Which one do you belong to?

[marky12]

Hi all,

We often hear system recommendations given to people that come in here asking what's the best system for x amount dollars. I thought it'll be fun to start something that is cater to the type person rather than giving speaker recommendations that may or may not fit the person's taste. So here goes:

The Minimalist:

This person respects a good sound but can not forgo the looks of his space. As a result, is willing to give up some quality over looks. Normally this person will head for Bose but if he/she is reading this then is smart enough to do research first.

Recommendations:

Kef
Orb
Hsu

The Bookshelves only:

This person is willing to deal with larger speakers in order to get better sound but is unwilling to deal with floor standers. This person is seperated into 3 categories:

1st- I only deal with BM spearkers:

Paradigm
B&W
Klipsch

2nd- I deal with internet because it is easier to get an audition in my space:

Ascend
Axiom
Aperion

3rd- I don't care, I just want the best one I can afford:

self explainatory

The best bang for the buck:

This person wants the most out of his money.

This will include a lot of the internet brands already mentioned and some commercial ones such as:

Infinity Beta 20s
Polk monitor 50 & 70s

Please share your thoughts...

Mark

 

[mannoiaj]

I have varying tastes depending on the application.

In my living room, I have a pair of pretty looking towers with a nice universal player and a decent 2-channel receiver accompanied by an unobtrusive 12-inch sub. This sounds good for 2-channel and for movies and looks nice in our main living area.

In my bedroom I have a 5.1 setup with a nice receiver, universal player, small towers and a center channel. I have a ported 12-inch sub and onwalls for the rears. The display is wall mounted in this application to save space, and the audio rack holds the equipment with the center channel fitting on top of the rack.

In my HT in the basement I went a less practical approach. I've got a 7.2 with room treatments, bass traps, and a 120" projection screen. Separate power amp for the front three speakers.

I'm in the bang for my buck category with audio/video, but it has to look nice or the wife won't allow it.

 

[Lordoftherings]

What sounds good to me, don't necessary sound good to others (different set of ears)

From what you describe, I will have to say that I perfectly fit in the #3 category, without any hesitation (still, my systems are quite modest).

* But the time and money spent into them is of high level from obsessed proportion.

** Different set of ears and rules.

 

[shadyJ]

Budget and application have more to do with recommendations than any kind of type of person. There are often other constraints too.

Of course, every setup by everyone here is a balance of sound quality, aesthetics, and cost, in varying degrees, but to divide these sorts of balances into neat groups of owner types seems somewhat absurd given just how many different types there are. I see this balance as a spectrum of gradients, and luckily for us there are thousands of speaker manufacturers around the world, so many of these vastly different and numerous needs can be met. There are at least as many different kind of these people which you want to categorize as there are different kind of audio systems.

As far as sound quality goes, most people only demand that their audio be comprehensible, nothing more, and that is all they are willing to pay for. That is the largest 'type' of audio system consumer. I don't see this as a bad thing necessarily, but as someone who loves music and loves all the different kinds of sounds which make up music, it is something I find difficult to relate to. I guess a perspective that would help to understand that is from someone like a cheese or wine connoisseur, or a cigar enthusiast, or a car enthusiast, or just someone who is passionate about something I am not. For example, a car, to me, is something that just gets me from A to Z comfortably and reliably, but I could see someone who is deep into cars stand aghast at my mundane choice of a vehicle, and wonder how I can stand to drive around in that thing.