Speaker And Room...Just A Small Prelude To My Next Review...
Oct 07 '04 (Updated Nov 29 '04)
The Bottom Line The right speaker for the right room...and budget!
The listening room and the loudspeakers that one chooses for it are inseparable. I cannot stress this enough! I am thoroughly convinced that when one is purchasing new speakers, one must absolutely pay close attention not only to his or her budget but room size and physical properties also.
Roy Allison pioneered this field and found some most interesting facts about various rooms and sizes. There are nulls and dips and cancellations at various frequencies {especially the Lows} that must be dealt with by not only a given manufacturer but the perspective buyer as well.
Does the listening area exceed one hundred square feet? If it does then it is either average or larger than average and may require loudspeakers of higher output and cost. If the listening area is smaller than one hundred square feet...like mine...then smaller less costly models of good design must be considered. Aside from our own unique personal tastes in music reproduction, this is probably the main factor why it is not possible to deem one model number as "the best". What is best for me may not be that for you!
Of course the ampifier one chooses is also just as important. The old school of thought here was that different amplifiers and receivers of similar ratings will pretty much sound the same...but they don't as each brand has its own style of build using either quality or not so quality mass-produced components. One amplifier may sound quite superior to another with our own ears as the only valuable measuring tool. Does the amplifier or receiver have the capability of reproducing subtle nuances and overtones that may very well and often ARE masked by others. Does the amplifier in question have a compressed sound quality?
My 1972 Pioneer SA-500 Integrated Amplifier is a classic example of how David slayed Goliath with its mere 10 watt per channel rating. I dare say the quality of said amp's circuitry would shame the various Sonys, Aiwas, KLH's, Yamahas, and other modern wonders commonly found at the local hi-fi shop. The rule here is "quality over quantity".
Certainly, room furnishings also will affect our final speaker purchase as we need to decide whether we are from the bi-polar {direct/reflecting} school or are we of the forward radiator {front firing only} philosophy. The former is the best choice for those who feel that reflected sound does not appreciably subtract from the direct sound and presents a luscious spacious soundstage that can be quite seductive to say the least. But even so if the listening room is heavily draped and cluttered with objects, then one should consider the latter instead as the environment would be hostile to such reflected sounds. The latter will also obviously ultimately satisfy the audiophile purist who needs for focused detail from the loudspeakers in question while maintaining absolute coherency and yet...portray a wide 3-d soundstage or "image" if you will. Here...almost any type of room will do but size is still a factor.
This is quite a tall order from those of us of either school of sound reproduction! It is an even taller order for a loudspeaker designer to accomplish creating such a beast at any expense let alone trying to make it affordable for most audiophiles. Andy Kotsatos of Boston Acoustics once stated that anybody could create great speakers costing a thousand dollars or more...but attempting to bring that "state of the art" level to a lower more economical plateau is the real challenge!
You see just because your rich friend purchased a very expensive set of B&W Nautilus models or top rated Martin/Logans Or even Bose 901's does not mean that these speakers are going to be right for you and if your listening room is similar to my humble one at present, then I can assure you that purchasing these seductive models would be a grave mistake and you are just simply wasting your money!
Let me explain...Most very expensive loudspeakers are meant to be placed in larger than life listening areas and unless they are, they tend to lose their charm while the listener has made a costly mistake! Yes, indeed this situation has happened to some of us...yours truly included!
Fortunately, most people do not have to bother with this "state of the art" breed as we tend not to have listening rooms in excess of two hundred square feet. Generally speaking...we tend not to have the golden wallets to match our golden ears. Yes, there are those out there that are the exceptional few and I say God bless them! But I am not aiming my remarks at the elite...I am speaking to those like myself...yes, you...Mr. poor man!
There is no "one size fits all" in loudspeaker technology and therefore...no one brand or model that can claim to be the best for all concerned. Yet they do tend to make some rather bold claims! There is however one speaker system that is right for you, your amplifier/receiver, your listening room and your wallet. Your mission is to find that special transducer that will tickle your fancy both aesthetically and audibly!
Getting it right the first, second or third try isn't always possible and for some of us...it takes years. Be patient as in time you'll learn! It indeed is a challenge and one for me that took some time finding along with a bit of Irish luck...or more appropriately...I have indeed recently been blessed!
That brings us to the subject of today's review...the Polk R-30 Cherry Tower loudspeakers...
*****Please see the review on the Polk R-30's.
...http://www.epinions.com/content_157096119940?alert_type=0&comments=1&ratings=1&submit=Submit
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Member: Peter J Sammon II
Location: The Bloomfield Burying Ground, USA
Reviews written: 218
Trusted by: 121 members
About Me:
Every once in awhile something great arrives at relatively low cost to you...Priceless!
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