...So where does this all leave us? All this improvement may have revealed a flaw. I believe that the speakers do indeed sound better. But, better than what? And do they sound good? Good comapaired to other $275 speakers or good compared to the best speakers?
I'm really sort of a Bohemian, I enjoy painting, photography, hanging out, and drinking espresso while listening to good music. My struggle is how to manage this when society has completely wrapped me around its finger and made me an uptight, anal-retentive, compulsive and detail oriented monger.
These speakers, much like my personality, can be frustrating and contradictory. The M3Ti's are really too good to be $275, the problem is that they are not good enough to be $600 speakers.
I just finshed a very pleasent listening experience with Anita Baker and my espresso. She was vibrant, warm, and engaging. She filled my room and I dreamed wistfully of being a musician myself.
I would characterize these speakers as smooth, clean, warm, and round. Round for me means that there is a component of three dimensionality. Brass feels chilly, wood feels warm, and strings twang. This is very good.
But this is exactly what I find the most frustrating!!! They simply are not as good as a really expensive speaker. They are so good that they are bad. They do a remarkable job capturing what is music for the price. But they are slightly out of focus, slightly constrained at the extreems, and only a little round. Damn it! I like them so much because they appeal to my sense of quality, value, and fairness. But I hate them because they perfectly illustrate what the short-comings are between a good speaker and a great speaker on the Platonic scale where price is no object (remember that one from my earlier chapter?).
This all leaves me very frustrated. Who would of thought purchasing a set of speakers would raise a philosophical debate! We will have to solve this next time...
bill
