A lot of good points were made in the responses to your question about Danny's company. It's interesting to find out that those $4000.00 a pair Revel speakers have less than twenty bucks worth of x-over parts. And that's a lot of companies doing that. I spoke to him on the phone a couple of times about changes to my speakers which he likes(surprise !). No mods to the design, just parts swapping which I was considering already, and then I see his video. I called the speaker manufacturer's distributor in the states and discussed these changes. One important aspect was warranty issues which they weren't too concerned about. There take was that they as a company have to decide where to best spend the budget (cost) of manufacture of the speaker system. You could improve the x-covers ad infinitum. Where do you stop? Each dollar extra spent by them adds five dollars to the retail cost of the speakers. Danny's prices are fair; he did the analysis and his time and that's worth something. Parts quality is very good, although I have an issue with those connectors he uses and insists are the best choice. Even in his description of why they're better, part of it doesn't make sense to me. The distance between the wire from the driver and the speaker cable; still has two solder joints and two pieces of copper between them. I don't see how that distance whether it's a half-inch, a quarter, or even a sixteenth of an inch makes a difference not to mention makes changing out, testing other speaker cables problematic.
Fascinated By GR Research Channel
Lately I've watched a number of the videos on GR Research's youtube channel and been very intrigued. If you aren't familiar with them, they design and sell some speakers, but most of their business is DIY speaker kits, and doing upgrades on customer's speakers. In the videos, they show how they measure the performance characteristics of speakers sent in and then explain the thought process and methodology of choosing improvements.
If nothing else, anyone wanting to better understand the technical section of reviews (e.g. John Atkinson's in Stereophile), would likely learn something watching.
Another interesting aspect of these videos is the clear untangling of various manufacturers' choices in balancing cost for performance and the sonic impact of various compromises.
Get your popcorn and check it out.
I'm also curious to hear of your experiences with any of their kits or products and if your findings match their messaging. I've always understood that better parts quality will improve sonics, but this channel demonstrates exactly how with great clarity...fascinating! Cheers,
Spencer