price point

[tonedeaf]

At what price point do you fellows think the law of diminishing returns kicks in?
I ask because of the huge range of dollars asked for top of the line speakers.
How much better do 20000 dollar speakers sound than say,a pair of fronts commanding 3 to 4 thousand dollars.
How good of a woofer or tweeter can you build by using exotic materials???
I know some are works of art but I would rather have sound as the main issue.How about you?

 

[highfigh]

At what price point do you fellows think the law of diminishing returns kicks in?
I ask because of the huge range of dollars asked for top of the line speakers.
How much better do 20000 dollar speakers sound than say,a pair of fronts commanding 3 to 4 thousand dollars.
How good of a woofer or tweeter can you build by using exotic materials???
I know some are works of art but I would rather have sound as the main issue.How about you?

It's all relative and some really expensive speakers don't have a reputation for great sound, but they may look cool/sexy/exotic. Obviously, some manufacturers use some exotic material to be different and then make up all kinds of crap to make it seem plausible that it could sound better. Physics decides what sounds good, or not. Period.

How speakers look accounts for a whole lot of sales. A utilitarian-looking speaker gets zero points in the WAF race. While a plain plywood, MDF or other material will achieve good sound, in a living room, it makes the speakers look like something out of a college dorm room. The only thing missing is the cinder block or milk crate stands.

Are you asking because you want to build some speakers, or because you find it absurd that some people tout their speakers as the Second Coming, for the low, low price of the Gross National Product of a small country?

I sell and install A/V systems and rarely go out to listen to equipment because I use what I like and have no intention of becoming so neurotic about whether what I sell is the best that I completely latch up when it comes time to make a decision. I try to avoid the extremely high price ranges because A) so much of what the manufacturers and reviewers write about their equipment is BS, B) it takes a lot of time to do this), C) most dealers' displays suck when it comes to the sound and D) it takes time to really find out if what is being considered can be lived with.

The components usually don't cost so much but any mystique attached to the product or designer does.

 

[tom67]

$500 each...thats about it...

 

[shadyJ]

Another factor is the application for the speakers. If the speakers are for a small, acoustically controlled room with one listening position, than it becomes pretty easy to buy more than what is called for. In that situation, a good pair of studio monitors and a tight, controlled subwoofer will get you a flat frequency response, and that equipment won' cost that much, relatively. If the speakers are for a large room with restrictions on where they can be placed, then the budget to get something that can achieve a flat frequency response has just multiplied dramatically. And that is just frequency response, we aren't talking about other things like dynamic response, transient response, on and off axis response, imaging, etc.

It also depends on your personal priorities. It can cost a lot to achieve a acceptable sound for some people, before diminishing returns set in. And, as has been said, an acceptable aesthetic is important too. It all adds up pretty quick.

 

[tonedeaf]

It's all relative and some really expensive speakers don't have a reputation for great sound, but they may look cool/sexy/exotic. Obviously, some manufacturers use some exotic material to be different and then make up all kinds of crap to make it seem plausible that it could sound better. Physics decides what sounds good, or not. Period.

How speakers look accounts for a whole lot of sales. A utilitarian-looking speaker gets zero points in the WAF race. While a plain plywood, MDF or other material will achieve good sound, in a living room, it makes the speakers look like something out of a college dorm room. The only thing missing is the cinder block or milk crate stands.

Are you asking because you want to build some speakers, or because you find it absurd that some people tout their speakers as the Second Coming, for the low, low price of the Gross National Product of a small country?

I sell and install A/V systems and rarely go out to listen to equipment because I use what I like and have no intention of becoming so neurotic about whether what I sell is the best that I completely latch up when it comes time to make a decision. I try to avoid the extremely high price ranges because A) so much of what the manufacturers and reviewers write about their equipment is BS, B) it takes a lot of time to do this), C) most dealers' displays suck when it comes to the sound and D) it takes time to really find out if what is being considered can be lived with.

The components usually don't cost so much but any mystique attached to the product or designer does.

I have to agree with what you said.I believe a thousand dollar speaker can sound as good as a 10000 dollar speaker.Acoustics and placement mean a great deal.
I'm not handy enough to build my ownbut I am window shopping for speakers.I will buy with my ears,not with my eyes.Speakers like music are very subjective.
If I wanted to go the build route I'd have Wm ax do it!