Affordable vs. ultra expensive speakers - what's the difference?

I think this is somewhat like asking the difference between a Volkswagen and a Porsche (name your sports car. It sounds many times better.

I agree with the don’t own a boat or snowmobile (unless those are your passions)… one of the real keys to enjoying life is to feed your passions and starve to other stuff… cars were never important to me, nor the quality of TP (to the horror of my partner). But you can’t have everything, if you were not born rich. Those of us that made a living must choose between work, how we live and our passions. If you concentrate on what really makes you happy, you can really enjoy life.

@jbhiller Well said.

For me: “I don't have $50k speakers, but today I have $32K speakers and I never thought I'd get here.  I can now fathom maybe a $70K set of speakers if I could use them and enjoy them thoroughly for 20 years. 

However, when I retired I had $13K speakers which I thought I would have forever, and was able to upgrade to these $34K speakers… wow, I am so lucky… and enjoy them every day. They are so much more than I thought speakers could be.

Having owned $2,500, $5K, $12K, and $34K speakers I assure you performance jumps are the primary reason to purchase ever increasingly expensive speakers. While cabinetry costs increase they most get priced for perform. The diminishing returns argument doesn’t really work until you get way up in expense because audio systems are like instruments, they get more sensitive as they get better and as such get more compelling to listen to. 

@simonmoon

Well put. Value is highly dependent on many things.

Only working a few years in 1979, I took out my first loan to buy the state of the art… Pass designed Threshold s500 for $5000. The average car back then cost $6,000). That amp in todays dollars is ~ $19,000. 

@djones51

The answer is very simple, people think in different ways. My partner is literally a genius, her tests in verbal intelligence are way up there. She got a full scholarship to Brown University, PhD… two Masters degrees. Every time she walks out the door she walks in the opposite direction of the car… gets lost every where. She couldn’t throw a 3D chart into her mind an flip it around if her life depended on it. I can, easily.

My former boss of $10 billion company could not visualize a simple two dimensional x - y chart. But put a fine print table of hundreds numbers in front of him and within about three seconds he would want to know why one number was off by two cents.

Different people visualize and process information differently.

@danager

Yes, % of sound quality are completely meaningless between different people. It is completely dependent on your own values. To me, the more sensitive my system is, the more a small change makes a difference… so diminishing returns doesn’t happen, until I reach my maximum investment. If my investment limit was $250K, then that is where my diminishing returns would kick in.

@lonemountain 

Yes… and the point of using small quantities or making you own driver is to achieve a sound not possible to achieve otherwise… so the sound achieved must justify the cost or they go out of business quickly. This is where professional reviewers and to a smaller extent forums enforce the value proposition. You build a $70K speaker most of your clientele are going to,be sophisticated and professional reviewers familiar with the competition.

@larry5729

For most of my life I have had used cars… they are not important to me. My first loan for a $5K amp in 1979… a new car cost $7K at that time. In my early thirties I got a masters degree and joined an executive team (~75+ hours per week or more for the next 35 years) being Director of in Information Technology and implementing massive computer systems for global high tech companies. I finally did get a new Lexus, at some point, why not… it was still less expensive than my audio system at the time. I am a very passionate person, but not to the point of obsession (think Millercarbon). I have truly loved the steps and improvements in sound quality… they were never made out of frustration but enthusiasm to see how it could be better. My equipment now looks good as well as sounds great… well why not… 40+ years of working 70 - 90 hours, high stress, extensive travel. My $32K speakers are worth every penny.

@fastfreight 

Congratulations on the Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC. Yeah, I know. It is amazing how it just keeps getting better. I couldn’t have pursued this for 50 years unless each step didn’t result in more than I thought possible. Every day when I go down and turn on my system and listen for a while, I just can’t believe this was possible. It is incredibly rewarding. 

@larry5729 

”It would be fun to take a survey on how much people are worth who spend $100,000 on their system.”

My system is worth a bought $150K. I am retired. The major upgrade I made was about 2.5 years ago that took it from $70K to $150K… well i was retired.