Under rated speakers due to price....?

Tweekerman: I'm not sure if that comment was directed at me or you. But anyway, FWIW, I have started re-evaluating planars for my own system in the past couple of weeks. They do do a lot of things well. And now that I have a separate room for the system, I would actually give a planar justice, in regards to room placement. I am especially interested in the maggie 3.6's. I'm glad to here the ML's work so well for you.

Aroc no the ML's don't work for me. the ML's, INNERSOUND's EROS, and the SOUNDLAB's are all heavy drinkers so you are forced to get big megawatt mamas. so if you want ESL sound you are limited as to amp you can use. maggies as well are famous drinkers. and i'v heard the 1.6's with a rogue amp and a big nad. was not impressed. however i've heard and just called a second QUAD dealer both told me not so with the QUAD 988. both said the QUAD was in another league (one dealer respected the sound lab) so to answer jimmy2615's question there are lots of exceptional electronics out there but very few good speakers. and thats why all these disscusions are supposed to help guide us toward what speaker is best for us. now comfedboy surely you can't disagree with that. ...Aroc from all that i've read the QUADs deserve research as well as a california lab called VMP deserves attention. never heard but the model RIBBON MONITOR 1 $1600 really looks nice.

I have a pair of KEF Q60 speakers that have a tremendous soundstage, imaging, and detail. I listen primarily to jazz and they do the job perfectly. A high price tag on the speakers does not mean they are going to sound better. That is a manufacturer and salesman psych! You can get a pair of Epos ES14 speakers that will blow some of the high end competition out of the water! I have had several high end speakers, Logans, B&W, Sonus Faber, Revel, and I discovered a few months back that the "tag" is not what you are listening to, the speaker is. It is a mental game played by audiophiles, primarily to impress their audiophile friends. The "name game". I have choked back laughter in audio stores listening to buyers spew out high end names and saying that this is better than that, yada yada, yada. If blind-folded and listening to speakers, you would be amazed at what your ears would pick. Unfortunately, there are many variables that interfere when listening to speakers. Amps, pre-amps, cd players, cables, are never the same as yours in the stores so the speakers take on a different sound. If you have a dealer that will let you take the speakers home to audition, that would be the ideal situation. I have dealer that has allowed me that luxury, and because of this I began to realize that you don't have to refinance your house to have good sounding speakers! So don't be limited by the price tag, just listen...
Michael

A couple of things.Judit said that Vanderteen's don't respond to electronic improvements the way her (his?) 805's do so some speakers like the 2Ci are great speakers for somebody who is not going go beyond mid if electronics wise.Second is power.One of the best deals out there is the Maggie 1.6 (oe even the 3.6).But these need POWER to sound as good as they can.It's not just that SET's should not apply any solid state less than 120 better 200 watts should not apply.And then there is th quality issue.Part of it is that were snobs and won't give the mass marketers a try.But many of them have gone into home theatre deamds as opposed to music.Still companies like paradigm and Infinity have been getting reviewed but the ones getting the attention are the 2K plus models.I think it behooves us to here the less expensive stuff.I have a pair of $3000 monitors I keep for spairs.But I can't see to `selling my B&W 302's.They are so good I keep them for use in a mini system and have way more sound to the dollar than my $6500 semi horn loads.Again we should listen to them and know what we dom aboutb them because we have each other and a few demnted freinds but why not have recomendations for the vast numbers of folks who think that anything over a grand for a whole system is nuts.We audiophiles leave these people to Bose which does nothing to promote interest in our insane hobby.

The worst thing you can do is listen to any magizine. The best thing you can do is trust you own ear. SURE! we would all likea 100,000 dollar refrence system, but who can really afford that?! I have found many great speakers out there for under $500 that are great. My fav. so far is the Cambridge Soundworks Bookshelf....I cannot rememebr the model#, but it is there smallest one. Listen on...
~Z~