I had the most amazing experience yesterday at the home of a retired speaker engineer with 60 years of experience and knowledge.
His own speaker design ( of which there is only one)-highly camouflaged, were in all my 25 years of hifi listening the best i had ever heard. It did not matter the quality, age, or type of music played via cd, the sheer purity of the sound was such that it made everything sound so captivating, i was entranced for hours. Even a 1920's blues recording sounded amazing. Again I can only describe it as captivating, the entire recording as dated as it was sounded so alive, the entire presentation was crystal clear, there was no doubt as to what was presented by the musicians both emotionally and technically. No fogginess, no distortion or ambiguity. The entirety of each voice and instrument was captured as cleanly as you would expect in real life. The sound hung in the air between the speakers, which had completely disappeared and every note and every vocal cord was a living breathing life form to my ears and senses. Mind you this is all IMHO.
These DIY speakers were placed into corners surrounded by bits and pieces of hifi and boxes, waist high, and yet they sounded as I described. I of course assumed the associated equipment would be of the highest calibre. What did i find a £70 sony integrated from the 90's and a £80 sony cd player with cheap diy audio cables!!!! Both units totally original and unmolested. The story goes many years ago he collected them from the doorstep of a neighbour who had dumped them there for collection as unwanted!!
The moral of the story????? 1) imagine the amount we spend on our front end and amps!! 2) Manufacturers have no idea ? patience ? talent ? financial freedom from profit on how to build a speaker that does everything an audiophile would dream of!!!
His own speaker design ( of which there is only one)-highly camouflaged, were in all my 25 years of hifi listening the best i had ever heard. It did not matter the quality, age, or type of music played via cd, the sheer purity of the sound was such that it made everything sound so captivating, i was entranced for hours. Even a 1920's blues recording sounded amazing. Again I can only describe it as captivating, the entire recording as dated as it was sounded so alive, the entire presentation was crystal clear, there was no doubt as to what was presented by the musicians both emotionally and technically. No fogginess, no distortion or ambiguity. The entirety of each voice and instrument was captured as cleanly as you would expect in real life. The sound hung in the air between the speakers, which had completely disappeared and every note and every vocal cord was a living breathing life form to my ears and senses. Mind you this is all IMHO.
These DIY speakers were placed into corners surrounded by bits and pieces of hifi and boxes, waist high, and yet they sounded as I described. I of course assumed the associated equipment would be of the highest calibre. What did i find a £70 sony integrated from the 90's and a £80 sony cd player with cheap diy audio cables!!!! Both units totally original and unmolested. The story goes many years ago he collected them from the doorstep of a neighbour who had dumped them there for collection as unwanted!!
The moral of the story????? 1) imagine the amount we spend on our front end and amps!! 2) Manufacturers have no idea ? patience ? talent ? financial freedom from profit on how to build a speaker that does everything an audiophile would dream of!!!