The price of beauty
charleatan -- Tue, 06/22/2010 - 09:29
I was wondering how much a speaker's finish affects the price?
Basically I'm shopping for speakers and I realize that the aesthetics ultimately have no bearing on the sound quality. Sure I'd like my speakers to have an exotic real-wood veneer or 21 layers of lacquer or an automotive-quality painted surface but I'd rather the cost of the speakers comes from components that actually improve sound quality. Things such as cabinet shape, materials and bracing, drivers and as such.
Which brings me to the question: does any body know of speakers, floorstanders or standmounts, suitable for both music and home cinema that really eschew the superficial and have a price (let say 1000 - 2500 USD a pair) that solely reflects the quality of the components used and therefore can be compared against speakers much more expensive?
Thanks
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Check out Vandersteen. They definitely emphasize design and performance over aesthetics which is why they are always listed in the best buy categories of any recommended components list. It seems to be the principal they have built their company on. I think they have a couple of different lines that intersect in your price range. But I am no expert.
Build your own cabinet.
Buy a kit from GR Research, assemble and populate the cabinet and you'll have a very high performance speaker for a very reasonable price.
All it takes are some skills...
Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications
I guess manufacturers like Magnepan, Harbeth and PSB put the money where it makes the most difference and that is what makes their products high value. But following on Steven Stone's line of thought, I recently discovered about Siegfried Linkwitz's Orion+ loudspeaker while reading on open baffle speakers after an interesting encounter with the Jamo R909. Linkwitz is 100% science and 0% voodoo. He apparently built the Orion + for his own enjoyment and research but made its contruction plans available for sale. You can get the thing fully built by some company, buy certain assembled parts, or for a few hundred dollars you can get the speaker construction plans and then you are on your own to spend as much as you want on materials. The few reviews available of it indicate that it is in a very high league. Those speakers are unlikely to be be useful for home cinema though.
As Jers suggested, Vandersteen epitomizes the focus on delivering the best sound for the money. You can also get good sounding products in surprisingly nice cabinets from PSB and Paradigm. They have economy-of-scale manufacturing that allows them to produce gorgeous cabinets in mid-priced products.