ELEMENTS THAT AUDIOPHILE SPEAKERS REQUIRE

I try not to dissect the sound. The closer to reality the better.. Room of course is always important, and the louder you play the more important.

Here are some factors that I failed to consider in my analysis of purchasing a speaker.

1.  Customer Service /Longevity - Over the course of 40 years an audiophile, I have had one tweeter go bad on me.  So that is 1/50 pairs of speakers in 40 years.  Unless a manufacturer is notorious for having very poor service, this is a non issue for me and not a top concern.

2.  Smell - Someone trying to be funny...I am sure that some sites out there appreciate dumb comments, just not here.

The accuracy of frequency response is critical to me - though not to all apparently.  To each their own.

Lots of great recommendations also that I agree with and consider!

As a Dealer, I have access to great business partners, like Audience and LTA/Berning - and hundreds of thousands of dollars of sound testing gear.  It was hard (really, impossible) for me to develop great sounding speakers, so I can imagine the difficulty of others - even if he is a top notch electrical engineer, Physicist,  Sound expert etc. would have in building their own speakers.

LOL!!! How they Look is high on my list.  If she looks pretty, I will overlook her misgivings.

If you want all these attributes be prepared to spend $20k on up 

and as I have stated many times ,having owned a Audio store for a decade

only 25% of the cost or less goes into the speakers ,the rest R&D overhead and markup.  l  have  seen first hand the 🧠 or ♥️ of Every Loudspeaker is the Xover design, components,  most even at $20k. Are truly not that much better 

then average pick Any speaker I can pick out the flaws . On my mint 3.4 Dynaudio contours. I rewired them ,and totally upgraded the Xover ,all to often they may use Good Jantzen inductors to dissipate heat ,but the resistors are $2 ceramic types the$30 Mundorf Ultra ,or Path Audio for example are much better sounding and capacitors, many are still using Solen , or the cheaper Mundorf Evo white caps , that are ok.There are many good brands ,foils cap type are better then the standard Sprayed on particle conductors. That being said there are several that are good such as Mundorf Supreme, Clarity caps upper line, Audyn ,Aura cap XO, and VH Audio Odam to name a few . For a great balanced foil cap the Jantzen Alumen Z are very good for a bit extra monies .I spend $1600 upgrading the speaker just in parts , it sounds much more balanced and detailed then their new model 30 at $8k+,and their new drivers are supposed to be a bit better ,the Xover being That much better transformed a already very respectable speaker ,that’s why modding in both Loudspeakers and Electronics is such a good value ,buy a higher quality used product and put monies into modding it and it will sound. Much better still and less$$then new , you usually get what you pay for , some sadly charge much more just for their name. Being into Audio for decades ,it’s just my observation.

Wow!

It is very clear and very precise statement...

I believe you because in my limited experience the only way to optimize speakers, save for mechanical and electrical modifications is acoustic...

Price tag upgrade is generally way less powerful than these three embeddings modifications...

Am i deluded ?

I just modified and embed acoustically cheap very good speakers and i am in sonic paradise ? Without modification they sound unbalanced and bad... With modifications they are cinderella...

I dont believe in price tag , save in the case of few hundred bucks and some 20,000 bucks differences which are real improvement even without acoustics nor any electrical and mechanical modifications...

For me acoustics basic and components synergy goes a longer way than most upgrade...

My system is more than satisfying now , in his two aspects : modified headphones and small modified speakers box in well embedded acoustic corner...

Then if it was possible for me , it is for most people even without money...

But without understanding basic acoustic by experiments it was IMPOSSIBLE for me all my life...I learned this small step at a time in the last 12 years...And mostly in the last 7 years...By experiments with my ears.... If not this way ,  how can you understand what is "TIMBRE" as an acoustic experience  ?

As a Dealer, I have access to great business partners, like Audience and LTA/Berning - and hundreds of thousands of dollars of sound testing gear. It was hard (really, impossible) for me to develop great sounding speakers, so I can imagine the difficulty of others - even if he is a top notch electrical engineer, Physicist, Sound expert etc. would have in building their own speakers.