Speaker brands known to use first class internal components


I've been watching some YouTube videos lately that explore speakers from different companies including checking what internal components they are using. I've been alarmed to see that some high-end (and very expensive) speakers have nice cabinets and drivers but really use dime store crossovers and wiring. Some where so flagrant that if I would have purchased those speakers I wouldn't just be disappointed, I'd be angry. One of the speakers I would consider buying are the Kef Reference 1 stand mounts (it's a little big to be called a bookshelf) but I would hate to pay $7,000 or more for a pair only to find out the internal components are sub par. Are there brands that can be purchased with "confidence"  (pun intended) that are sure to use top notch crossovers, wiring and speaker cable terminals? Thanks in advance
milkdudd

Showing 3 responses by milkdudd

I’d rather have a loudspeaker that’s well designed with run of the mill components than a less well designed loudspeaker with state of the art components.
I definitely agree with this. As much as I’m concerned about internals, it would be even worse to get something with a poorly designed and constructed cabinet. The way I see it (and I could be wrong) if you’re starting with a well-designed and solidly build cabinet the sky is the limit as to how great a speaker can be if a person is willing to do some mods on their own. I do agree with you guys that sound quality is more important than internal components. And I understand that manufacturers have to carefully select components to ensure that there is still a profit at the end. I’m just concerned about extreme cases where crossovers and wiring of a $10,000 or more speaker are the same as those in a$200 to $400 speaker. To me that seems like sticking it to the customer even if they sound good. As for the Tidals and Rockports and such, I’ll have to check to see how many gold bars I have in the vault
"I would hate to buy a pair of speakers that I absolutely love and are totally worth the money to me based on their sound and look, but I'd be devastated if I found out the internal parts weren't high quality."

Ugh.
I didn't see this quote anywhere and I know it's not anything close to what I said. But in a way I agree with you. If I bought a 2 million dollar Bugatti and found out it had Bangladeshi built electronics, fuel injection and stability control, as long as it went real fast the day I bought it I would still feel like I got my money's worth

Ugh

Being obsessive usually ruins the pleasures of life.
I do get your point but I'm glad nobody convinced Louis Pasteur of of this when he was developing a cure for rabies which up till then was always fatal. Or convinced Thomas Edison to quit obsessing over that light bulb thing. "Tom, what's wrong with candles they work fine" 
None of this is meant to be mean spirited. Some of us are just tinkerers and try to improve a lot of things we have in one way or another. Back in the 80's and 90's Mustang GT's and Cobras came with wimpy 2.73 or 3.08 gear ratios to please the regulators with higher CAFE mileage ratings. For a measly $400 or so putting in a 3.73 ratio would have you think you had an entirely different car. No comparison. I think a lot of us just try to channel the 1% we have of what Henry Ford had in spades. I know he was an SOB but that's an entirely different story