ScanSpeak Ellipticor-A50-II (anyone build them?)

I haven’t heard them, but you’ll have a hard time convincing me that the mid-dome is better than the Illuminator 4.5" middrange. Slightly smaller overall, and better FR and lower extension. The price delta for the midrange, $2,600 vs. $400 is unbelievable.

@erik_squires

Those ellipticors cost about 4 to 5 times what your cheaper woofers cost. The SNR1 are not the worlds finest speakers as they are using cheaper drivers. They have received a lot of complaints from the engineers over at diyaudio. Have you actually had them measured professionally? speaker mesaurements cant be done at home with a cheap mic. What tools are you using to measure?

Price diffrences between DIY and "ready made" speakers. The parts cost in a commercial speaker is maybe 20% if you're lucky  The workders in the factory must be paid. The building/business must be insured. There are vehicles which must be bought and maintained. All organiztions between you and the factory must be paid (distributors, dealers, shippers). 

The poor speaker companies. They must be doing all that work for no profit. Perhaps they should increase their prices so that the poor workers can afford to put food on the table?

The problem is, it has been pointed out that we can DIY the speaker for a fraction of the cost. I understand companies have costs to meet but if you can avoid those costs then why bother paying them to do it? Just get the wood cut for you and glue it together and youve got yourself a Magico beater for a fraction of the price. 

It might be a labour of love but that doesnt mean they are not making a lot of money from it.

Much of it is being made in chinese factories thesedays so the excuses about factory and labor costs are simply not true.