
Why are the world’s best loudspeakers so expensive? - afishisafish
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150813-in-search-of-the-perfect-sound
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tmikaeld
A Swedish speaker manufacturer have been trying to change this for many years
and have top reviews on all speakers even though they all cost a fraction of
the competition.

[http://www.xtz.se](http://www.xtz.se)

They have measurements on all speakers and room measurement equipment for
"cheap" \- the room really makes a huge impact on the sound.

I have the S-800 Speakers and the new Cinema Package

~~~
vlehto
A Finnish speaker manufacturer has been making studio quality speakers with
fraction of cost of that.

[http://www.genelec.com/](http://www.genelec.com/)

You see this stuff in professional anechoic chambers and mixing studios. I
have friend who has PhD in audio signal processing and he doesn't see much
point going beyond genelecs. The only downside is that you might get "too
accurate" playback for hobbyist taste.

EDIT: Actually the price point is quite similar. Sorry.

~~~
cJ0th
There is a German firm which goes by the name Beringer. They cloned a genelec
model:
[http://www.thomann.de/de/behringer_b2031a_truth_aktivmonitor...](http://www.thomann.de/de/behringer_b2031a_truth_aktivmonitor.htm)

Many people refuse to acknowledge that you can work professionally with their
products. However, I've seen those speakers in many studios where professional
work gets done.

~~~
conradfr
To add to what vlehto said :

Behringer was somehow the "China of the music & audio world" : cheap clones of
more expensive pro gears. While usually visually decent, it could be hit or
miss soundwise. Mic preamps, guitar pedals or cabinets were bad for example
while monitors (like the one you linked) were OK for the price.

Recently they bought companies like Midas and TC Electronics and I think their
products have been getting better. Not enough for me to consider them usually
but still :)

About speakers the real problem will only be the room and the benefits of
expensive speakers are usually wasted because of that. There is only so much
you can do treat a living room without cluttering it. The WAF of bass traps is
not high.

~~~
fit2rule
The reason Behringer is so loathed in the pro audio community is that they are
notorious for cloning other peoples products - literally opening up the
competition, seeing whats inside, and reproducing the design - with cheaper
components - "in China" and so on.

So while we do get cheaper products that are 'good enough' from Behringer, for
a long time they had a deleterious effect on the industry - I know of a number
of products that didn't make it to market because it was known that Behringer
would clone the design ..

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mamon
I think that such expensive speakers fall in the same category as all
"audiovoodoo" items, like this "quantum purifier" or cd mat :)

[http://stonessoundstudio.com.au/stone/Bybee/Bybee_Slipstream...](http://stonessoundstudio.com.au/stone/Bybee/Bybee_Slipstream_Quantum_Purifier.htm)

[http://marigoaudio.com/titanium-power-cable/cd-
mats/3-d-sign...](http://marigoaudio.com/titanium-power-cable/cd-
mats/3-d-signature/)

~~~
kenneth_reitz
The marketing for these products always amazes me.

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petercooper
This isn't much different from whether a $2m supercar is really much "better"
as a car than a $500k one. It doesn't really matter as long as the buyer
perceives the value/exclusivity/aesthetics.

~~~
have_faith
This is what I was thinking. Once you hit a certain price bracket for speakers
(about £1000?) you hit diminishing returns hard.

The whole 'audiophiles use music to listen to their equipment instead of using
their equipment to listen to their music' springs to mind.

~~~
bhrgunatha
I had a similar conversation recently where I heard a great summary - price
increases asymptotically as quality improves. It seems to be quite an accurate
summary.

~~~
skj
Or quality improves asymptotically as price goes up.

~~~
Luc
Not quite, though? You don't get double the quality by spending an extra
$1000.

~~~
michaelt
Depends if it's a horizontal asymptote or an oblique asymptote.

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gefh
Because people have more money than sense? Same with any luxury item really.
And I don't mean that more money implies _less_ sense, just that sense is
limited and money isn't.

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nawitus
I'd estimate that sound quality improves up to a few thousand dollars per
speaker, after that you're pretty much paying for aesthetics and the brand.
Professionals tend to use active monitors from companies like Genelec.

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mschuster91
Something that tends to be ignored a bit is the build quality. Especially
cheaper consumer gear is fraught with shit like glue disintegrating, solder
connections becoming loose due to vibrations, wood increasing in volume due to
humidity... for headphones, cheap plastic stuff breaking after a single drop,
wires so thin they easily break, connectors which don't meet specs...

edit: also, in my experience, expensiver speakers handle abuse like clipping
or otherwise "bad" input far better than cheap ones. Most likely because cheap
speakers operate on the upper end of their abilities and don't have much
reserve margin, while a more expensive one is spec'd below what it can
actually handle.

~~~
noir_lord
My wharfedales are built like battleships, not even that expensive but just
excellent build quality.

~~~
switch007
How old are they?

~~~
noir_lord
Must be 15 or so years old I guess.

These
[http://i.ytimg.com/vi/OlydiO2EpA8/maxresdefault.jpg](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/OlydiO2EpA8/maxresdefault.jpg)
nothing to set the world on fire but the sound quality is spot on for me and
they are basically indestructible.

~~~
mschuster91
I think you're spot on with the battleship comparison... the house could
collapse and these speakers would still be in perfect working order.

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MikeNomad
To address the question in the title of the article, here are some aspects not
addressed:

/ R & D has a lot of time associated with it. Specifically, time not spent
making finished products for sale. People working on the product still need to
eat.

/ Anechoic chambers and other specialized equipment are expensive.

/ As the article details, solving for novel/unique problems can involve unique
solutions. That will translate to new/ non-standard manufacturing techniques.
And that means more costs.

/ The Wife Acceptance Factor. As pointed out in the article, getting small
speaker systems to sound as big as the orchestra recorded for playback is a
challenge. One approach is to use bigger drivers. Another approach is to use
large arrays of drivers. Either way, you get cabinets that have the volume
(size, not sound) of refrigerators. Anything that big has a noticeable visual
presence. Looking good adds more to the price [If there is a question as to
sources on this point, I refer to my ongoing experience as a Klipsch Cornwall
owner].

Sidebar: As a BBC article, kinda surprised they didn't profile Tannoy for
contrast.

~~~
nandemo
Or KEF, or Quad, etc.

Also, it's too bad they chose to display stock photography instead of, you
know, pictures of actual damn speakers.

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quantgenius
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Vandersteen speakers.

[http://www.vandersteen.com](http://www.vandersteen.com)

They are famous for their 2's and 2C's which did away with a box for the
speaker altogether. The money went to circuitry and drivers which are enclosed
in cloth on all 4 sides. The 1, 1C, 2, 2C and 3 are fantastic and amazing
value for the money, probably better than competitors costing 5x as much.

Their newer speakers and some higher end speakers do have boxes and in my
opinion don't deliver anywhere near as much bang for the buck.

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dsr_
That's a lousy headline. It should be:

How good are the world's most expensive loudspeakers?

(To which the answer is: it varies, from very good to horrendously bad. You're
paying for status, not performance.)

~~~
nandemo
Your correction of the headline question is on point.

I'm not sure about your answer, though. I doubt any 20k USD speaker sounds
"bad". It's more like: most are not measurably better than speakers that cost
only 1/10 as much.

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noir_lord
Beautiful craftsmanship and perceived value I think.

I use an old pair of Wharfedales I was given along with an old yamaha amp as
my primary PC speakers and they are truly excellent compared to any dedicated
computer set I've ever used, so much so when they eventually break I'll
probably hunt down a second hand set to replace them rather than computer
speakers.

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mtanski
The wire cutter did a recent article on best bookshelves speakers in the sub
$500 range. There are clearly better (and more expensive) options out there.
But the summary managed to find a bunch that punch above their price class.

thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-bookshelf-speakers/

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kyleblarson
They are so expensive because someone is willing to pay that much.

~~~
timc3
Quite often the manufacturing process is expensive - For instance in some high
end drivers the materials are just expensive to source. Who knows how much of
that is bragging rights though

