Douglas, and Community... It is true, he is not paying me to say these things. (Interesting idea though) I hope by those comments the community doesn't think that the only opinion that matters to me are those of Douglas schroeder. What I meant was that not knowing the backround of a person can make it hard to know what their version of good or great is. It may be that the best listening experience they've ever had was through a pair of Fisher floor standing speaker's, the ones with those big ol 15" woofers. Of course they would be impressed with the HD's, even if they weren't any good. (By audiophile standards) So their opinion would not be of much value to me. Of course, I would imagine that most people with a Fisher quality sound system dosen't wake up in the morning saying to themselves "You know, I really have to get around to auditioning those $7000 Legacy's some day". I doubt many of them would have an opinion to share in the first place. So by that logic, the community could argue that I never could have been referring to them, and therefore, must have been referring to the community when I made that comment. I assure you I wasn't, my mistake. The fact that you belong to this community in the first place tells me you have an interest and therefore a knowledge thats above the average person. So I would consider and value everyones opinion here. By the way, I have nothing against people with lousy sound systems. Maybe they cant afford it, or it just isn't their thing. Either one doesn't make them bad people. I can certainly relate to the "can't afford it" part. Considering my first speaker upgrade took place at around the age of nine, (That was a beauty) and now some forty years later I've moved all the way up to the Altec's. Wow! With that kind of progress I could have been in Congress. Of course I always wanted to upgrade quicker, just couldn't afford it.
I can definatly understand your frustration with the imigration issue. Now it looks as though there will be some kind of immunity for those that are here illegally. It is a complex issue, but if they do that, it would be like punishing those like yourselfs who have gone through the trouble and expense of doing it right, and rewarding those who didn't.
"Can a speaker create an emotionally equivalent feeling of experiencing something of tremendous beauty in the sonic realm?" (You ask) Absolutly. Of course it depends on what your feeding it. It's the music that really creates the magic. Most of the garbage being written today that I hear on the radio certainly wont get me to Lake Louise, no matter how good the system. And I'm telling you if that stuff were the only music available for me to listen to, I wouldn't spend so much as $50 on a set of speakers. But no problem, there's loads of music out there that can take you to Lake Louise and wherever else you want to go, you just need a system that will allow it to do so. The greatest music in the world isn't going to transport you very far if your hearing it through a 1960's vintage Global, model GR-711, transistor radio. Don't get me wrong, I love my Global model GR-711 transistor radio, with metal grill, revearse painted plastic, and emergancy civil defense marking's on the dial. But it isn't going to get the job done.
Before I was made aware of the Legacy speakers, I was considering buying a Valodyne Digital Drive DD-18 Subwoofer, to deal with the issues I'm having with my lack of Bass. It probably would have done that, but at a cost of around $5000, and I still would be stuck with the Altec's. How great would it be if the Legacys, for a bit more money, could solve not only my bass problem, but the rest of the spectrum as well. Mind you I'm still aware of the serious room problems I have, and the benefit that better components will give me. I hope to give the Legacy's a listen this week