|
Have a look at this: http://www.nutshellhifi.com/library/FindingCG.html
It applies mainly to amps, but when you learn about amps you start to realise that loud-speakers are really all part of the same big circuit. With amps, specs only take you so far, once you get above the absolutely dirt cheap crap it doesn't really help. Using THD as one example, above 1% might indicate something wrong with the amp design... bellow doesn't really make any difference because these are just tested with sine waves (do you listen to pure sine waves? no), very low might even indicate that the design has been compromised just to get good paper specs. Headphones and speakers can be similar, frequency range doesn't really tell you anything unless they are severely limited and thus it only really helps sift though crap. You are correct about reviews though, it really depends on who is reviewing it, and 99.99% of the people out there have hardly anthing worth comparing what they are reviewing it to. If i've never had a pencil before, and I get a pencil and it's all crumbly I will be like "It's frickin amazin, it makes marks on paper", but that doesn't really help anyone else trying to make an informed decision. Additionally, even if you start going through audiophile forums and vet authors for their background knowledge, _even then_ you have the aspect of personal taste, musicality etc. So yeah... if you want good audio, your fucked :) the only way is to try. And try not to go crazy. But not buying stuff with any integrated digital nonsense is a good starting point. |