I am also a ‘and’ not ‘or’ kinda audiophile as Caesar so beautifully put it.Well, Sound Of Tao is deliberating his Harbeths and PAP Horns. Ked loves a fantasy Apogees one end/horns the other, living space.
Then there are the guys running multiple tts, or one tt w multiple arms and carts.
Interestingly, noone running ss AND tubes on one spkr. Or multiple dacs/servers.
Think it’s the music lover or the ADD in me but I find having two setups to allow for all the music I love is the best long term strategy for me.
Some speakers are like traps, they do some things so extraordinarily well that they lead you to enjoy specific types of music more often because they make that type so musically accessible... and I think that can be when the audiophile then in some ways takes over and the music lover part of me sometimes then gets left behind in a close second place. After years of bouncing between these two modes I have found greater joy when the music lover in me is driving the big music bus.
Also Marc I’m not deliberating between the horns or the harbys... I’ve already signed on to both the horns AND the harbys. My only question is where that leaves the lovely big panel elephant in the room... my tall and mesmerisingly modded and at times room fillingly marvellous Maggie 20.7s.
Either way I’m with Caesar on this one... thinking you could end all or possibly at least many of your conflicts by giving up on being a Zu OR some other speakers guy and instead just giving in and ending up as a Zu AND horns guy. For less than the cost of a seriously expensive (tho easy and tempting) amp/pre upgrade you could just get yourself some affordable but truly great horns... and I’d choose a pair of slightly modded Pap horns over any of the AGs short of the ones way way up in their model range. Just sayin... get some pap horns in for a home listen... and if they do it for you still keep your Zus AND maybe get yourself a soul satisfyin pair of very happy horns as well.
I just put the Pap horns back in after a week and a half loving my time with the Harby 40.2s and now again remembering all the marvellous things that the BMS horn flanked with its dipole 15 inch woofers can do in bringing instruments and music to life. Both just magic for the music... just different but they lead you to constantly appreciate what is extraordinary about the other.
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