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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
kenjit OP
101 posts
 
I think there are two problems. Firstly you don't get much sound quality for your money. Secondly the level of sound quality is just nowhere near perfect even when you spend $100k.

Is that basically the problem I'm facing?
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
1,368 posts
 
It is going to be hard to make speakers sound like earbuds.  If you like the sound of earbuds why not listen to them?
kenjit OP
101 posts
 
@tomcy6 

Because I'm talking about a specific part of the sound not the overall sound.

The earbuds may get the time cohesion correct but may suffer from high distortion or other unwanted features.

On the other hand, high end speakers may have a super flat response and low distortion but the timing is all wrong.

I think this is why I'm hearing differences.

Earbuds may also have less coloration than a big box which can vibrate.

Earbuds do not have a crossover. They are time perfect. 

This could the key difference but there's no way to prove it.

The kef blades are based on trying to achieve a perfect point source. Maybe that's why they sounded closest to the earbuds?
ivan_nosnibor's avatar
ivan_nosnibor
782 posts
 
You could be on the right track with this reasoning, but I warn you, this kind of dissatisfaction is what led me to break down and design my own speakers around active crossovers, because I knew I could never really find what I wanted in existing speakers. But, honestly I can tell you from experience that this would be Beast project for most people to undertake, and that finally winding up on top of all that could take you years...it's daunting to me even now that I've done it, so if you find yourself contemplating such a thought, I think you should try to eliminate every other possibility first. 

I might start with placement.
bjesien
614 posts
 
You know that there is a wide spectrum of people that enjoy audio.  I know people that dance when they hear a song on a supermarket speaker and others that sit still and take in all the qualities of the same recording alone in a chair in a perfect triangle to the speakers with $100,000 worth of cables and little bowls carefully placed all around the room.  
No one is better than the other if you feel the music in your soul.  Different sure, educational, maybe, waste of time, probably.  To each his own.
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