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[BobBart]

It has got to sound good first and foremost. Anything after that is icing on the cake. Of course if you ask the better half she would say looks.

 

[einsteinjb]

Sound quality. There's a clear winner huh?

Of course there are those who want to show off their gorgeous polished wood speakers that look like nice furniture or even works of art, and that's cool. But I've been in situations where a friend (and once, the CEO of the company I worked for) asked me to check out his astronomically expensive esoteric sound system, and I've gone in with high expectations only to discover it sounded like POO. Very awkward standing there wanting to run screaming from the room, while my employer watched me with a huge expectant grin waiting for me to congratulate him on his excellent purchase.

I have a very limited budget. Given two speaker systems of equal sound quality, I won't think twice before choosing the less expensive, uglier system if it's considerably less expensive. Build quality is very important too as is flat frequency response and the speaker's ability to play loud without distortion, but of course sound quality is #1.

 

[brian32672]

I agree with most of you.
Specially that all are important.
But for this - I chose sound quality as a #1 priority.
Design and engineering fall into the sound quality. (not speaking of build quality)

My number #2 would be aesthetics.
Reason for that being #2 is obviously if it sounds good, it should be of adequate build quality.
As long as the standard is used (decent drivers, crossover, 3/4 mdf, etc..) - it should be fine.
Super build quality is not that important.
(Super - oversized drivers with rare elements, crossovers with eccentric electronics)

 

[racquetman]

Everything else is meaningless unless the speaker sounds good. Although, build quality that can be seen plays a roll when initially examing a loudspeaker, and obviously aesthetics may be what draws you to it in the first place.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Sound quality first. After that build quality then good looks.

 

[ptabib]

i would rather look broke and have a million bucks then vice versa.

 

[johndoe]

sound

speakerwise:
sound quality >>> looks

 

[majorloser]

If they don't sound good, what's the sense?

 

[kia303]

Sound quality is first and build quality is a second for me, aesthetics are nice but I would own an ugly speaker if it sounded better, to me, than my good looking Rockets do.

 

[Loner]

It's ALL about sounding GOOD! It's a bonus if the build and styling is also first rate.........

 

[patnshan]

A speaker can't be ugly, but mediocre appearance is OK as long as it sounds good and is priced accordingly. Nobody will pay a lot for a bad looking speaker IMHO.

Pat

 

[bwood]

sound quality by far. if the build quality is poor, this will affect the sound quality as well, so i guess it is almost as important

 

[kingtut]

sound quality and built quality

 

[silversurfer]

Sound quality!

But for some people, when a speaker looks good, they think it sounds better.

 

[cnatar]

I think sound quality is most important followed by build quality and aesthetics. However 2 points are to be noted.
1. Most speakers on the market today have reasonably good sound quality compared to anything say 15 years ago for the same price.
2. All of the above factors are fairly subjective and perceptions of both sound and aesthetics vary among individuals.
Therefore a speaker that satisfies ALL of the above criteria and in addition offers something unique is one that will appeal most to consumers.

 

[SilverMK3]

Like nearly everyone else so far, Sound Quality is the most important thing to me by far. If you can make a great sounding speaker out of paper and cardboard then you've got my admiration as long as it consistantly delivers that level of quality at reasonable SPLs.

There's nothing wrong (imho) with cutting corners in manufacturing to bring costs down if they do not adversely effect the product; save the rainforest and give me a cabinet made of MDF - I'll be happy if it sounds good and I'll thank you for passing the savings on to me.

 

[AFJumper03]

I really dont care how a speaker looks as long as it sounds great and I'm willing to pay a premium if it sounds terrific. Dont tell too many people about that last part though.

 

[tomd51]

As others have similarly noted, sound quality is of the utmost importance when selecting a speaker. I would (and do) consider asthetics when choosing a speaker and size will be a consideration, whether large or small, as it will need to within a certain location dependent upon the chosen application.

Build quality is a 'nice-to-have', but I feel that if the expectation of sound reproduction of the speaker is met, the build quality will go hand-in-hand with this, regardless of the material used.

An 'other' that comes to mind is an excellent value when considering the performance for price. You asked!

Nice to see manufacturers and distributors collecting this kind of information and (hopefully) putting it to good use. Thanks for the opportunity... -TD

 

[sancho89]

Sound quality wins

Naturally the most important thing is the sound quality. It doesnt really matter about the appearance for me. Someday I will own the top of the line RBH speakers, they dont really look that nice to me.

 

[got_hp?]

well looks like im the only person to vote for aesthetics so far.

unfortunatly my hearing is slightly damaged and not all that sensitive, so as far as sound quality goes, I can recognize a poor speaker, but I cannot tell the difference between a $1k speaker and a $5k speaker.

As long as the speakers I'm considering to purchase receive good reviews from people with better ears than me, then the number one deciding factor is how nice they look !