I got my first "proper" own stereos as teenager and it made all the difference to move from 2-tape deck plastic boombox into cheap "all-in-one" stereo package. I hold that gear for way too long. Even when all the other gear had changed into better set up, I actually had the same speakers. When I was living in apartment, it was so cluttered with crap, I though I should buy SMALLER speakers, but what sound equally good. I took my speakers and Merzbow CD with me to audio equipment shop and said I want smaller, but as good sound. And what a shame it was, when the cheapest pieces of shit they had available, were like twice better than ones I had carried. I could have improved the set with investment of like.. 50,- ? I ended up upgrading higher. And then I though, this is as good as I need. And that was conclusion only until I had room for more and I actually got to hear what it means.
Gradient speakers, mid 80's Finnish hand made high-end, I bought 2nd hand. And this is the type of stuff where you don't need to think about subwoofers or such, since they go from very high till very deep bass.
Gradient is known around the world and won many awards.
Anyway, with this kind of speaker, you really go much further from just having "whatever" supermarket mini-hifi stacked somewhere in corner of room. Of course some would say it is up to taste, what level playback you require, but starting from standard rock'n'roll going deep into classical music or as Zeno referred: electro-acoustics etc, you can really fully experience the composition when you actually hear it. Especially in the electro-acoustic, you might miss the whole range of sound operating in deepest levels, when the speakers can't reproduce the sound of album.
I think this has been topic before, here or noisefanatics, but now it has really been golden times to buy stereo equipment. Just about every auction site in UK, USA, Germany, etc. is packed with cheap old hi-fi. "Normal people" move into ipod era, and the bigger & better stuff goes for fraction of its original price. Also the real nutty hi-fi enthusiasts are good source. I'm 100% sure every country has the hi-fi magazine forums with 2nd hand section, and some folks seem to have so much money they give test run to all type of gear all the time, and sell it for half price when they get idea to test something else. Tube amps, turntables, tape decks, CD players,.. just to be grabbed at decent prices when someone is possessed by endless upgrading.
When I got the Gradient speakers, that basically meant that just about everything should have been re-listened. And of course is being done so. Suddenly one is able to spot the difference which album sounded flat because it was - and which sounded flat only because lacking playback. Even something like old Ramleh recordings, if you exclude the Pure CD versions, the bassy brutality of some of the recordings isn't coming through on all types of speakers.
In my own recordings, for example "Valkoista Voimaa" of Grunt Petturien Rooli album, I haven't heard it sound "right" almost anywhere. The distant beat operates on such a low bass frequencies, many speakers fail to make it audible, removing one key element of whole track away. "Professionals" of course could say one has to master the release to sound good in all stereos, but that seems silly. Why compromise on piece of art(?) so instead of sounding good at good equipment, it will sound half assed with everybody's equipment? This also leads to modern noise releases, which are often compressed and overtly distorted into such degree, they may sound "loud" at shitty stereos, but severely lacking when played with proper hi-fi with the needed amplification power that you could turn it loud if you want it loud.
