Under rated speakers due to price....?


AND the resulting associated equipment?

I have a theory and am interested what others think about it. Is it possible that we underrate some speakers because they sell for a reasonable price and therefor listen to them with similar equipment?

I have a decent system consisting of the Rowland integrated amp, SCD-777ES and normally Aerial Model 6 speakers with a Storm III. I have frequently purchased many "cheap" speakers for second systems and I always try them in the good system just for kicks. Some sound OK, but some sound great. I recently tried a pair of less than $300 (Circuit City price) Polk RT35i speakers in the good system and could not believe how awesome they sounded for 1/10 the price of the Aerials. I could easily see some new high end company selling a similar sounding product for 5 times the price and getting it with happy customers.
I then thought about it - - how often do you hear about 2-500 dollar speakers being paired with a 10k system? Has anyone ever checked the associated equipment in Stereophile's class A speakers against the class B or C's? I didn't have the patience. But I bet as a rule that exotic speakers like Grand Utopias or Pipe Dreams are NOT listened to with low hi-end equipment like the lesser speakers are. If you pair some Vandersteen 2c's or B&W CDM-1's with Boulder amps, (and list the speakers at 10 grand) might people call them "some of the best?"
jimmy2615
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~