Traitor
But seriously, glad you've found happiness.
For your can situation, to improve happiness, you
need an extension cord. Seriously. And a damn good one. You have
no idea how a nice extension cord makes your can experience absolutely wonderful. No sitting in one spot. No concerns about pulling and stuff. If I didn't have my 15N on my system I just...couldn't listen to it. It would be a nightmare.
In my system's previous position in my home, thanks to the extension cable, I could reach
every corner of my living space (I live in a 'very' large studio).
Every corner. Bathroom, kitchen, everywhere. It was so cool. (Now, in it's new location, it's about 5 feet too short to reach the very furthest locations).
As for comparisons, I guess it's a question of what you are looking for and what you are comparing it to. The comparison figures thrown about are for the
total cost of the front end system - transducers
and amp system. For instance, since I sold B&W, Celestion, ITC, M&K, (starting back from when they actually made great stuff) Infinity, DCM, Mission, Polk, Bose, Pinnicle, AR, Paradigm and ProAc, and had a coworker who started his own high end shop and who sells Martin-Logan, Wilson Audio and many others (just to name the speaker lines, I won't go into the electronics here). I've heard quite a lot, and actually spent time with the stuff not just an 'audition'.
I kick myself,
seriously, for not buying myself when I had the chance one of these: B&W 802 Matrix 3's, Celestion 6000 system, B&W Matrix 2's, (maybe) ProAc Super Tablettes, some Martin-Logans, a few KEF systems or an ITC 1/4 system. I very,
very much like all those (I guess I can still buy the Logans at cost, if I wish). I won't go into the Wilson stuff - they are fantastic but second mortgages for audio equipment gives me hives!
As all know I am using Stax now. Those speakers are some of the only ones, in my personal experience, that actually make me happy listening to them and give the Stax a run for their money in terms of detail, transparency and midrange realism. 802's would be my, questionable, favorite. 802's, dealer cost, was about the same dealer price as my Lambda Pro / SRA-14S system, now that I think about it. But...only the speakers. You'll still need an amp and a preamp to drive / control it. The 14S is a true multifunction preamp and headphone amp in one; it therefore kills two birds with one stone.
In order to get the level of detail out of the speakers, good high end speakers, that they are truly capable of you'll have to spend AT LEAST 1/2 again for the amp alone. Figure much more, if you are truly being realistic. Then the preamp. So a $3500 speaker system needs a, say $2000 amp plus a $1300 preamp just to get
near the resolution that they are capable of, not even to their total potential. The only times I heard those speakers I've mentioned truly driven to their resolution "potential" was a few times - once hooked up (we borrowed it) to a
$10,000 Celestion XX and the other time to the (I think it was $3000) Electrocompaniet Signature 1. The Sig 1 did the smaller speakers resolution justice, but not "powerful". The XX had resolution and power to
absolutely spare, and was the only time I've heard 802's, in my experience, sound like that (drool...) (oh, my gawd).
(I'm sticking to a certain generation here) The Perreaux 3150 had the power for the 802's but not the resolution (a bit grainy on top. OK, more than a "bit" but not fatal). A few other system had one or another thing going for it, power or subtlety, but almost never both at the same time. I would have settled for one of those systems, figure about $3000 total for amp / preamp combo.
So, add speakers and amp / preamp together. MUCH more expensive than a super-high quality can setup, in total...if resolution and detail is what you are after. If you are looking for power or "spaciousness", the ability to bring the recording space to you, speakers win. Can listening is something different than speaker listening, and is therefore an acquired taste, a learning experience, and something entirely different. I mentioned it before, for me, cans bring
me into the recording space, while speakers bring the recording space
to me. Different worlds, same solar system. Let's also take this time to mention why I bought into an expensive can system - space. Speakers, if not set up properly inside a compatible space, can sound horrible, doing the speakers themselves no justice. My living spaces have never been truly compatible with the larger systems (like 802's (sob
)) so cans were, by far, my best bet. Thank (insert something here) for them.
Maybe a truly high-end can system can be a wonderful addition to your highly enjoyable two channel speaker system. But as much as speakers can be high resolution, or spacicous, or powerful, so can cans,
in their own way so you must choose that as a requirement for the can system. Not just one factor. They are out there, when coupled to a complete, "can" system, but can be hard to find.
Don't give up, dude! The membership card is still good!
