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Thread: 2010 Audioholics $1k Floorstanding Loudspeaker Faceoff

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    admin is offline Administrator admin should be listened to
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    Arrow 2010 Audioholics $1k Floorstanding Loudspeaker Faceoff

    In the time honored tradition since I started Audioholics.com nearly 11 years ago, we have conducted another annual loudspeaker faceoff. The brands in this comparison included: Klipsch, JBL, Axiom Audio and EMP. The results were quite enlightening as we learned about how biases (even those unintentional ones) played a more influential role in loudspeaker preference than the actual audible differences in the loudspeakers themselves. We discovered that each speaker in this comparison had their own individual strengths and weaknesses. It is a combination of how those traits interact in a particular room playing a particular type of music, and how they influence each individual's listening preferences in determining the best-suited speakers for each individuals needs. In the end, all four of these speakers were winners as they managed to provide respectably good audio at such modest price levels in a large and demanding listening space. Good food and drink, good friends, and good sound is an annual recipe for fun we plan on continuing and refining each year.




    Discuss "2010 Audioholics $1k Floorstanding Loudspeaker Faceoff" here. Read the article.

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    That's a terrific article. Nailed just about every quibble I would have had about the importance of listener position in a stereophonic soundfield, listening in a real, typically sized untreated reverberant environment (living room), etc, etc.
    Bravo.
    Maybe listening in a darkened room (late evening/night) with a more transparent (less lossy) curtain rather than resorting to blindfolds

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    Crap the "Methods for Improving Speaker Testing" is supposed to be page 8 but when the article posted it somehow placed it as page 3. Sorry guys, trying to fix that.
    Gene DellaSala
    President, Audioholics
    Pursuing the truth in audio & video...

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    It's quite funny to see how people seemed to really like the Klipsch until they could see them. Nearly all the casual listeners made comments about the bass being tight on the Klipsch (seemed like they liked it) and they also liked the open soundstage as well. Switch to sighted test and the highs are unpleasant and the bass is boomy.

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    It's quite funny to see how people seemed to really like the Klipsch until they could see them. Nearly all the casual listeners made comments about the bass being tight on the Klipsch (seemed like they liked it) and they also liked the open soundstage as well. Switch to sighted test and the highs are unpleasant and the bass is boomy.
    Yes there was a lot of variability in the listening tests. However, again note the losses in the grille cloth which had a huge impact on the tonal balance of the speakers.
    Gene DellaSala
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    Quote Originally Posted by Seth=L View Post
    It's quite funny to see how people seemed to really like the Klipsch until they could see them... Switch to sighted test and the highs are unpleasant
    The HF attenuation of the curtain was significant enough to explain that.

    Quote Originally Posted by Seth=L View Post
    and the bass is boomy.
    That ones a bit tougher to explain, if the placement of the Klipsch within the room, as well as objects (other speakers, etc.) and listener position, remained constant between sighted/blind.
    ...Or easy to explain, based on what we know about sighted listening.

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    Gene,

    Sorry if if missed this in the article (or a previous one)
    Two listeners were listed as "trained".
    How was this determined? TIA

    cheers,

    AJ

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    Gene,

    Sorry if if missed this in the article (or a previous one)
    Two listeners were listed as "trained".
    How was this determined? TIA

    cheers,

    AJ
    Well one of them is our Editor in Chief who reviews products for a living. The other is a musician and avid music lover who has spent years hanging out with me listening and critiquing virtually all of the products I have personally tested. Both of them have a good frame of reference for determining accuracy in reproduced music.
    Gene DellaSala
    President, Audioholics
    Pursuing the truth in audio & video...

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    Well done Gene. I had contemplated doing a blind test of speakes and exchanged a number of email with Dr. Olive. In the end, I didn't think I could do it justice without an enormous amount of time spent by both me and the testers. It is not trivial to do these without a lof of preparation.

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    Excellent review!

    The EMP E55ti's were on my short list so Im glad to see that they stand up well to some of the brand names.

    My question is regarding the driver replacement you mentioned. Is the new driver something that will be going into future versions (and is there an eta?) or is this something that can be replaced by an end user when they are released for a minor price?

    This would be the only thing that keeps me from buying them today.

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