Choose your color

We like to think of our systems as neutral, perfect, clean, uncolored representatives of musical truth. Only, as long as we're using loudspeakers that's just not going to happen. Fact is, loudspeakers are the most imperfect elements in our system. Have a look at the specs for your speakers. Even the most "accurate" among them vary by +/-3dB and many greater than that. It's also instructive to remember that when we specify something as + and - they often add up. The challenge with speakers is to find the ones with the colorations that best suit your equipment and your listening preferences. If you like a lean and tight sound, there's a whole group of speaker designers that agree with you and have tailored their products to make you happy. Or, perhaps you prefer big, fat, and robust sound. Those too are available. Most audiophiles I talk to profess to want a neutral character to their speakers but, to be honest, I am not sure exactly what that means. My guess is that neutral means the speaker's colorations are evenly distributed without favor to any particular region. If you're interested in more discussion I posted a video on the subject you can watch here.