Good question. I believe most of the cost is attributable to the time involved with getting the speaker to sound 'right' to the designer. This 'sound' is a product of the drivers, crossovers (if any,) cabinet materials, internal cabinet bracing, baffling, shapes to reduce cabinet resonances, etc. In short, it's a helluva lot more than building a box and mounting some speakers. But don't take my word for it, build a box, get a crossover, mount some speakers and listen to it...nothing like walking a mile is somebody else's shoes to get an idea of what they go thru.
What makes an expensive speaker expensive
When one plunks down $10,000 $50,000 and more for a speaker you’re paying for awesome sound, perhaps an elegant or outlandish style, some prestige ... but what makes the price what it is?
Are the materials in a $95,000 set of speakers really that expensive? Or are you paying a designer who has determined he can make more by selling a few at a really high price as compared to a lot at a low price?
And at what point do you stop using price as a gauge to the quality? Would you be surprised to see $30,000 speakers "outperform" $150,000 speakers?
Too much time on my hands today I guess.
Are the materials in a $95,000 set of speakers really that expensive? Or are you paying a designer who has determined he can make more by selling a few at a really high price as compared to a lot at a low price?
And at what point do you stop using price as a gauge to the quality? Would you be surprised to see $30,000 speakers "outperform" $150,000 speakers?
Too much time on my hands today I guess.