Ps audio aspen FR 30 Loudspeakers

@audioman58

In general I accept the premise that better quality parts will lead to improved sound quality. However the overall speaker design and manufacturing aspects  have to be considered.

Speaker#1 has an "A" list of renown parts. Speaker #2 uses parts from unknown/unfamiliar less expensive brands.

Speaker #1 sounds just okay and speaker#2 is captivating. I’m spending my money to purchase the latter. Sound quality will always trump an impressive parts list as far as I’m concerned. This is audio so you actually have to do some listening.

Charles

Everything makes a difference. Yes, a speaker that is less well done can sound better than a particular speaker....more well done. However, the speaker less well done can sound way, way, way, way better if it is well done. This is truth. Is the PS Audio speaker well done?......it is well done.....but not very well done....not even close to what is possible. My own speaker that I used for a while used the Neo 10 and Neo 3 on an open baffle.....no binding posts...all hardwired xover with way better parts and way less parts.....no resistors what so ever.....this would sound way better than the PS Audio top end. Check it out. If the Neo 10 were still available the top end of my speaker would cost less than $1K with all the parts and wire and wood and felt and everything (for the pair). Of course, you could finish it any way you like including super finishes and paint. It does not have to look like my Frankenstein....he he

http://tweakaudio.com/EVS-2/planar_midhighs.html

BTW......the B&G Neo 10 and 3 are both 92db sensitive......so no resistors are needed to match them so I do not know why the PS Audio speaker is only 87db sensitive.....maybe they are padding both the mids and highs to the woofers (really bad idea to put resistors in series with the signal when you do not need it).  There is nothing innovative about the PS Audio speaker.....just drivers in a box....looks nice and I am sure sounds nice.  But you can make a better speaker for a few thousand dollars.

dgluke said....”As they are helping to recoup those R&D costs at a higher clip than what was expected when the engineering started.”

According to McGowan they only price product based on cost to get product into the consumers hands.

Quote from Paul...

”As many of you know, PS Audio prices its products not by how much R and D or tooling costs were spent but rather a very simple formula of parts, shipping, and labor times a standard markup.”

My point was even if it sounds good with average parts , 

by using the top 10 % in quality will ultimately sound better ,If you are willing to go Thst extra mile to get That refinement . IHave proved this many times , with many 

well known brands ,that is how Dan Modwright became so popular ,taking a good product and putting in much high grade parts in key areas ,the same thing applies to Loudspeakers, my point was the speaker can be that much better in low level detail, imaging,and soundstage depth judt by putting in day another $$800-$1k in parts  I  recently took a very respectable Dynaudio speaker and put $1500 into the Xover and wiring it literally transformed it to compete with speakers 2x+ it’s cost ,being into mods or upgrades for so long ,I am sometimes very critical , it’s just my observation  on what’s possible nothing more.

It is not just parts quality, but how you do things. For instance, it sounds better to wire a coil into the inside and out the outside winding. So, the outside winding would go to ground or output.....practically no one knows this. I don’t know a single speaker done this way. It is not subtle, the sonic difference. There are connectors on drivers that you can bypass and wire directly to the voice coil wires.....no one in the world does this.....sometimes, especially when a driver has binding posts on it.....the sound can be completely transformed by removing the binding post and hardwiring to the voice coil wire.  All capacitors need to be oriented properly.....like the coils....that is, the outside foil on the cap should go to ground or output.  I don't see any markings on the caps in the PS Audio xover, so I would assume they are all put in there willy nilly.   All binding posts degrade the sound. The best ones that I have heard are the WBT Negtgen coppers. Even better than that is using nylon hardware to clamp your speaker wires to the xover wires.....as shown in the pic of the Apogee xover on my site. I will have this as the main set up on a bookshelf speaker I will be producing later this year (of course, it will have the wires going directly to the voice coil wires on my full range driver in the box). You do not want to use traces in your xover....you want the parts hardwired together. You want the xover parts not vibrating with the box....or on their own.......on and on it goes....this game is infinite. Enjoy this moment....the only moment that exists