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Misconceptions of Speakers

I went to a number of audio shops recently and auditioned speakers from companies such as Proac, Acoustic Energy, PSB, Paradigm, Magnepan, B&W, Mission and the list goes on.

Anyways, prior to my auditioning of these speakers, I thought that'd I'd see a direct correlation between high price and performance, but that certainly hasn't been the case thus far!

There just seems to be SO many overpriced speakers on the market today. It has become obvious that a speaker manufacturer must spend a lot on advertising to generate reviews in many magazines and thus he has to jack up the price of his speaker to exorbitant price levels.

I’m going to leave out the brands below for fear of offending anybody who got caught up in the hyping of these speakers, and to not risk a lawsuit by the speaker manufacturer.

I had the opportunity today to listen to an overhyped ~$3500 pair of speakers, and I have to say that they sounded decent. However, I didn’t feel they're worth anywhere near their asking price! In fact, that was confirmed when the owner of the store that sold the $3,500 pair accidentally made a comment regarding their sound quality vs. a "Much" cheaper pair of speakers.

I had been auditioning these expensive speakers for about 2 hours and I noticed that in the corner of this store was sitting a small, obscure brand floorstander . I quickly asked that owner if I could audition those speakers and he said yes. I was immediately impressed with the sound coming from the small boxes. Well, after about 10 minutes of listening the store owner abruptly stopped the music and said, "there really is a difference between the $3,500 speakers and the $700 speakers." I instantly got a smile on my face upon hearing him trying to defend the much overrated $3,500 speakers.

The owner, for the next hour or so, tried to defend his $3,500 speakers but he knew that I knew they were grossly overpriced and a perfect example of how overpriced many speakers are. I’m now going to be searching for a speaker that doesn’t advertise at all and who’s relying on the great sound of the speaker to generate interest amongst consumers and NOT skewed media reviews!!
bobjohnston

Showing 2 responses by sugarbrie

sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
I need more information. A $700 pair of speakers will sound better than a $3500 pair connected to lower end and some mid-fi electronics. In my example the better speakers will sound worse because they are more revealing. The inadequate sound being heard is the deficiency in the electronics being perfectly reproduced by the $3500 speakers. The $700 pair mask the distortion in the electionics.


There is a B&W dealer in my area that has the Nautilus speakers connected to the typical Adcom amps. They sound like crap. I am not surprised.

sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
I can actually believe it. My speakers are out of whack with the rest of the system. A lot of posts here say that you should spend 1/4 or more of a budget on speakers. Based on list prices my speakers listed for $1500. My preamp $2250, Amplifier $2150. Even my Subwoofer lists for $2000. My speakers are up to the task. I've tried speakers costing twice as much and they were never better than equal at best, so I still have the old ones.
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