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Am I the only one who thinks B&W is mid-fi?

I know that title sounds pretencious. By all means, everyones taste is different and I can grasp that. However, I find B&W loudspeakers to sound extremely Mid-fi ish, designed with sort of a boom and sizzle quality making it not much better than retail quality brands. At price point there is always something better than it, something musical, where the goals of preserving the naturalness and tonal balance of sound is understood. I am getting tired of people buying for the name, not the sound. I find it is letting the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. In these times of dying 2 channel, and the ability to buy a complete stereo/home theater at your local blockbuster, all of the brands that should make it don't. Most Hi-fi starts with a retail system and with that type of over-processed, boom and sizzle sound (Boom meaning a spike at 80Hz and sizzle meaning a spike at 10,000Hz). That gives these rising enthuists a false impression of what hi-fi is about. Thus, the people who cater to that falseified sound, those who design audio, forgetting the passion involved with listening, putting aside all love for music just to put a nickle in the pig...Well are doing a good job. Honestly, it is just wrong. Thanks for the read...I feel better. Prehaps I just needed to vent, but I doubt it. Music is a passion of mine, and I don't want to have to battle in 20 yrs to get equipment that sounds like music. Any comments?
mikez
ohlala
993 posts
 
From your description of the Linns is sounds like you listen to CDs. If you listen to LP, you may be dissapointed in comparison to other speakers (i was) that have more realistic dimensions to their sound, and a more extended frequency range. I can live without complaint without low bass, but the typical Linn is sad at the top (but not as sad as Ruark). If your reference is restricted to certain unamped events, I am sure the Linns will not reveal thier weakness too much. The inaccurate tonal balance that is their solution to long-term happiness runs in to a brick wall with Rock & orchestra. And Rock which to you has no reference, would be acceptable if the store was to offer a pair for half off. So, I agree with you, $700 is not bad. I am actually thinking about getting a pair for my dear mum, who just moved in to a house. She would like their politeness and ability to keep a good beat. As far as 'midrange clarity', what I think you mean is different from what I heard ( alot). Linns chase down every note and put a big stamp on them. Less colored than some, but more than others.
neubilder
129 posts
 
My Keilidhs sound better with my TT than my CDP - though I do mostly listen to CD's. I listen to a lot of small scale chamber music, jazz, tango, folk, orchestral, as well as electronica, wall-of-sound rock like Radiohead and Pulp, and occasionally pounding ambient electronica like Leftfield, underworld, faultline and even some metal like tool. They sound as good playing vinyl with fast beats and lots of deep bass as they do playing solo piano or a baroque chamber ensemble. Right now I am listening to Dvorak's Symphonic poems (on CD) with some very loud complex passages. The sense of scale you can get from a full scale orchestra played on big full range speakers is lacking in terms of thundering bass, but they still do well in other respects. They don't try to do anything that a speaker in this range can not realistically achieve.

Ohlala what would you recommend to someone with my tastes that would outperform the Linns for a similar price. If I could afford them (and if I didn't move around so much) I would probably look for a pair of big Pro-ac response 2.5's, Aerial 7's, Joseph's, or Audio Physic Virgos, but with my relatively modest budget don't you think that these beat the competition hands down? (at least when comparing apples to apples) (Please don't mention B&W's because I've been down that road and they just don't cut it for me.)
kalan
185 posts
 
What did the Linn Keilidhs cost new? Let's compare retail-to-retail prices--even though the Keilidhs are now discontinued (right?).

Otherwise, we should be comparing used Joseph prices to used Linn prices.
neubilder
129 posts
 
The Keilidhs were 1500$ USD.
ohlala
993 posts
 
"Ohlala what would you recommend to someone with my tastes that would outperform the Linns for a similar price."

That was my point. If your taste is Linn and alike, then it easy to say they are The best speaker. I bought Hales instad of Ninkas, but not because of your version of my preconceptions. Although they have their drawbacks, the Revelations use a smaller stamp. In a small room, however, the Ninkas probably have an advantage. Also, if you get a chance, listen to a pair of Magnepans. And BTW - ProAc floorstanders are also quite high on my to-buy-when-I-start-making-real-money list.
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