Most "Ruthlessly Revealing" Speakers. Your opinion

"Ruthlessly revealing" is IMHO an oxymoron. Revealing is great - you can't get better than a speaker which can reveal all that the electonics have to offer. But, when the upper mids and highs are boosted to artifically give the appearance of more detail, then the speakers are no longer revealing as the umphasis in the tilted up area obscures information in other frequency bands. Ditto for electronics.

Perhaps you want to know which are the brightest and most unbalanced speaker on the planet?

I own speakers that would more than likely be considered as 'ruthlessly revealing', a 2-channel/HT set-up comprised of ATC speakers. They employ the same design standards as their highly regarded studio monitors. In spite of their 'ruthlessly revealing' character, they are not the least bit harsh. I think Newbee has a point in that many people seem to equate a highly revealing speaker with potentially bright, even harsh, sound and at the very least will repeat the "only sound good with great recordings" mantra. I might have thought so as well prior to my experiences with ATC, but contrary to this notion, I find the sound of everything from pristine audiophile-grade recordings to gritty punk-rock bootleg quality tracks to be all around deeper and more musically involving.

"ruthlessly revealing" isn't necessarily an oxymoron. A pair of speakers can be incredibly revealing and "ruthlessly" display any flaws of upstream components. Of course, this may/may not be a good thing, depending what type of electronics/other components (ie room) are in the picture.

The most revealing speakers I'VE heard are the Wilson Alexandrias. Usually subtle changes such as cable changes are instantly very noticable.

I agree with Newbee. See my old thread titled: "Worse Sound ever from a Tweeter!", or something along that line of thinking. MOST people confuse a revealing speaker with a tilted up high end. Even reviewers in revered magazines!

I consider this for excellent studio monitors. Ones that won't let flaws hide. Recording engineers need that. So why do they use garbage brand X? That's another thread--we won't go there now. But ruthless in this sense doesn't mean bad--it means you are going to get the truth--like it or not. We've designed rooms like this, and there is no where to hide. Bad recording--you'll hear it. Great recording, well that's bliss.

Most ruthless are typically high-end monitors. They don't produce so much bass to muddy things and disguise flaws, What you hear is the truth of the recording. Genelec demo'd a speaker for about $20k at CES--that exposed everything. I find Talon Hawks to have similar attributes. I like ruthlessly revealing in the right context. The Von Schweikert VR-9, while full range, has adjustable bass and in the right room can also be ruthlessly revealing.

Keep in mind, those mentioned are just examples--there are many more. Nor, do I think that ruthlessly revealing is for everyone. Many speakers can convey the music, without being so revealing and may be more enjoyable for many listeners. I own multiple systems. None are ruthlessly revealing, though some components may be.