Why all the effort to take the fun out of such a totally satisfying and immersive hobby?
I buy and sell my equipment all the time. Rarely do I have any piece more than two years. And I mean everything. Amps, integrateds, speakers, turntables, dacs, preamps, everything. I love matching different pieces, listening for the nuances of how equipment sounds and feels together. I've had systems fall flat, and I've had combinations borderline on nirvana, but guess what? I sold them! The good, the great, the bad and everything in-between. For me it's a terrific time.
That's why I put my money where my mouth is. I want to know what these Outlaw partial open baffles sound like in my living room, period. So I ordered a pair and Louis is working on them now. I can't wait to get them into my system. If I don't like them after a thousand hours or so of listening, so what. I'll sell them and someone else can see if they fit their liking. And even if I don't like them, it doesn't mean the speakers aren't good speakers, it's how they fit into what I've provided them to perform with and how my ears perceive what is "good". Hell, I'll probably sell them anyway after a couple years even if I'm smitten with them! That's how I play my audio hobby. Christ, it's not like we're spending a million bucks here. I get them, hand made in America, in a beautiful furniture quality cherry finish for what, $1700+/-? Try and find a nice piece of furniture hand made in the US for that.
But before I can fairly and accurately judge the speakers, I'm going to try at least three different amps with them. Not just one and assume they aren't good speakers. That's not fair. We've all had great speakers not shine even with great amps. Pairing is key and the fun is putting together the pieces that bring it all together.
Then of course, you sell everything and start again.
I will post my impressions here so you guys can get another perspective.