Are loudspeakers that different?

Hi Paulwp; The point I was trying to make is that it is expensive and difficult to design/build a speaker that has "high quality" bass below say 30-35 HZ. There are many inexpensive speakers that will produce deep bass, but it's typically loose, boomy, and uncontrolled.

My Vand. 3As had "good" bass into the mid 30 HZ, but they absolutely cannot compare to the bass of the Vand. 5s which have excellent bass into the low-mid 20 HZ-- but it cost quite a bit to get this quality bass. But the 3As had an excellent mid-range, ie much like the Vand. 5s. Inexpensive speakers with a very good mid-range are common among "high end" speakers, ie the Vand. 2Ces-- all IMO of course. I do agree that it is not as much of a problem with tweeters. Cheers. Craig

Hate to burst your bubble, Jimmy, but there are a lot more than a dozen speaker "sounds." You're looking for the easy way out, and there ain't one. Seems to me you want to choose a speaker based on other audiophiles' reactions to them. There are three problems here:
1) Every speaker sounds different, often vastly different.
2) Every listener's subjective reation to a speaker is different (and probablt different from yours).
3) A speaker in one room won't sound the same as a speaker in another, even to the same set of ears (and room size is only one reason why).

If ya really wanna be an audiophile, ya gotta get the speakers home, and set up in your room. That's doable, if you have dealers (including online dealers) who are willing to cooperate. You'll pay in shipping costs, but that's the price of admission to this sickness--I mean hobby.

That said, folks here can help you narrow the field (though you need to take every comment with several grains of salt--see #2 above). It would be helpful if you would tell us what price range you're interested in, room set-up, musical tastes. Even better, shop around a bit, find out what's available to you, and then seek out opinions on the most plausible candidates.

Just remember: Your ears, nobody else's.

You got a lot of solid advice in a very short time, Jimmy. Excuse me if I am wrong, but it seems to me you have already decided on the Totem, and what you may need is a pat on the back. No?

Will, sources Oracle V/Graham 2.2/Helikon SL & Koetsu Onyx; and AA Captiole Mk I. Speakers Von Schweikert VR-5HSEs.

Don't have a true HT system, but augment video sound with Spendor S3/5s and Sub3 (no center)- very enjoyable for audio too.

Grandpad: Nice!

Bomarc: Excellent advice. It's a damned shame when one lives a zillion miles from good dealers but you're absolutely on target here. If Jimmy wants the gain he's gonna hafta bear the pain: shipping speakers in and out, driving lots of miles to hear them, making his significant other and everyone else around him crazy. Making himself crazy. Perhaps the definitive test for certifiable audiophilia will be whether or not he finds this process pleasurable. :)

will