Apologies if my first post in the thread wasn’t clear
— I really wish I could’ve invited some of you to a listening session.
My expectation from these 3-way speakers was a balanced sound. I’ve spent four years with them, always wondering if I wasn’t giving them the right support — maybe the amplification or room acoustics weren’t ideal. Then I auditioned a few bookshelf speakers (not referring to the Dali floorstanders, as they’re priced higher than mine).
So far, every speaker I’ve heard has sounded good — meaning, the same tracks played across 10 different setups offered similar musicality with varying degrees of detail. But with my current speakers, that consistency just isn’t there. For reference, my go-to test is Jagjit Singh’s voice, especially the track
Zara Zara.
Now I’m trying to figure out where the issue lies — is it the speakers, the rest of the chain, or just me?
Hi,
I am familiar with your dilemma and suspect many others are too.
After owning and experiencing over 20 pairs of speakers in the past few years I am still searching for the sound that satisfies me within my budget limits.
But during this journey I have had some moments of insights, great advice from FM and a few moments of epiphany. To summarise a few:
There is no speaker in the world that is perfect for everybody.
Even a very good speaker can sound ordinary or boring and uninvolving if paired with electronics that don’t have synergy with the speakers.
Synergy is a mysterious factor that no one I know can predict with certainty. Only way is to try and find out. This makes exploration of different combinations expensive in India. Past experiences of other users can help to an extent.
The room acoustics and positioning contributes to 40-50% of the sound quality in any set up- this is just my belief and can not be verified or measured.
Sometimes spending more can get you better sound but the value for money drops steeply after a point (diminishing returns)
Every manufacturer of audio products wants, needs to sell their creations. No exceptions. Some are just better at sales and marketing than others. Blaming them for being successful in selling their products (even if we don’t like them) is a waste of time.
Creating a hype around new products is now a norm. But finally after buying we can complain that the product did not live up to our expectations after living with them and using them in the long term. Or not. After all it was our decision to buy after auditioning.
Getting bored with a set up over time is a reality. The choices are to sell the entire set up and start afresh ot choose to upgrade one component at a time.
Asking for opinions on audio equipment from other users is sometimes similar to asking others about mileage of their vehicles. Everyone we ask will state a figure but very few would have taken the trouble to measure it. Audio quality and personal preferences are inherently subjective. Only you can decide in the long term if you like a particular sound presentation or not.
Understanding our personal sound quality preferences takes time and effort. There are no shortcuts. After several years and hundreds of hours I have some idea of what I like and what I don’t. I am not always able to express these using words. But I am more aware of how I feel. And this can change with the type of music and even the playback volume.
But the journey is fun and as the wise man said that’s what matters more than reaching the destination which in this case is ill defined, vague and unclear.
Hope this helps in your quest for better enjoyment of music.
