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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
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
2,766 posts
 
You will never find perfect sound.  What sounds great to some will not sound great for others.  I heard a system that went for 500K and thought it totally sucked.  Many others who heard it felt the same. 
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jdub071
48 posts
 
Can't compare speakers to headphones--headphones are a pain in the ass to use all the time but for critical listening I put on my Sennheiser HD600's. Best I can afford but they are not influenced by room as most all speakers are.  What I like about speakers is good soundstage and dynamics and to hell with accuracy. Back in the day when I went to live concerts I was disappointed in the live performances because they lacked the subleties of studio recordings--not always but sometimes not to mention the wall of sound at about the threshold of pain. My ears were never the same after a Santana concert and I can't even imagine wanting to see AC-DC live.
nekoaudio's avatar
nekoaudio
105 posts
 
If the problem is with timing accuracy, you may want to try out some DSP solutions that address timing as a function of frequency reproduction. Devialet's Speaker Active Matching (SAM) does that. So does Dirac Live Room Correction Suite (which covers the entire chain, including the room). Of course the room should be acoustically friendly.

Some people do not like the result, but on balance I've found that people are extremely pleased when they first hear the improvements possible.

You may also find the Stereophile step response measurements helpful. You can compare the Kef Blade Two to B&W, Revel, Vivid, etc.
ieales's avatar
ieales
297 posts
 
for example multiple sets of speakers aka resonators, Linn knew this back in the 80s
This myth was debunked back in the 80s with Ivor as the listener: "The second test, also single-blind, used a Linn "Kan" loudspeaker as the undriven transducer. Again the female vocalist was used as source material. The loudspeaker lay on the thickly-carpeted floor behind the listening couch. It was placed either on its side (the "uncovered" condition) or on its face (the "covered" condition) according to a random series of choices. Ten trials were conducted during which Tiefenbrun achieved a score of 5 correct out of 10. Again, this demonstrates no discrimination ability beyond what one would expect purely on the basis of chance." from  https://www.bostonaudiosociety.org/bas_speaker/abx_testing2.htm

@kenjit What you are hearing is phase error. Vertical baffle speakers are the worst offenders. Since you are particularly sensitive, look at speakers with minimum phase error. Vandersteen and Wilson are a two that attend to this very real defect.

Most manufacturers ignore the issue. Most dealers, reviewers and the overwhelmingly vast majority of 'audiophiles' have no clue what you are talking about. They have also never heard what is on the recording!

It's not the frequency. It's the Time!

BTW, are you a musician?
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