What makes an expensive speaker expensive

I’m sure there are bad sounding $100,000 speakers but I’d guess that most people spending this kind of money ($500,000 for the whole system) have audio dealers bring the speakers to their home and set them up for audition and an explanation of why they are worth $100,000, so I doubt it’s all a scam.

You realize that probably 99% of the population think that it is crazy to spend $5,000 on a pair of speakers and that anyone who does is a fool being scammed.

Cstooner, Wouldn’t some of the people who buy the big speakers also be the people who frequent the symphony and opera, maybe just to be seen there, but still there, listening? And wouldn’t these people at some point think to themselves, "My big speakers sound like crap, I’m going to trade them in on something else"?

Michael Fremer, who is probably one of the people most obsessed with sound quality in the world and who is very knowledgeable about it, owns some big Wilsons and even upgraded a few years back and stayed with Wilsons. His room, from what I read, is rather small and yet he gets sound that blows people’s socks off, again from what I read. What’s going on there? Could one element be that different people hear differently and therefore like different speakers?

I’m not saying that all expensive speakers are worth the money or that the more you spend the better the sound you get. In fact I’m sure you could spend $500,000 and end up with a system that sounds bad, but there must be something other than stupidity and deafness keeping the ultra high end speaker market alive..

cstooner, you never answered my question about why Michael Fremer, one of the people most obsessed with sound quality in the world, has upgraded his speakers twice and stayed with Wilsons (Maxx2 to Maxx 3 to Alexandria XLF)? 

I'm sure he gets a great deal on them, but why would he keep upgrading up the Wilson line if the speakers aren't that good?  I'm sure Vandersteen would give him a nice discount too.

Here's a couple of things he had to say about the Wilsons and, by chance, the Vandersteen Sevens in his review of the Marten Coltrane 3s:

"The Coltrane 3s also produced holographic, pinpoint images, both in front of and behind the baffles, as appropriate—but as I said of the original Coltranes, the sizes of these aural pictures were "more about bringing the event to you than about bringing you to the event." I wrote that last observation a few years before I heard the largest loudspeaker models from Wilson Audio Specialties in my room, after which that distinction became more obvious. As with the similarly sized (42.5" tall) Vandersteen Model Sevens, the overall width and height of the Martens' soundstages didn't compare with the Wilson Alexandria XLFs' widescreen, floor-to-ceiling presentation.

Read more at http://www.stereophile.com/content/marten-coltrane-3-loudspeaker-page-2#3oZKlDDOtxQcQUCW.99

So, He prefers the Alexandria XLFs to the Vandersteen Sevens.  Does Michael just like to throw money away or can't he hear very well or what?

OK.  No argument that Vandersteen makes great speakers. 

Can we agree that Wilson also makes great speakers and is not merely the beneficiary of good advertising and stupid buyers?

I'm sure Fremer could come up with a list of reasons why he prefers the Wilsons beyond the items mentioned in his review of the Martens..

Why do some people have the need to convince everyone that their brand of speakers are the best for everyone?  People have to listen for themselves and decide which speakers they like best.  There are many different brands of speakers that sound great and offer good value, not just one or two.

Why do people have to dis speakers they can't afford?  Yes the law of diminishing returns applies to speakers, but some people have listened to a lot of speakers and decided they like the sound of $100k speakers best and they can afford them.  Why does that bother some people so much? 

I am glad that there are many different speakers to choose from at any price point and see this as a positive not a negative. 

I am also happy that there are people who are willing to pay the big bucks for the absolute best because this is still a free country where you can buy whatever the hell you can afford, and these people fund much of the research that goes into making my $5,000 speakers sound so good.

So, don't let anyone tell you which speakers you should like.  Listen and decide for yourself and allow others to do the same, even if the speakers they like are unaffordable to you.