Things you did not know about what is inside your speakers and the Huge markups

@erik_squires Curious, which Monitor Audios do you have? I had a service experience with a MA Silver 300 7G - It had been dropped so hard in transit one woofer popped it's voice coil out of the magnet assembly. To MA's credit, 1) They shipped me the replacement directly, not the dealer, 1200 miles away, 2) Because of their rear bolt assembly mount, the swap took about 10 minutes and 1 hex wrench. 3) I learned how MA's cabinets are in part 'voiced' by the tension on those bolts, In addition to reducing manufacturing parts and labor - very clever, 4) Inspecting the speaker, there was no other damage to drivers or cabinet, even though the styrofoam packing insert was crushed. That speaks volumes about the quality of their builds. 

And to the point of this thread, a commercial manufacturer has to set up a global parts and service organization, and that ain't cheap. But worth every penny when you need it.

@panzrwagn  I've owned the 2-way Silvers and really liked them.  In this case I have these very svelte lifestyle towers with 4" woofers which do surround duty.  

An e-mail to MA's support immediately directed me to their Canadian distributor, and I had a replacement for a reasonable price in less than 5 business days between my first e-mail and part arriving on my doorstep.  They also used the rear hex bolt type of construction, which is also probably what caused my problems.  the hex bolt attaches to the rear of the magnets, and there is no screw on the front.  When my speaker fell face forward (entirely my fault) there was nothing on the face to keep the driver from popping out.  Essentially what broke was the plastic basket. 

Shown in the Link is a Manufacturer approx' 50 Year Old as a Speaker producing company, they are showing in a video much of their production processes.

The Math to get the basic idea for the build cost shouldn't be too difficult, I've got them coming in at near $4K without labour costs.

I would suggest that with such an established period of manufacturing, the build quality and design are very similar to those of other speakers from competitors 

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSeuk4gHh8Q 

The Speakers in the Link are seen to retail at $15K.

Usher's 7' High Grand Tower is a $40K models

The Speakers in the second link are with the Cabinet Structure produced from my favourite material selected for other roles, which is Panzerholz.

My knowledge of Panzerholz suggests the board material purchase price is near $700. Machining and assembling the structure will be between $300 - $500, even cheaper if done a a mass volume, especially if certain machined parts can be used across the range of model cabinets

The aesthetic finishing, drivers and electronics, I have as a $4K-$5K costing. Creating an estimated total of $7K.

Speakers seen in the Link are near $50K

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVpnQbBIrn8

From the Far East and China items designed for audio have been discovered across the years that have progressed in design and won much favour in a wide range of countries.

Brands whose names roll easily off the tongue and are recognised as home country production. Are using most of their production methods selected for their products, have also shown dependency on the Far East and China as their partners in the supply chain.

A Speaker, as seen in the link, is offered globally and is undoubtedly produced by a company that could be considered to be chosen as a partner for a supply chain.

A model, as shown in the link, when produced as a product for another business to sell into the global market, can easily become a $40K product. 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005011688064928.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.pcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller.3.28e7nm65nm658N&gps-id=pcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller&scm=1007.40050.354490.0&scm_id=1007.40050.354490.0&scm-url=1007.40050.354490.0&pvid=11f508f2-2219-400d-87a7-24fe48128e86&_t=gps-id%3ApcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller%2Cscm-url%3A1007.40050.354490.0%2Cpvid%3A11f508f2-2219-400d-87a7-24fe48128e86%2Ctpp_buckets%3A668%232846%238109%231935&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22order%22%3A%22-1%22%2C%22eval%22%3A%221%22%2C%22sceneId%22%3A%2230050%22%2C%22fromPage%22%3A%22recommend%22%7D&pdp_npi=6%40dis%21GBP%215234.19%215234.19%21%21%2146320.26%2146320.26%21%400b0fe32e17837549414501221e0fd3%2112000056248463010%21rec%21UK%21%21ABX%211%210%21n_tag%3A-29910%3Bd%3A2758f569%3Bm03_new_user%3A-29895&utparam-url=scene%3ApcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller%7Cquery_from%3A%7Cx_object_id%3A1005011688064928%7C_p_origin_prod%3A

Other audio products produced in the Far East and China are pretty much a part of the makeup of nearly all systems assembled in all countries. Why not the same for certain models of Speakers being produced in these markets? 

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