What qualifies a speaker as audiophile? 

I saw the title and i though, :O that's my question. Thanks for the answer! Really appreciate it! You almost got my name right! 😊, don't worry about it. It's a really hard to pronounce name to non bulgarian speaking people.

I think the one thing people miss that audio is a system. It’s not just how much you spend, but how well each component in the chain plays with each other. For example, I think my primaluna amplifier, pairs well with the marantz 2230 phonostage driving focal 926s. The marantz is warm and tubish. The primaluna is bright and detailed. The focals are efficient and responsive. It’s a system :)

All speakers are flawed. PS Audio will be too. Find a speaker that sounds right to you and works in your room at a price you can afford. Very simple, just like world peace

A speaker that is consider Audiophile or for that matter anything in audio is a product that has achieved a reputation in the audio community as one that offers high performance and a musical experience. Once a product builds that reputation in the industry as offering high performance often that designer gets the reputation as a good designer and usually means any product that comes from that brand as a high end product. So it really comes down to brand recognition in the high end community. Then the trick is finding the speakers that offer the performance and sound quality you like within the budget you are wanting stay in AND will work best in the room and placement restriction that may be a factor. There are many brands of high end speakers and all have different sonic characters, so it does come down to how you hear sounds and music and what reproduces music the most to your liking.

Paul...... your a good speaker! LoL

I worked in an independent audio shop back in the 70's. We had "audiophile" speakers of that day on display. I had access to try them at home with my own system. Even though I had tubes, a good number of them sounded very disappointing. Then I took home an unassuming in appearance pair of speakers and hooked them up. It was just night and day. I just had my first audiophile speaker experience. I sat there shaking my head in amazement saying to myself..."What is this!?" They do not make them anymore. KEF 104ab's. Then I noticed KEF got fancy and more sophisticated in engineering approach (looked good for marketing) but I no longer heard that same musical sound and depth. Sometimes, in the name of progress? Some will kill the goose that would have kept laying golden eggs. Those unassuming looking speakers were like walking into a surprise birthday party. That's what audiophile speakers should do.

5:30 coughbose

Looking at the measurements of speakers and measuring speakers is great. The final decision should come down to your ears and the way they sound in your room.

I sometimes wonder if the guys that make the $100,000+ speakers have to dumb down their lesser speakers so they don't sound as good as their more expensive speakers. And perhaps the guys who don't make the super speakers can just do their best without worrying about their high priced market. Just a thought. I'm holding off on my speaker purchase until I can hear what the PS Audio guys come up with.

Good video. I definitely agree. And also good sound is subjective. I think the majority would know the difference between "audiophile" and not but everyone has different preferences and ideas on what sounds good to them. Its could be a $100 set of bookshelves or a $80,000 electrostat.

So far, the only speakers that have ever wowed me are JBL L200's from the mid 1970's. I'm still saving for a pair. Until then my JBL L100t3's are filling in with effortless volume bringing out jewel like details. I'm very satisfied, they sound very musical to me.

What qualifies a speaker as audiophile? The one that sounds best to your ears.

This was my number # 1 question.

Aim high “Bowers & Wilkins” !! Nothing wrong starting with a set of these with out breaking your bank!! 😎

5:30... He means Bose, it's gotta be Bose

I see that most retail stores are trying to sell speakers that have no bottom end without an active woofer. The markup is outrageous for the sound you get. I am so lucky that my home built 3 ways put them to shame. People just want earth shaking noise. They don't unwind and are not taught. Most retail salesmen are not trained either. Just sell , sell ,sell.

I didn't find "audiophile" in the truest sense until I obtained COHERENT speakers driven with mono blocks. Did the other speakers - amps combo's sound - YES. Audiophile - NOT NECESSARILY. I like to consider the audiophile designation to be assigned to a sound that does not draw the listener into the shift of mind to notice the flaw in the sound. It's ok to sound less than perfect in some ways as long as it does not continuously pull on the listeners ear to notice discontinuity in the flow of sound usually very obvious. Do headphone create audiophile sound - not the ones I have. Headphone just do not create the whole sound experience of the environment. Although headphones sometimes are more "accurate" to specific parts of the music.

Snell C/IV

Speakers are like food, one man’s disgust, another man’s delicacy That’s why we have so many speaker manufacturer and all selling good. It’s the diversity of preferences. Find your own! @Paul, thank a lot for all these informative videos. By the way, you forgot Focal!

Jealvox Sound Monitor.. A massive horn system from the late seventies.. The best sound I've ever heard..

Oh come on. How are we supposed to know which brands to avoid if you don't name them?

Building a Speaker is theoretically pure Maths/ Physics. A clever Man/ Woman can learn this, understand this and build a mathematically/ physically 100% perfect Speaker. Than, ther are some Guys, who got Math, Physics and something you can't learn, u got to have it: the Magic to take the same good Components as everyone else, but in his Hands it doesn't become a good Speaker, it becomes a superior Speaker. For those People, if they're building Amplifiers/ Speakers, Race Car engines or Skyscrapers, that thing they are working on, is not a Thing, it is their greatest Enemy, there Lover and finally their Child. I think, for building the best Speakers, u need both, Brain & Heart ;) .

Speaking about German don t forget Quadral. There very musical and powerfull speakers.

Personally, I would have thought an audiophile loudspeaker would be defined by how closely it can reproduce the original performance. All the parameters - frequency response, dynamic range, 'imaging' etc - would be covered by that because deficiency in a parameter would reduce the 'being there' effect.

hmmmm! We both like Harbeth (lossy cabinet, resonance of a lower q and frequency) and I think he could be talking about a manufacturer who holds their somewhat opposite values on enclosure construction. I, for one do not like strange audible peaks in my last two octaves, which still has little to do with cabinets, besides diffraction minimization and driver design and instantaneous target market appeasement. I love neutral, slightly warm speakers.

It's not the speakers it's the listener who is the audiophile. The transducer does not love music! Sadly Paul does not get to "take his speakers home".

Jeff Joseph of Joseph Audio... a perfect example of musical speakers

You are corect, over 90% of speakers sound bad, but that's what EQ's are for...perhaps 90% of those bad speakers can be fixed with EQ and DSP...My Bose Soundlink Mini speaker sounds horrible, but my EQ fixes it...Same with my headphones, I have a pair of old Sony headphones that sound ok, but just with some EQ tunning hey open up and sound better than my Grado headphones. So bassicaly, if the speakers are OK...you can make them great! The easyest way I found to do it is play with the slikders untill I get the harmonics and tone right, it takes a while, because you have to go back and forth, but you can make an OK speaker sound like a live concert!

Hi Paul. Great Answer. I love it! I feel the same about speakers. There is so much unmusical stuff out there.

Sir what is your review of the P-Audio woofers which are Thailand made. If you've ever experienced their sound, please rate them against the cheaper alternatives available worldwide. In India, we do not have a market for expensive high end speakers, all that we can get is P-Audio and equivalent which are about 200$ woofer drivers for 10 or 12inch size. They are made of material called Kapton and not aluminium or kevlar or carbon fibre. I just recently watched your video and amazed of your vast experience. Thank you

The price. That is all.

the problem is the word “audiophile” is simply a subjective and personal designation ... like am i “rich” or am i “poor”? ... as paul said ... we can use figures (eg measurements & graphs) to classify speakers ... but the final gauge are the individual ears of the listeners ... perhaps what paul may be saying is ... that we each will define what to us is “audiophile” ... as we hear and listen to our kind of musiK?

If Paul can come up with a speaker that sounds as good as a properly driven Infinity Kappa 8 I will be impressed. That woofer is a beast. Not sure I like aluminum it's stiff like a gong. Arnie used carbon graphite.

I can listen all year long my Yamaha NS floor speakers (ofc before 2015 speakers, you know why)

What about MartinLogan Motion 35XT speakers? Entry high-end? Good sound?

Have to bring them home and listen to them. Best way to "hear" speakers.

Audiophile speakers are the ones that are so expensive that you only can efford them when you are not young anymore and your hearing have already become bad.

Someone was selling Audiophile cassette tapes ! on eBay around Christmas time.

Paul. The audio on your videos breaks up a lot. (over-modulated) could you turn down the volume of the mic to give more headroom?

What you said at the end I agree with 100%. Speakers are all flawed, and very few of them actually sound good. Took me 30 years to find a speaker I actually really like, which ironically have aluminum woofers.

My brain is broken. I think flatter the speaker the better the sound. Please help me.

There's a balance to be struck between too much reliance on meters, and none. In fact that's why nobody can stand Steve Guttenberg's "audiophiliac" channel for long, and I know because I always read lots of comments and people mention this constantly on other youtubers' channels. And that is, because he never quantizes anything. Ever. You gotta have SOME modicum of measure, if for no other sake than as a yardstick.

Hi Paul! I've seen RU-vid videos of huge expensive horn loaded speakers that sound like they are in an echo. Yet people are praising them in the comments. I don't understand how people can like that. My ears would get so fatigued after just a few minutes.

Short and sweet

What design architecture are you adopting for the manufacture of that LF driver ? I'd love to know ...

What's your opinion on q acoustics concept 500

So why does piano sound so great on my computer speakers and home theater speakers almost equally??

quality Crossovers, quality crossovers!?

Nah, the contrary is true I think, most loudspeakers out there are pretty decent. A good fifty years have passed since the 70's, this is a mature craft. You think a labcoat company like Harman kardon doesn't know how to make good speakers? Probably better than most since they do proper blind tests. Any cheap JBL would put a good fight against any audiophile speakers once you close your eyes.

I have about ten pairs of speakers, most mid-fi vintage, nothing costing me more than 1200 bucks ,Am I an audiophile? I dont think the speakers define audiophile, I think the listener defines audiophile.....would I not be an audiophile because I dont have 5 or 25 grand for speakers?

99% of all speakers around the world? That over-generalization don't you think? I think what you mean that 1% of speakers out there is just what you like most Paul.

20lbs paul (your rocking today, Paul. wasn't the magnaplaner the direct competition for IRSV's back in '85?)

I'll attempt a quicker answer: An audiophile loudspeaker is a virtually... nonexistent one! Now I'll add up to this: It's not just a music maker, it's both a truth-and-magic creator. It creates a beautiful whole new world in front of you and then departs subtly, neatly, quietly, leaving you alone to fully enjoy it (eyes closed and lights lowered). It will better your experience with any better piece of equipment you'll bring in to it's support or any better quality recording you'll throw into your source. It will always tell you the truth and it will never deprive you of any of the magic that exists inside the recording and the performances of the accompanying electronics. Now, having said all that, the loudspeaker is not alone. It exists and functions inside a ROOM. This room must be very well taken care of (acoustically), in order for the proper, audiophile loudspeaker to do both its truth-and-magic trick. Sorry, not easy. But worth it! (and one last thing: In my humble opinion, NO SMALL loudspeaker can be truly an audiophile one. Except, perhaps, for very small rooms. Or, greatly supported by subwoofers).

Luckily for us the conclusion is wrong, there is plenty of very good speakers it's just a matter of listening to them

Pls tell me what “imaging”? “Warmth”? means.

Great video Paul thank you! A question for all: Has anyone had a system so good that they have been convinced that what they were hearing was really happening?

I have to disagree with your assessment that linear doesn't make for good sounding speakers. I own a pair of Nubert speakers, which lean towards a flat and linear sound, and they can absolutely sound wonderful. And I've listened to Backes & Müller BM Line 35, which ought to be really flat, but they'll make you grin from ear to ear. Almost guaranteed. It doesn't even matter what the source material is. The immediacy, the precision, the clarity, the way they move air and play the entire frequency range with perfection. Now, what someone defines as audiophile or not is an individual thing, IMHO. Different strokes for different people, I guess. For me I like it when the music leaves the speaker, when you hear all the range without emphasis on anything, when you can hear all the details. When it becomes alive. When you close your eyes and can imagine the band is standing right in front of you. In all of this, being flat helps. Like, being actually flat. Not sounding flat.

why doesn't anyone speak about Audio Note speakers?

Hello, I just wanted to comment on your picture in the listings. This is definitely not an example of a "stomp Box"! KEN

Just goes to show cost means nothing! You can spent £20,000 on some speakers/system and it sounds bad?? That's why i do not believe in spending vast amounts on Amps, Sources it is not necessary but a damn good set of loudspeakers is essential as Paul says.

DiY: Build your own speakers. Put a little money in to get some experience. Build active subwoofers, that helps with room problems. Use selfbuilding websites.

It should ideally cost as much as a midsize car!

I live in Aurora CO and i was wondering as just a high school graduate what is your opinion on the best ways to get into car/home audio as a career outside of the usual main street stereo shop?

So what big company is he speaking of that has bad speakers?

whats your opinion on canton speakers especially on the vento and reference series

>$20000.00/pair?

If you are being ripped off.

You might be referring to Bose?

Hi Paul, You've never, ever mention Avalon speakers when mentioning other brands of "musical" speakers (they are in the neighborhood), which I found quite musical. You just forget or you don't like them, period?

I really want to know those bad brands

ok, i upgraded my strings, maybe i should upgrade my paper cups to carbon fiber...thanks Paul

To my mind, audiophile/audiophilia is a mind set/behaviour. It’s the desire and determination to get a sound that you find appealing. Some people’s ultimate speaker is pretty unappealing to me, I’ve heard Avantgarde horns and Wilson speakers and they’ve left me rather cold. The Avantgardes were just uninteresting and the Wilsons were uncomfortably bright... on the other hand, I have a pair of Royd Audio Sapphires from 1991 in my dining room that I paid £60 for of a forum, they’re not perfect by any means but they are musically engaging, if you wind the wick up a little, they’re fun and exciting.

How about errors of omission rather than commission?

Vandersteen.

Audiophile is best employed as a description of a person striving for a higher level of understanding of audio equipment rather than a measurement of perceived quality of an audio product in my opinion. All too easy for any manufacturer to tag this name onto any level of product.

That's only blabla. The question is not, what good sound is but what the right sound is. And the right sound can only be repoduced by flat speakers. So the most flat speaker ist the most audiophile speaker. Maybe 97% of the recordings don't sound good on a flat speaker but that doesn't mean that the speaker doesn't sound good, that means that the recordings aren't good. Studiomonitors are the only audiophile speakers. They are tools for producing music. They are flat. Everything else is just a question of personal preferences. If you spend 10 000 bugs for very high quality speakers that doesn't have a flat frequecy response and you are happy with them, it's totally ok for me, those speakers may sound absolutely beautiful but they won't sound right. That's the harsh trueth.

This is a very subjective judgement. Unfortunately too often the vendors like to promote audiophile products as those that also come with a premium price tag.

"So few" good-sounding speakers? I contend that there are a Lot of good-sounding speakers, but so few people know how to Find them, and fewer still are willing to spend the money (in 2019, at least $225 per cabinet for anything that even approaches decent sound quality). I know something that is called an "audiophile" speaker probably can't be had for that little; maybe $500 would be closer, and $800 would move a person another inch in that direction. But more money doesn't guarantee better sound: I've heard some utterly awful speakers with $2,500+ price tags.

💪

Let say you make a wall of just speakers if you use a good 3-way filter and connect all the speakers in series and parallel so the speakers are only outputting say a quarter of their maximum amount then it will newer be a problem if the speaker(s) are crappy or simple made, tested this with so many speakers now, even the cheapest car speakers, you just have to balance it out with more speakers with another dynamic range thats all, a wall of speakers that is really nice to listen to, dont forget to mount a center too btw.

If 99% of speakers sound bad, non-musical, flawed and you would not want to take them home, then what chance does PS Audio have for success with your forthcoming speaker designs? Closer to 1% or 99%?

Is that a 10" driver?

99% was probably an exaggeration unless you include "Multimedia speakers" to a computer for $ 9.

You cannot beat a good set of Hi Fi speakers , they fill the room with sound that is FUN . Being pined to a chair cannot be fun. I tun mine UP as far as I dire . Stop listening & feel it . Get your moneys worth . Thats my crap comment lol

I'm confused. First, how come it is a shame that speakers that are more accessible to more folks sound "more audiophile" than the super expensive so-called "audiophile speakers"? Last I checked with my reality and fairness meter that shows as a good thing and the best part is it promotes music because more folks have access to good sound. In the beginning you start listing speakers across the spectrum that you consider musical or "audiophile" and give positive tone in your voice to. Then towards the end you talk like the PS Audio speakers are going to be the only speakers worth a listen that everyone should buy while saying 99% of all speakers are flawed. That is a clear contradiction. The use of the word "flawed" here is incorrect. In my opinion it would be more correct to say that 99% (it is really 100%) of speakers are colored or flavored. "Flawed" means something is physically wrong or damaged or not functioning. By saying 99% of speakers are flawed, you just included the speakers you thought to be musical and "worthy" at the beginning. Also, I hate to break it to you, but the PS Audio speakers will also be "flawed". Doesn't so good, does it. I would rather say the PS Audio speakers will be flavored or colored due to restrictions by the laws of physics, but they will be very musical. I would be curious to hear them myself, but never will as I have no shops and there are no shows in California anymore. I have a different list of speakers from you that I consider musical and the next person will have another different list. In my opinion, the best way to know if any speakers are musical is with ones ears. Unfortunately, that is becoming more impossible everyday thanks to the internet.

I have to agree with Paul that hi end audio speakers are very tough to find that sound extremely well. Although I feel it all comes down to energy within the system as a whole. I also think that people can be influenced by the popular brand names and get suckered into believing they're the best and nothing else! There are a hundred and one variables it comes down to this question so is it all right answer? In reality, the only person knows is that person themselves if they're comfortable with it it love the sound to them then so be it.

To find the best speakers you need to listen to a lot of products everywhere you can, anytime you can. Don't expect anything, just listen. After a while you will get bored, but you may, sometimes listen to great system, and sometimes music can become magic. It's not magic because it's expensive, or because it sounds lood, or anything like this. Magic by musicality... when you can say : that's it, that's the sound I want in my home, this one and not another one. Forget the price of the components, they may cost a lot but it's not important. If it sounds magic that mean the speaker can communicate this magic effect... now you know what speaker to buy... you have your goal. I've waited 7 years to buy my speakers... and they are still far from the best they can offer. I know they can go so far...

Have you ever heard of Quadral speakers made from Quadral? I believe they are from germany and have built speakers since the 80s I got the Quadral Orkan and just want to know your opinion on those if you have a reference at all. Thanks in advance

klipsch? haha

Summary : l have no fucking clue whatsoever !

that is a loooong way of giving no answer at all.......

''Musicality'' first for sure, but then... everything else.

Start with a Quad ESL and work your way back to the answer

Too much education and not enough intelligence and passion for producing music. I have been saying this for decades and it still rings true.

It costs a lot of money. Thanks for watching. Bye. Now I watch the video.