More speakers for sale than other componenet. Y?


There are more speakers for sale on AudiogoN than other component, except for cables (1512 - 1606). And even that is very close.

I understand why there are so many cables for sale (High profit margin), but it just struck me as odd, because speakers are often thought of as the cornerstone of a system. Aren't most systems built around a good set of speakers?

Maybe that's why there are so many companies trying for that niche?

In my case, I have had the same pair of speakers for about 10 years (Alon I), and I have completely replaced the electronics and cables. Some more than once.

What is your opinion/experience?

Brad
bday0000
the speaker is the last link in your system between you and the music. you are seperated(or connected) only by soundwaves moving through air. IMO speakers introduce the most distortion into the sound, and this must be pleasant to the owners ears. IMO speakers have the most room interaction, this can lead to problems that can't be fixed. IMO speakers vary in sound to a higher degree than amps, sources, preamps, or cabling and each of us have their own preferences. IMO speakers can cause more issues with fit in the room and WAF than other components( if you move to a new house the speakers have a high chance of not working, higher than other components). so my conclusion is that speakers will always be traded more frequently. well constructed speakers that are well taken care of can last a long time. these can be an exceptional buy on the used market. units like processors and digital players, which become obsolete quickly, seem to command higher resale, this has always puzzeled me.
My guess is that there are more speakers for sale because there are more speakers made. Other audio components have to take a back seat in manufacturing. And after all, most systems have two speakers or more--so they must be the most important thing! They certainly take up the most room. And what does the plumber say when he visits your house to fix a leak and hears your system playing? "Hey, those are great speakers!"

(One exception: if you have a Shanling CD-T100 CD player he will ask you how much that cost first.)

Photon and the guys are right, a heckuva lot of folks try swapping speakers as a remedy for unsatisfactory sound before they go upstream. And the same number of people have unsatisfactory sound in the first place because they spent a wad on highly revealing speakers, then "matched" them with a lesser source, one with faults for the speakers to reveal.
The chain of events in my opinion are:

*The quality of the recording/quality of the music (Yes, a lot of the rock we love sucks in terms of recording quality)
*The play back source! source! source! source! No Pandora!
*The amplification (I hate to say this but we might need to bring back bass and treble / loudness controls) to atone for poor system synergy)

*loudspeakers (the end of the chain the loudspeakers are often the most innocent)

The passive loudspeaker merely does as she's told, usually

Then throw in these monkey wrenches:

*System synergy which should not be an issue as you have already figured this out

*poor unstable room acoustics (man this is a big one!)

*wrong mood / wrong music genre ... if I had to only listen to country you damn well bet I wouldn't be an audiophile anymore!

*The recording arts adjustments / re adjustments to fit new formats: 1000 page book to be written here

*The brain and your ears. If you can see the jazz band the sound makes more sense to the brain if you are merely staring at some Darth vader black boxes you're missing 9/10 of the experience by not seeing the double bass and sweaty horns and it is this reason I feel that speakers should look good otherwise what ya got...9/10th the experience... If you see the players your brain thinks it sounds better even if it doesn't.

Build your system starting with the amplifier.. Buy the best one you can afford.

If you're digital buy the best DAC you can afford

If you're analog buy the best cartridge you can afford and and a good TT Get a reel to reel so you can play for 3 straight hours without needing a jocky!

*pour yourself a nice Aberfeldy 21 sit back and listen while admiring the beautiful rack of gear look left and right at the beautiful transducers and think..it's great to be alive.

Q