Design a $60,000 Speaker - Start here

@erik_squires


I would agree with Wilson philosophy.

Mid range is most important followed by bass and finally treble.

The fact is that very good tweeters can be made for about $50 and the job they do is fairly easy - so why spend more?

A good mid range and in particular a good bass is where it gets expensive because the diaphragms must move orders of magnitude in greater excursion than a tweeter.

A accurate subwoofer driver is the most expensive to build with high required Xmax, however it barely covers an octave so I would rate the subwoofer last in priority.

My theory is that expensive tweeters are popular with designers because even an expensive tweeter is cheap compared to an expensive woofer and an expensive woofer requires an expensive mid range (to match sensitivity and high SPL capability) but an expensive tweeter can be combined with any old crap and the soeaker marketed as SOTA.

@erik_squires   

I think we agree. There are advantages and disadvantages to each business model in different industries.

So I think the very issues you raise about performance or the best is a determining factor in choice to go integrated or not. If you can't make a better mouse trap then it makes sense to use the best mouse trap that fits nicely within your design philosophy. 

I strongly suspect that those making certain in house drivers for their speakers are doing so because they can't find a better mouse trap that works well or it is too costly to ask an OEM to make a special run of drivers just for a limited high performance application. OEM are going to chase high volumes with low margins or low volumes with very high margins.....it is just economics.

@erik_squires     

I don't know about Magico but modifying a mass market driver doesn't sound like engineering but more like tweaking. If a run of special drivers is made for them by the OEM then what happens when they run out - owners are left with no spare parts...no problem on a $500 speaker or $300 lawn mower but not good on something more costly that is meant to last decades.

Vertical integration allows companies to support their products for a lifetime which is a different philosophy and a different target customer. Obviously this  should be important to speaker owners in $10,000+ speaker market as it could be frustrating to find that your beautiful speaker is only good for the landfill after only 5 years and a costly mistake that blew up a couple of drivers....

Vertically integrated companies should have all the tools and equipment in house to make replacement parts long after those who use entirely outsourced manufacturers have long run out of spares. It is a very different philosophy with long term horizons with customers that do not intend to replace their equipment for possibly a lifetime....

@erik_squires   

+1 yes Tekton is excellent value for its performance and so is my Golf R but my Golf R is not a McLaren P1 and I would not begin to make comparisons of that sort as the Golf R is just not in the same league

Also Making speaker drivers allow you to make the very best - not just a marketing thing.

ATC drivers have cost that much for years. ATC got started with the Supertramp tours back in the 70’s providing the best woofers available at that time for their live stadium performances.

There is definitely a market for overbuilt drivers just as there is a market for muscle cars or any other extremes required in performance applications.

For those who say it isn’t worth it or it isn’t great value - you are absolutely right - this kind of performance is rarely or hardly necessary in most domestic homes. However, for those passionate about sound quality and ultra low distortion at realistic SPL then these type drivers are the ticket to a whole other level of ultra-high performance.

Oh, I very much doubt the sound quality of your "cheap Tekton DI" woofers will hang together when driven hard in the same way this driver will perform. At moderate levels you could well be right but there is high fidelity and then there is truly HIGH FIDELITY and sometimes the difference can be as little as 3% at moderate levels or an extra 6db to 9db in clean SPL.

A $50 eminence woofer (like in my guitar cabinets and stage monitors) is simply not going to be able to compete with this Accuton at $1400 but for sure the Accuton wont be 28 times better at 28 times the price. This shouldn’t surprise anyone who knows about these things -diminishing returns....