you listen by yourself from a designated listening position you will likely choose something different than if you have music on as background music and are moving about.

Then there are practical considerations and aesthetics.  Most of us need to choose speakers that are deemed acceptable to other family members and "fit" into the room's decor and furniture arrangement.  Speakers often need to be child-proof and pet-proof.  Many times it is impractical to optimally place speakers, and they must go against a wall or in corners.  Often home users need something that will integrate into their home theater.

Some speakers, like the Harbeths mentioned in another post, are fairly good "all-arounders".  But you still need to apply due diligence in selecting the right size and placement.  If flexibility is needed, sometimes a 2.1 system with one or two subs can be easier to integrate into a challenging room.

Essentially, there are no "bad" speakers.  Just bad systems.
To me a good speaker is one that I really enjoy listening to and equally as important I want a speaker that will sound better with each upgrade I can afford to add, whether that is a better amplifier preamplifier Dac even a cable upgrade. I want a speaker that will sound mellow with a mellow sounding amplifier or sound bright with a bright sounding amplifier. If the amp has higher resolution I want to hear it. If the amp is not very good I want to hear that. 

That has been my experience and it works for me.
Speakers are First Personal because everyones ears are different.
They should also have Transparency.
A Speaker should sound like the sound is Not Coming from them.
They should sound like you are listening in Person.