Please share how these experiences have expanded your audio perspective.
Finding a great new piece is great, but that's not what I had in mind. Perhaps I boiled down the definition of epiphany too much. Dictionary.com defines an epiphany as a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.
I find that audio dwellers are created from one or more of those "light bulb" moments that some folks never have and I'd like to hear from you as to what some of those were. Obviously most never develop more than a passing interest in audio, but to some well reproduced music speaks to our core being.
Here's another of mine:
Years ago I auditioned Paradigm Studio 20's ($800/pair small 2-way standmounts) versus Paradigm Active 20's (the $1,600/pair internally amplified version of the Studio 20's). A typical audio shop room (smallish, with way too much equipment in it) was used for both. Associated equipment was way above the quality of the speakers. The Studio 20's were nice enough, did all those things you'd expect from the above description but no more, and had the Paradigm house sound, which was fairly neutral on their smaller speakers, but is devoid of interest or personality.
The Active 20's were amazing, there was no comparison. The lack of unique soul was still there, but frequency response was flat. (This in itself is another epiphany.) Bigger still was the incredible dynamics, which made you believe you were listening to large highly efficient floorstanders. But the biggest improvement was in the depth and strength of bass. The "where's the sub?" line gets overused, but it certainly applied here. And these things could play loud. Passersby were gobsmacked, this was truly a slam dunk and obvious to all. Somebody severely bent the laws of physics to get this volume, dynamics, and deep bass to happen from small standmounts.
It a dirty shame that audiophiles don't go this route, it really makes us look foolish in terms of quality and value. In the then current Paradigm line up, the Active 20 provided the dynamics and bass of their $1,600 - 2,000 floorstanders while adding flat frequency response, improved coherence from using just two drivers, and saving the cost of amplifiers. I've heard that the Active 20's had quality issues after years of use, but many vendors of active speakers exist to choose from that the professionals routinely shop. And audiophiles object to the severe vibrations imparted on the amps by being mounted internally (while using internal crossovers?). But one listen that those concerns melt away.
