OP, can you see this is no way to pick a speaker? How are you going to make sense of other people’s preferences?
Travel expenses to audio shows and dealers will be much less costly than changing your mind. It’s not just the speakers because the speaker choice affects the upstream electronics. Get a general idea of what you think is worth further listening and then find a good dealer that carries the line. It is possible to buy new from a dealer and save money by getting it right the first time…..
Here is a way to know when you are ready to buy an expensive speaker……..You have heard it along with its competitors and your preference won’t be swayed by something you read on an audio forum. You will know that different people like different things and, most importantly, you will know what *you* like.
And now, back to the arguments. Which are always in progress….
I don’t think Vandersteen’s video was intended to compare anything but cones to cones. It proved that an expensive paper cone was distorting at 1,400 cycles (objective fact) and this is a frequency that a midrange driver will be reproducing. Whether or not you *hear* that distortion or think it’s important in the overall context of the sound ( subjective preference) is, of course, personal.
Magico, Rockport, Vandersteen, Zellaton, Estelon, Coltrane, Vivid, and others, think they can get better sound using something besides a treated paper driver. All of these speakers have big followings and detractors.
I picked Vandersteen and Zellaton as favorites based on listening to them and many, many other speakers (including big Wilsons, Sonus Faber, horns, stats, etc.). I didn’t know anything about the driver technology at the time of my first impressions and I had not heard of either brand. And yet, I picked these two from the herd without hesitation. And they have some technology in common which I find interesting. Based on what I had read over the years, I was expecting to like Magico or Wilson. Means nothing except that I learned what I like.
As for bass….
I think an expensive speaker should include powered low bass that can be tuned to the room. Preferably with analog EQ. That hugely narrows the field. The $398,000 MBL Extremes or the higher end Vandersteens do this. Von Schweikerts have powered bass but are not quite as adjustable (if I recall). There are probably other choices, but not many. Again, others have different preferences. Mine is for a balanced frequency response and plenty of grunt, without turning a shared use room into a science project trying to fix bass problems or worrying about sucking an amplifier dry when I play it loud.
