As an example of what's going on with amplifiers,
I see Guttenberg just "reviewed" the $400 Emotiva TA-100. Certainly not alone in that price category, but it does seem to have a lot of bells and whistles for somebody wanting an all-in-one 2 channel solution. The fact it's rated nearly double into 4 ohms is icing on the cake. (it seems every small speaker I love is a 4 ohm beast). This is exactly the sort of thing I'd be looking for if I was starting from scratch in a small space on a budget. Well, I'm always on a budget. I just blow it really badly every now and then!
Emotiva TA-100.
Personally, I think you stand just as good a chance of selecting a great set of speakers by mail as you do by going into a shop and listening to them. No matter what speakers you listen to, they will most certainly sound very different after you bring them home and install them in your living space. Very few speakers with any kind of decent reputation are going to sound bad. I most recently took a leap of faith and purchased a set of Tekton Double Impact speakers without ever having heard them and . . . . . it turns out they are wonderful. Just about any speaker manufacturer will offer return privileges, if you are unhappy with their speakers.
I think once he's sorted out the front end, exploring speakers will be the
fun part. Of course, the biggest advent (pun intended) in audio has been the development of direct to consumer speakers. Tekton, Zu, Ascend, RSL, Buchardt, Salk and more have made their mark on audio without having to rely on outside resellers, effectively cutting out the middleman. They offer listening trials and often cover freight both ways. The advantage is the cost is lower than the large production speaker companies that have far more overhead and have to establish a support infrastructure to be successful.
The direct 1:1 experience is more personal, and often that alone will make up for any deficiencies (real or imaginary) the speaker may have. You're going to be more inclined to reject a speaker sold by a huge faceless corporation than Dave, with whom you discussed tweeters and cabinet colors and Pink Floyd with for days before you bit the bullet! I'll admit, one of the reasons Salk was on my short list was for just that experience. I just couldn't wait 6-8 months for a speaker.
Other resellers such as Crutchfield (I don't hate them as I once did) offer very liberal trial periods and cover freight
both ways for bookshelf speakers, and a huge discount for floor-standers. In this day and age, something like that is almost a necessity if we can't demo a speaker in store.
In a way, this is even a better solution, because I sure can't think of many brick and mortar stores back in the day that would let me throw some Apogee's in the car and bring them back in a couple of weeks! I'm a heck of a lot more inclined to try out some speakers if I can hear them with my equipment where they're going to be knowing all I have to do is put them in the box and out on the front porch should I hate them.
I also think it's telling the quality of speakers is such that they can offer these sorts of policies. Chances are really good you're going to like anything they send. If they were getting loads of returns we'd be seeing more open box sales than we do. Instead what we have is rabidly loyal base. I honestly can't think of more than a handful of people who weren't absolutely crazy about their Tekton Pendragons, or Zu Dirty Weekends, and told everybody that would listen about them! Again, 1:1 experience and speakers tailor made for your environment and listening habits. Besides, your wife likes the blue burlwood because it matches her drapes, there's
zero chance you're sending those back!
