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Speakers are electroacoustic tranducers with most distortion, most non-linear, and project acoustic field to rooms which changes in frequency and time.
Nothing in audio is ever perfect—or is it? If you have a weak link in your audio system, what is it and why?
No matter how much money I spend or have spent on my audio system, the room in which it resides has a tall ceiling, hard surfaces, and two huge openings leading to other parts of the house. The only thing soft in the room is the couch. At high levels it can be unbearable. In serious need of some acoustical panels
Most definitly the speakers with their rubber spring return force for the cone. People are spending up to $100,000 for a speaker controller (the amplifier) but 50% af the movement is handled by a 10-cent rubber ring. Why are there not any push/pull elements with current feedback and with integrated amps? Three of these in a box, I think will make an excellent "speaker."
I have a Rega/NAD/PSB setup and far from being "audiophile", it is perfect for me. I've heard much superior systems, but they came in at a much superior price and I couldn't justify the cost. About the only thing I can think of improving on is the acoustics, and/or adding a power conditioner.
My attitude was the real problem. I purchased more and more expensive gear, always expecting better sound. One day, I connected my old Dual 1245 to a pair of original PSB Alphas through an inexpensive amp, put on a good record, sat close, and was amazed at what I had overlooked.
The source material, the recordings. While there is some excellently recorded material out there, at this moment, it's the weak link. It's not that studios aren't using the latest 24-bit 192KHz gear. It's that most of the recording/mastering engineers don't know how to properly use it, are already deaf and can't hear the difference or don't care. From re-reissues to newly recorded material, it usually takes buying about 200 CDs in order to get one great sounding album (or some tracks of some album).