How important are the Speaker Cabinets?


I am curious to learn about speaker cabinet design and how important does the cabinet contribute to the overall sound. Does the weight of the cabinet make a difference. For instance a floor standing speaker that weighs 200 pound versus one that weighs 60 pounds or 300. Is there any correlation to weight and sound? How about material?

How much are you paying for the cabinet versus the drivers on an expensive pair of speakers?

Just curious?

Thanks.
revrob

Showing 4 responses by jaybo

very important since people generally are influenced(even in audio)by what they see. the merits of exotic materials arguably are more about setting a product apart from the pack and (at the end of day)find an audience with people who just dig 'the look'. nothing wrong with that, but you'll certainly pay for 'the look'.
the 'effect' caused by the introduction of the word 'lovely' into hifi lexicon took the hobby in directions that enthusists could have never imagined (what happed to red power lights?..i guess they weren't lovely..i will admit that purple and mint green speaker wire from xlo did sound really good to me....make my speakers teak, and i'm still there (apologies to the planet).
somebody better call maggie in white bear lake and tell 'em they're missing out on all the fun.
selling hifi is a game of inches, even if you're jumping thousands of dollars....in the early 90's i did sales and marketing for a notable hifi manufaturer, who made wonderful speakers. each wrapped in a sock with wooden caps (not def teach or vandy). on the sales floor of a dealer, we were up against pretty big competition, and though we were certainly as good, we were being killed in sales. brainstorm.....we replaced the standard oak caps with a variety of exotic woods and of course, raised the prices a few hundred dollars. we also offered very rare caps and custom sock colors for a bigger price....sales and special orders improved dramatically....the speakers were always solid performers, they just needed to involve the consumer at a different level to seal the deal.