What Does 80 Grand Get You Nowadays?

@deep_333 wrote:

Mike O Neill designed the drivers and everything else for an audiophile speaker which sells for 200k. Guy also made the drivers for his EV pro speakers that sell for 4k. Did he get dumber because the price was lower? He certainly didn’t.

TAD makes the drivers and everything else for the audiophile and the speakers sell for 100k+. The same guys designed the drivers and everything else for Pro Pioneer and it sells for 12k. Did the TAD guy get dumber because the price got lower? He certainly didn’t.

Certainly the design prowess is at full display in both the expensive and cheaper scenarios here (also with woofers that are likely of B&C origins in the Pro Pioneer XY-3B’s, if they are what your are referring to).

What it comes down to (because at the end of the day, pragmatically speaking, flaunting design excellence doesn’t move mountains): if we are to really give people an idea of the sonic outcome of these designs - apart obviously from listening to them for oneself - we need those with actual, unbiased experience with pro segment speakers in a home setting to report on this. 

Although, would it matter? I’m sure many around here don’t trust anyone but Stereophile, The Absolute Sound or the likes to report on the perceived impressions of speakers and audio gear at large (possibly even more than their own ears), and what do you think are the chances of those parties reviewing pro segment speakers, let alone used, more vintage items? We all know the answer to that. 

And so here we are, you and I and few others with our pro speakers that most - contrary to ourselves of course - don’t really give a crap  about. And that’s alright, because as you point to:

Moral of the story.....Don’t let the audiophiles (wouldn’t pass Econ 101) get within 200 yards of some of the pro stuff or the price may skyrocket.....

That’s just it, we don’t want that. But unless we’re speaking a wide scale mentality change and it’s a broader range of stuff that’s no longer made that somehow gains wild traction, I don’t really see that happening. 

I somehow managed to get an economics major....

My son spent a lot of time in a recording studio with his band.  He and his drummer got quite good at music production.  He bought a fairly expensive pair of Barefoot monitors (probably $7k).  Awesome for studio use, but we weren't blown away when we connected them to my two channel setup. 

Mike O Neill designed the drivers and everything else for an audiophile speaker which sells for 200k.

@deep_333 

Do you mean Electro-Voice Mike O'Neill? Which audiophile speakers did he design?

Daniel Hertz (by Mark Levinson)....the M1 system sells for 200k. 

@devinplombier  wrote

@deep_333 

Do you mean Electro-Voice Mike O'Neill? Which audiophile speakers did he design?

It’s all a farce.....the drivers are superior, the engineering is superior.... and apparently the home audio guy put some polish on his mdf, so the price got up to 80k (Well, i’ve got real Finnish Birch Beatchbosch, polish that)

Yes, i’ve got that pioneer and a danley horn and some other things in my cabin. Unfortunately, i can’t bring everything to my regular house and do a back-to-back demo against the regular audiophile speakers for the naysayers (no space left and risk of divorce, etc might go up). But, a couple of guys have showed up at my cabin, heard it and changed their attitudes shortly thereafter about the sound....

@phusis  wrote

Certainly the design prowess is at full display in both the expensive and cheaper scenarios here (also with woofers that are likely of B&C origins in the Pro Pioneer XY-3B’s, if they are what your are referring to).

What it comes down to (because at the end of the day, pragmatically speaking, flaunting design excellence doesn’t move mountains): if we are to really give people an idea of the sonic outcome of these designs - apart obviously from listening to them for oneself - we need those with actual, unbiased experience with pro segment speakers in a home setting to report on this. 

Although, would it matter? I’m sure many around here don’t trust anyone but Stereophile, The Absolute Sound or the likes to report on the perceived impressions of speakers and audio gear at large (possibly even more than their own ears), and what do you think are the chances of those parties reviewing pro segment speakers, let alone used, more vintage items? We all know the answer to that. 

And so here we are, you and I and few others with our pro speakers that most - contrary to ourselves of course - don’t really give a crap  about. And that’s alright, because as you point to:

That’s just it, we don’t want that. But unless we’re speaking a wide scale mentality change and it’s a broader range of stuff that’s no longer made that somehow gains wild traction, I don’t really see that happening.