The “Off The Shelf” Lie
A lot of manufacturers are marketing their products as better, saying they don’t use “off the shelf” drivers, chips or whatever else they manufacture in house. But are in-house drivers or FPGA digital converters really “better” than the best drivers from Scanspeak or Vifa? Is an in-house ladder dac automatically superior to the best chips from Analog Devices, Texas Instruments or others? IMO, the end result may be superb either way, but I think manufacturers are just attempting to get audiophiles to knee jerk into believing off the shelf parts are inferior. In my experience, I haven’t found this to be true. I think it has more to do with the application than the parts. But reasonable minds may disagree.
@chayro But are in-house drivers or FPGA digital converters really “better” than the best drivers from Scanspeak or Vifa? The best drivers from Scanspeak or Vifa or whoever you fancy will not be tuned to the cabinet or box. Universal drivers will work. But the hours spent tuning the drivers / Divers-Cabinet to get that sound you want takes ages. You would normally take an off the shelf driver and then work with the manufacturer to design and produce something that would match. |
I believe KEF makes their own drivers. I think they are underrated because of their ubiquity. If you want speakers that have a very large sweet spot, they should be considered. It keeps their cost below market for comparable quality. Not crazy about all but their highest levels being made in China, but that certainly keeps costs down. Not sure how the tariffs are affecting them, but they seem to keep a large inventory in stock in the US. If you're looking to build a stereo store demo room, I guess ESLs are the way to go. |
