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Originally Posted by classicalguy
T-Amp measurements are all over the map. I suspect it depends quite a bit on the power supply. I think they sound great, and there is nothing to compare them against in that price class. Measurements are relevant, but there is a lot to sound that doesn't come through in the limited measurements available.
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Well, with the T-Amp, the measurements are pretty descriptive. The T-Amp tends to be described as having "fantastic air and detail", which is easily explained by the rising top octave. The midrange prominence reflects the amp's stock bass rolloff, and the somewhat compressed sound reflects the amp's lack of power. The power supply doesn't make that much of a measurable difference.
It's a decent amp for the very low price, and I don't mean to badmouth it by any means, but the reason I don't consider it a good value is because it starts to lead you on a goose chase that ends up costing you more than if you would have chosen a higher quality amp to begin with (such as the Super T-Amp, the Pioneer A-35R, or a well-chosen used amp on eBay). You need to upgrade the power supply, the coupling caps, and many people like to upgrade the pot and binding posts, and at the end of that you still have an amp with little dynamic headroom and a rising top end response. Most troublesome though is that having a non-neutral amp like that tends to make you search for speakers that compensate for the amp's deficiencies, which ends up costing you money and leaving you with non-neutral speakers. Of course, the opposite can also be true... non neutral speakers tend to drive the search for non-neutral amps that balance them out.
I don't think the T-Amp is a bad choice though for an application where sound quality isn't paramount and where you won't be tempted to fuss with upgrades for it, such as a garage system, or an infrequently used bedroom system, or for office background music. I agree, there aren't many alternatives at that price point, even on eBay, though hitting garage and estate sales may be an option.
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I'm not dissing the X-LS speakers. I'm sure they are a good deal for the money. Although comparing what it would cost you to buy the components and design a speaker (quantity one) is not really relevant. |
It is relevant as a barometer of value. Even though we pay about 5 times (sometimes 10 times) what an OEM would pay in quantity for drivers, other costs such as MDF and veneer are within 2 times what an OEM would pay, we do not have labor expenses, and most important, DIY speakers do not have the massive markup that most commercial speakers do. That's why finding a pair of commercial speakers that are cheaper than we could build ourselves is worth mentioning. It suggests the potential for good value. I could build Totem Rainmakers for cheaper than their retail price, but I could not build the X-LS for cheaper than their retail price (even though they're superior to the Totems). That makes me have special respect for the X-LS as a good value.
That's also one of the reasons why the DIY crowd finds these Best Buy speakers fascinating. For the price, you could throw away the drivers and use the cabinets, with the kerfed parts filled, for a project with Seas coaxials, or throw away the crossover and use it as a base for learning crossover design. The nice thing though is that you don't have to throw anything away if you're just looking for good inexpensive speakers, since the stock drivers are actually pretty good, and the crossover is decent too.