Honestly - how did you buy your speakers? Audition or blind?

[hifinutt]

generally i notice that speakers are fairly hard to move on these days but an exception is vienna acoustics , i have seen several pairs fly out of one dealers shop very fast indeed . so if any one wants to try them s/h you will get your money back i am sure

 

[Rockmeister]

ages back, poor student, I just bought the kits that had the biggest boxes I could afford, pinched some 3/4" chipboard from college and whacked 'em out. Wharfdale Unit 4's, painted in attractive shades of pink, orange and a sort of....no ok. Enough detail. By modern standards, hideous bloated, soft and warm sound which I LOVED

 

[Mynamemynaim]

Previous pair (naim) bought blind as second hand
Didn't like..so sold on at no loss
Current pair (Russell k) bought after dealer demo then home trial... fantastic
Just shows how u should do it I suppose....

 

[Tony Lockhart]

All the speakers I've bought, all three pairs (!), I have home demoed. My current PMCs only took a few days to convince me they were right for us.

I know I could easily buy used speakers blind and move them on if I don't like them, but I really can't be arsed with the aggro and potential disasters.

 

[Mr Cat]

blind... but they are the dali suite 2.8 and seven oaks(?) had reduced them from 1k to 399 and a load of people from the Wam' bought them, the reviews were good and i bought a pair too... prior to that I have a pair of dali ikon 5(?) which were decent, just not big enough for the room I had, tho, I was using a velodyne sub too with good effect..

 

[Rosewind]

I auditioned the pair I did not keep: System Audio Pandion 2 (too evenhanded). I also auditioned my set of Mission 737s back in 1984 - kept them until around 2000. After that I have bought blind every time, swapping out a host of different speakers. I do this mainly because I buy s/h from Germany, the UK or from the other end of Denmark. I haven't been left out of pocket too much although selling on has been quite a losing game for me. Not by a lot per item, but over the years everything adds up. Do I regret it? NOOOO. I would never have had a listen to Magnepan 12, 1.7s or MC1s if I hadn't bought blind. So.

 

[monty]

I listened first at my local dealer. Tried 3 or 4. Settled on my Ushers after trying Dali's, Kudos & Sonos Faber.
I am tempted to blind buy some JBL Synthesis as I can't seem to find a dealer to demo them at.... Not that I can afford them yet anyway....

 

[merlin]

I would certainly recommend buying blind, with the proviso that you take the time to understand how the speaker is likely to interact with your listening room prior to taking the plunge.

Understanding the requirements dictated by your listening environment will be an enormous benefit to anyone in the long term, and something of a saviour for the serial speaker switcher.

 

[martin clark]

I'd had some standmounts of varying vintages, notably my bros' Tangent XLRs which I had re-foamed. Returned them, settled for 3-4 years with good headphones. Moved to current place, and having heard (and continue to audition many things) I bought a pair of Impulse H6s because I'd heard very good things of the brand. The slim floorstanders did things that boxes asking 10x the premium just could not, in terms of believability and scale and rhythm and tonality; so immediately decided to find a pair of the biggest Impulse available - took 18months but I landed the right pair of H2s.

Also played with ESl57s around then, from reputation, and because the right serviced pair came along. H2s landed. Enjoyed both.

A couple of years later I sold the 57s (to Jonathan Ribee, who curates them yet) simply for lack of space.

A decade later, I've bought some serviced Quad 989s...just because. They're fab, but the H2s also remain so, in fact - because they both do the controlled-directivity thing - it's really interesting to swap between and find out just how similar they are, once you get over the 10-12dB step in sensitivity. Which really means - it's amazing how transparent the ~25yr old H2, 3-way horn-loaded design can be.*

I am keeping both. Between them, they do everything i want and more.


*one-line summary: H2s do 'they are here' while Big Quads do 'you are there' : otherwise, in terms of bandwidth and lack of colouration when driven with sufficient amplification - remarkably similar.

 

[Fatmarley]

My first hifi speakers (Kef Coda 8 In 1995?) were purchased because of the rave reviews In What-hifi? magazine. Because of magazine reviews, hifi shop demos and even a quick home demo, I upgraded to Dynaudio Contour 1.3se, but to my ears It was a big downgrade. After the Initial excitement of the extra detail and bass, It took me a couple of weeks to realise I didn't actually like them and I was listening to music, less and less. I put the Kefs back In and felt Instant relief.

Fast forward to 2002, I asked about upgrading my Kefs on the Naim forum and said I wanted something small, fast and exiting. Someone suggested Linn Kans so I bought a pair of Mk2s, and apart from the lack of bass, I was a happy bunny. A while later I added a sub to solve the bass problem.

 

[matteo.renesto]

A brief audition is equal to blind purchase

 

[GJO]

Only ever purchased Impulse H2's blind as it were,but did have H4's and 5's prior to them.

 

[Mr Cat]

A brief audition is equal to blind purchase

indeed... I heard a decent Linn system in harrods once and it sounded woeful...

bought some amps from various guys on forums - went to theirs for a test listen and again I thought they sounded average at best... but they were bargains... one I kept for ages, but another I sold on...

 

[eastone]

I've never had the opportunity to hear something before buying, everything has come from here, the 'wam, or occasionally eBay. Almost everything that didn't work out has been sold on for roughly what I paid. If I do make a small loss, well, that's just the price of 'rental'...

 

[SteveO...]

Listened to a few options at a dealers to narrow down my options. Tried two pairs at home; PMC Fact 8s and Kef Ref 3.

I also made contact with Wilson Benesch at the Bristol Show, as I remember really liking their Arcs when I heard them many moons ago. This lead to Luke from W-B coming to my home with Vertexex/Vertices, Vectors and a Torus sub for me to try.

The Vectors won. It helps that I think they look stunning too.

 

[Dowser]

I've not answered the survey. My first proper HiFi speakers (Mission 737-Rs) were auditioned - I worked for Lasky's service department, fixed and heard lots...then "accidentally" dropped one of a pair to claim staff discount for damaged items...it took a few attempts to get the right amount of damage - unnoticeable and under the base plate Kept them for many years, but realised room interaction was important as the speaker itself.

Next up I auditioned Original Sonus Faber Concertinos (bi-wire version) as a second hand purchase - they sounded terrible in the sellers room, but I bought them anyhow and have kept them 15 odd years, 8 or 10 of these in my main system...and I am only now considering selling them. In the right location/room they're fantastic.

Everything else I have bought unheard based on reputation alone. ESL 57s and 63s being major additions, 63s now my main system speakers and replacing the SFs easily, but I still have many speakers I've not properly listened to yet; Castles, Royds, JR-149s and other Missions.

Environment they are playing in is as important as the actual speaker IMO.

Richard

 

[James]

Environment they are playing in is as important as the actual speaker IMO.

Actually, I'd argue the environment is more important. A crappy room will make even the best loudspeakers sound broken. OTOH, a sympathetic room can make an ordinary but competent loudspeaker pair sound quite enjoyable.

 

[Fudgemaster]

Apart from the one set which I built, I've only dealer auditioned. However, he was very generous in allowing me to try four sets at home, which resulted in my current Doublets.
Home audition is by far the best, if the dealer is happy.

 

[greygoose]

I visited many dealers locally to demo speakers to get a flovour for what was available in my price range, many branks not represented in Ireland, so after some homework I narrowed down my search to a good all round amp that I had heard and them chose a dealer with a wide variety of speakers to demo.
I spent a lond weekend in the UK driving around from dealer to dealer until I made up my mind, Its amazing how some speakers leave you underwhelmed while others blindside you (trust your own ears not the reviews). You can always get good headphones if your room has a problem.

 

[1964meb]

I was auditioning a nap 250 and the seller had these ruark crusader speakers for sale too.

I looked, listened and bought them both

That was some upgrade for me. The nap 140 and mission 752 speakers were then sold off.

All still working nicely 7?? Years later (with a Which hat service on the 250)

M