You can get damn close to the performance of the halo products with stuff as humble as Polk Audio floorstanders and some Emotiva amps.
Any dumbass with a table saw, glue and a bunch of clamps can make speakers that rival the highest end for pennies on the dollar. There are lots of online resources for this sort of thing.
If you think this hobby is about the most precise listening experience (bit rates, conversion, etc), you would be wrong in my eyes. It's more about the presence/power you get from a system that can saturate a 20A circuit with transients. The effective dynamic range in a real world listening room. Having your walls rattle a bit when the depth charges explode is an experience. You don't get that with sound docks/bars, headphones, etc.
If you think this hobby is about the most precise
listening experience you would be wrong in my eyes.
It's more about the presence/power you get from a system
that can saturate a 20A circuit with transients.
Both things are true and the best systems nail both.
The research done by Floyd Toole and Sean Olive and others tells us that all other things being equal, listeners prefer speakers that accurately reproduce the input signal.
But, I also agree 100% that gobs of power and accurate reproduction of those transients is also key to listener enjoyment and that this is something that is currently (no pun intended) undervalued by the objective audiophile world.
In a modestly sized room one can have their cake and eat it too, with regards to studio monitors. My den music room is about 200 ft^2 / 19 m^2. In this room I have studio monitors crossed over to a pair of subwoofers and it's able to push some very satisfying output levels.
There is the magic part of the whole equation. Everything comes down to the room. Small/medium rooms can be easily pressurized by reasonable setups. I am currently cursed with a gigantic open concept living room, but will be moving my gear into a better home very soon.
A lot of people miss the environmental factor. It's the biggest one. The various room modes will have the most impact on your listening experience. No amount of equalization or other DSP hackery can defeat the laws of physics.
The best listening environment is in an open field in the middle of nowhere, but you need a ridiculous amount of power to make that sound really good.
A lot of people miss the environmental factor. It's
the biggest one. The various room modes will have
the most impact on your listening experience. No amount
of equalization or other DSP hackery can defeat the
laws of physics.
Objectively, this is true beyond doubt and can be easily measured!
Subjectively I think it's perhaps a little more complicated since our brains already do a lot of "room correction." When we completely remove the room from the equation via absorbers etc. we essentially create a headphones-like experience which feels a little artificial to many people. It's like the music is happening inside my head instead of on a stage in front of me.
So, I typically don't really worry about room treatment, other than rugs and bookcases and furnishings. This is personal taste and I won't say you're wrong if you do otherwise!
Any dumbass with a table saw, glue and a bunch of clamps can make speakers that rival the highest end for pennies on the dollar. There are lots of online resources for this sort of thing.
If you think this hobby is about the most precise listening experience (bit rates, conversion, etc), you would be wrong in my eyes. It's more about the presence/power you get from a system that can saturate a 20A circuit with transients. The effective dynamic range in a real world listening room. Having your walls rattle a bit when the depth charges explode is an experience. You don't get that with sound docks/bars, headphones, etc.