Friday, September 25, 2015

Most Overrated Speakers in the World

Yes, this is a troll to get traffic, but yes, I'm going to be sincere nonetheless. 

Bowers & Wilkins

There's nothing wrong with the sound, but also nothing right.  Just some of the most boring to listen to speakers ever.  And by this I don't mean transparent and neutral.  It's like they suck the flavor out of music.  On the other hand, they aren't particularly objectionable so I wouldn't get up to shut them off, but I also wouldn't pay for a pair.

Wilson Audio

I actually really like the sound of Wilson speakers, but not the prices.  For 1/10th of the price a mid-line Focal or high-end Monitor Audio would sound as good and take up less floor space.  The one area where they can excel is in dynamic range and bass extension.  Still, good subs from Hsu run a lot less.  Also, from the perspective of overall tonal balance, to me, they sound very close to Focals, so if you like the Wilson's, check out a variety of Focals with a subwoofer.

Golden Ear

Really painful treble.  It's a banshee in the shape of a speaker.   The current positive reviews astound me.  

Triangle

Same as Golden Ear, only it's not a screech so much as a sneaky ear needle.  I know it may be psychosomatic to think of them as ear drills based on the shape of the tweeter but to me the Triangle sounds very clean and distortion free compared to the Golden Ear, but still painful to listen to.  Like eating something very spicy, but you can't tell for the first two or three bites how spicy it is. 

Thiel

The third speaker in the "bad treble" group. 

3 comments:

  1. I spent seven years in HiFi in a shop that took trade-ins. Golden Ear and Triangle were before that time but I had plenty of ear time with a wide range of B&W and Thiel. While I never found Thiel or B&W products lacking there was nothing engaging about anything they offered. I was especially baffled by the outrageous pricing of Wilson Audio products. Cheers, Michael

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  2. Bose is the legendary overrated speaker. tweeters blow with any kind of power. overpriced crap nowadays living on their glorious past.

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  3. Bose is the legendary overrated speaker. tweeters blow with any kind of power. overpriced crap nowadays living on their glorious past.

    ReplyDelete