Are loudspeakers that different?

...every speaker is designed for a particular listening room. for every speaker the amp must be matched to it's maximum perfection. Larger more expencive speakers are for larger rooms. If one listening room occupies 2 floors and has 2000 sQft area than you'll probably need Genesis 1.1 to fill it with the air. At the same time if you will place the same Genesis onto the 200 sqFt room with low ceiling you might not bring to yourself a desirable result meaning that you'd probably better off with under $6000 speakers for the very very best.

Thus I believe that there is a limit of spending that depends on the size of room and listening position beyond which you will not get improvements.

There are huge differences between all audio components, check out opinions here on Audiogon thread archives and try www.audioasylum.com for more information about the differences between various speakers and cd players.

Sdcampbell is entirely correct. Speakers exhibit by far more variability than any other component in the audio chain. The winds of audiophile fashion have blown from various quarters over the years. Right now the fashion is to say, "The source is everything," which sounds good but just ain't so. You'll hear people say, "A good source can make a cheap speaker sound good," and that is true up to a rather limited point. But the electronics will not change the essential CHARACTER of the sound that the speakers produce. Read the endless threads about single-driver versus multi-driver systems, or about e'statics versus dynamics or about ported versus closed-box versus TL versus horn cabinet designs. Any of these designs, well executed, can produce glorious sound but the character of that sound will tend to be different on the basis of the fundamental characteristics of the designs, themselves. If a horn speaker sounds hooty (the "Winchester Cathedral" sound) with one set of electronics, then it will sound hooty with every set of electronics. If a Lowther design truncates the ends of the frequency spectrum in favor of a delicious midrange, then various electronics might make a little difference, but not a whole lot because the foundational characteristics of the sound of a Lowther system are bounded by the design of the driver, not the electrons coursing through it.

I'm from time to time bemused to visit the homes of new or old audiophile friends and find them listening to hideously expensive electronics, cables, and power systems played through cheap speakers, saying as they do so, "Well, you know, the source is everything." Then they come to my house, where they hear good but not splendiferous electronics (Belles, Rega, etc.) played through absolutely fantastic speakers. And their eyes pop out. Not that my system is the be-all-and-end-all of everything by any means, but simply because they discover how much impact on the sound of the system depends on the speakers.

Let me just close on an objectivist note here, because I know some of y'all are itching to get to the bottom of this post and start writing rebuttals. :) The literature is replete with instances in which critical listeners in short-term ABX trials have been unable to differentiate among various amplifiers or preamps or cables or other source-related elements. Now, without going into all the interesting things that could, can, and will be said about the limitations of ABX testing, keep in mind that virtually EVERYONE, in ABX speaker comparisons, can reliably differentiate among different speakers. That's a telling point.

But, hey, when all is said and done do what gives you pleasure and satisfaction. That is, or should be, the name of the audio game.

Good luck and let us know what you choose.

will

Hi, "Bishop":

It's always nice to find someone else who shares my opinions (grin)...

The one point I failed to make in my original post, which is an important factor in speaker design, is the importance of the enclosure. Every other aspect of a speaker's design can be good, but if the cabinet is too resonant, or has diffractive edges, or etc., etc., etc., then the speaker is not going to sound good.

More money for a speaker usually ensures better cabinets -- but not always. Sometimes, more money just buys nicer cosmetic touches, such as really beautiful rosewood veneer. In a number of audio articles I've read over the past 5 years, various writers have commented that the cost of the speaker's cabinet can account for up to 65% of the overall manufacturing cost.

As a comparive discussion point, consider the Vandersteen line, which spends relatively little money on exterior cosmetics (except for the Model 5). Vandersteen instead spends the manufacturing portion of the budget on top quality drivers, crossover components, and solid cabinetry. The cabinets are made of MDF, with excellent internal bracing, but the jersey sock which covers everything costs very little.

My own experience directly parallels Bishop's: really good speakers driven by competent but not top-of-the-line electronics will -- 99% of the time -- sound better than average speakers driven by very costly source and amplifier electronics.

Another variable...listening room! Jimmy2615, you didn't say where you auditioned these speakers! There are many schlock "high-end dealers" who don't have a clue about proper set-up. And a speaker will always sound different in your own home. I once auditioned a pair of Maggie 1.6's that were powered by a 50 watt amp (way, WAY underpowered) and connected by "zip cord". In addition, there were 20 other speakers in the room, all resonating, and one wall of the room was GLASS!! I bought the Maggies anyway, and with proper set up and power, I really loved them!