The last mile of performance always costs disproportionately more, but the end result is the difference between a reproduction and reality. This is true of many things from art to home theater an it greatly depends on the objective. It is unfair on the Thiels to define the objective as reality, which happens to be that of some of the other speakers mentioned. "Thiel = truth of signal Period" this statement is the equivalent of describing a poster to be more accurate and vivid in colors than the original painting.
Let me share my experience with the thiels and the contrasts between certain other speakers. In the world of reproduction indeed the thiels lead the pack with an extremely high quality reproduction and a solid company that backs and markets their products well. In a side-by-side comparison with a 30k speaker I found the thiels to have a much bigger soundstage, however upon closer examination it was too big. It was as though the recording was played back through some reverb instrument where the vocals and instruments seemed to appear from everywhere.....more specifically, all the vocalists seem to be sharing a single microphone and performing in a cave that had this glorious echo and one could not place anything in perspective. In other words whatever the thiels were doing in their crossover to create an artificial soundstage were doing so indiscriminately affecting everything. This takes away not only from reality but the effects distract from being able to engage emotionally with the music.
When I heard the same track on the other speaker with all things remaining the same, such as equipment and placement; I heard what the engineer intended but more importantly I was part of the performance as in being in the same room, not outside looking in. Instruments and Singers fell into their natural and believable positions not just front to back and left to right but everything sounded its appropriate height. The sad thing here is that one does not realize these virtues in a simple audition, at first glance many speakers can be very impressive. It is only when you have lived with them and then upgrade do you learn what you were missing.
In my books when it comes to a mere reproduction my standards are not very high. As a matter of fact I have really enjoyed several inexpensive speakers that were free of excessive distortion and sound effects and I appreciated them for what they were. But is you are talking about evoking the same passion that live music does, then anything that cannot do so, regardless of price is to expensive. And yes unfortunately many speakers that do get you to that state of exhilaration are ultra expensive and not necessarily justified in cost of materials.
Sam.
Let me share my experience with the thiels and the contrasts between certain other speakers. In the world of reproduction indeed the thiels lead the pack with an extremely high quality reproduction and a solid company that backs and markets their products well. In a side-by-side comparison with a 30k speaker I found the thiels to have a much bigger soundstage, however upon closer examination it was too big. It was as though the recording was played back through some reverb instrument where the vocals and instruments seemed to appear from everywhere.....more specifically, all the vocalists seem to be sharing a single microphone and performing in a cave that had this glorious echo and one could not place anything in perspective. In other words whatever the thiels were doing in their crossover to create an artificial soundstage were doing so indiscriminately affecting everything. This takes away not only from reality but the effects distract from being able to engage emotionally with the music.
When I heard the same track on the other speaker with all things remaining the same, such as equipment and placement; I heard what the engineer intended but more importantly I was part of the performance as in being in the same room, not outside looking in. Instruments and Singers fell into their natural and believable positions not just front to back and left to right but everything sounded its appropriate height. The sad thing here is that one does not realize these virtues in a simple audition, at first glance many speakers can be very impressive. It is only when you have lived with them and then upgrade do you learn what you were missing.
In my books when it comes to a mere reproduction my standards are not very high. As a matter of fact I have really enjoyed several inexpensive speakers that were free of excessive distortion and sound effects and I appreciated them for what they were. But is you are talking about evoking the same passion that live music does, then anything that cannot do so, regardless of price is to expensive. And yes unfortunately many speakers that do get you to that state of exhilaration are ultra expensive and not necessarily justified in cost of materials.
Sam.