Do you have a dream, seriously? Dreams make life worth living, dreams make us homo sapien because God creates us to think. Orelse, we are no different from animal - food and mating. A person without dreams is living out his life like a robot, until the day he is set to retire. Hello to Capitalism.
It is all about competitive edge in the world of Capitalism. Life will only get tough by the days, we all need to sharpen our competitive edge to stay in business or employed. Capitalism consumes resources, sucks our life dry. I invite you to come in here to dream ....
I have been with my present speakers, Revel Performa F32 MSRP 4K USD for 2 years now and I was spending the first year mostly to break the speakers. My God, modern speakers take time to break. The bass drivers do not even move much. Once broken in, the bass extension is marvelous. In all honesty, F32s do not shine in any particular area but the longer you stay with them, the more you appreciate their healthy sonic balance, no major flaw that put you off. Those who had heard, have nothing but praise their price/performance ratio.
A balanced sound plays a good variety of music. F32s are versatile in small room and great in medium room, thanks to the crossover tuning. Their performance belies their modest asking price. I have done around of auditioning before deciding on F32s, American speaker with a Brit mid. I'm retiring them prematurely after hearing magic from a friend's system - TAD full suit. TAD system makes my tears roll, hold it, hold it, this is embarrassing. Their highs and mids realism awes me. I was like Christopher Columbus discovering America. My equilibrium was disturbed. I no longer feeling contended. I lost my interest in F32s, I felt disconnected with F32s, I no longer wanting to listen to them. I was agonizing. My mind went somewhere else. The venom was spreading throughout my body, my thought glued to TAD. So, exercise cautions when listening to friends' system. Your friends could be audio devil's advocate. To avoid this trap, listen to mega systems that you can't afford!
Tonal balance occupies top priority, the designer background, his philosophy and the intended purpose of his creation top my speaker selection. Poor guys like me always approach with price point, you know, the typical how much? I started looking for a tricked down model that employed similar technologies that I can afford, there you go. They always offer tricked down models to capitalize on their R&D, don't they? Pioneer S1-EXs with blue blood studio pedigree, is my antidote. But, MSRP 9K USD price tag is not friendly for me. I wish I have a genie to grant my wish, that sadly remains a fantasy. They are well in the range of a pair of used Wilson Sophia. And why does everybody use Wilson as benchmark anyway? I'm not anti Wilson, excuse me, just that I would prefer to have other makes.
There was a story in a forum that a guy came up to Andrew Jones at an audio show, asked him about the degree S1-EX resembling the mighty TAD M1, the parent model they transfer the technology? Andrew was caught with the question, took his time and replied "80-85%". Wah, si beh song lim pe ka lu kong! That arithmetic works too good to be true for a cheapskate like me. I almost pee in my pants and momentarily slide Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad under my pillow. Some Americans prefer to buy "prestigious" brands so that they may fetch a better resale value in future. Hey hey hey, what do we have here? Americans with Chinaman mentality. Pioneer, the name does no bit to uplift my self esteem even it is a flagship model. Their loss is my gain. Rumour has it there are only eight pairs sold in Singapore and two in Malaysia, the info comes straight from the horse's mouth.
My incline to Classical music also accounts for the speaker upgrading. There are a certain qualities that I looked for - the refinement of strings, the scent of violin rosin and the masculine of piano playback. Natural timbre, erhu, pipa, guzheng excite me, even sitar and tabla also generate equal share of excitement. I want an honest sound and value. There are many overrated speakers even though favourably reviewed. When you are rich, you do not exercise "choosing". You get the best there is or the one you like. Or buy the most expensive speaker the market has to offer. There are people who buy without looking at the price tag. There are also people buy for aesthetic. I buy for sound. Too bad, I can't afford to change equipment like changing cloth. Mind you, I'm just an average income earner, struggling for daily meal. When limited resources are concerned, you got to be critical about big V, value.
You get what you pay. True in most cases but is not entirely true. There are many speakers out there are overrated. I too hold the belief that on a good pair of speakers, your money goes to tonality. That goes without saying that the higher the price of the speaker, the greater the tonality. Mostly, the hidden components inside the speaker accounts for the performance even though same drivers employed in lower models. Fact is, you can't get total realism from working man price below 2k USD speakers, do you? The designer works the compromises around, they skim at less critical areas. Let's not get trap in most DIY mindset, buy 2k USD speakers, add 2k USD mods, you will get a 10k USD speaker exponential performance? Somehow, DIYers tend to think they are the smartest guy. Wishful thinking.
Incidentally, I did audition Pioneer S1-EXs at the local store before deciding on F32s. The dealer have only himself to blame for not able to put up a decent demo, the sound was utterly dull and lifeless. Pioneer S1-EXs were far from break in and probably unmatched amplification. Both of us lose at the end. I think that was the only pair S1-EXs in Malaysia. That pair belongs to my friend now. He will be using Bel Canto Ref 1000 to drive them, the same combo Andrew Jones uses during the show and Stereophile review. Can't go wrong with that combo, smart buy.
With the money on the line, you feel the adrenalin making purchasing decisions. You do not wish to end up a sucker, a laughing stock. There are many bad purchases already though they may never admit it.
To be continued ...................
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