Justifying the Cost of Speakers

Can anyone throw some light on how the speaker cost can be justified.

We can find speakers with similar or close specifications but with significant costs difference

Is it the material of constructions like whether cones are made of paper, kevlar etc ? Body made of any special wood, etc ?

Or is there any technology or manufacturer specfic patents which help in the sound quality being reproduced?

As of now , we have the speaker specifications, reviews in magazines and various forums to decide on, but no where the cost attached to it is justified.

IME, the only way you can justify the cost of the speakers is by listening to it yourself. It’s that simple, actually!

The reviews that you find in magazines, only serve as a guideline. As far as forums are concerned, there are a whole lot of self proclaimed gurus out there who, just on the basis of online write-up, give out their share of gyan.

As far as specifications go, a good manufacturer always sticks to their claims when it comes to performance. The use of materials for various components make a lot of difference in how a speaker sounds – exotic stuff like Kevlar, Woodcone Pulp (JVC), PureMalt Whiskey Barrels (Pioneer), Beryllium tweeters (Focal/Usher), Diamond Tweeters (B&W) etc. comes to mind. End of the day, it all depends on how all these components act together to make the speaker reproduce sound as close to reality as possible. Again, speakers are just one slice of the pie!

Nobody can listen to every other product released worldwide. But as much as possible try to listen/experience yourself. If you are convinced about the sound you hear, then may be you will be able to justify the asking price as well!

Best Regards.

Car Owner: “What Rs 200 just to change a small screw that might cost Re 1 or less, this is a rip off. #@#$%@@&!

Car Mechanic: “ Sir, Indeed the screw costs Re 1 only, rest Rs 199 are for –To decide which screw to change”

I hope you got the message.

IME Speaker specifications don't really mean much. They are a guideline more useful for system matching.

Also, 2 speakers using the same drivers will not necessarily sound the same. It is all in the execution. Cabinet design, glues, damping, crossover components, etc. etc. all play a vital role. Most high end speakers are 'voiced' by the designer and tweaked according to their preferences and/or measurements.

You cannot relate price of the speaker to cost of components. If that were the case, a Husain painting would sell for Rs. 5,000/-. The price is relatve and determined by performance, competition, exclusivity, branding, etc. like any other product. If there is a buyer, there is a price.

The best place to listen to a wide range of equipment is an audio show.

It would be interesting to know Soundsgreat's comments on this issue!!!!!!!!

IMO the overall cost of a speaker will include the material cost (that of drivers, cabinet,...) as well as some sort of Engineering cost.

Almost all speaker manufacurers have invested lots of money and effort in designing and perfecting the speakers.

A part of this cost also gets passed on to us.

Buy speakers which seem to have a high perceived value according to you. There's really no point buying something which you think does not have enough perceived value.

When one buys a speaker, one doesn't buy just drivers. Even the best raw drivers from scanspeak or seas don't cost more than 300-400 a pair. One buys much more than the parts. The main cost of a speaker is not the cost of components or the cost of the cabinet. The main cost is that of the research involved in creating the design, the cost of labor for manufacturing the speaker itself and finally the cost of promoting the product.

Hi,

Well I'd also have to say what Unleash and Awedeophile (partially) have said !

Before I start my gyaan ! Unleash you hit the nail on the head my friend ! there are tonnes and tonnes of these in every forum and obviously present here too !! but the sad part is they don't realise this and continue to do what they do and pollute the whole forum !!

Anyway coming to my views !

I though agree with most of the points mentioned here will not entirely agree with the general notion that if it has to be big brand then the price should also has to be the same !!

What Goes into an speaker ?? the drivers,crossovers,wood etc,The wood that any and every manufacturer use is MDF (with exception to rarest of rare case where they use some other,like pioneer's malt whisky barrel),Now cost of this is almost same to all ! The drivers this can be a real tricky one as some of the drivers used in the speakers are of normal material (meaning the driver is cost effective) but priced exorbitantly and another one which used exotic cones for the drivers and still be cheap! same goes to other components aswell !!

Now without going into too much deep and confusing everyone ! here's what exactly I think, Its not at all necessary for an speaker to be expensive on what components used or who makes them ! So what this means ?? simple I don't agree with the folks who say that XXX company spends XX $ for the R&D and hence its costlier !! if that is the case then we don't want those speakers ! there are tonnes of other companies who spend equally or less and yet produce a superb sounding speaker at a fraction of what that big baddie has produced !

Most of the times its just a marketing gimmick as thats what we pay for the product ! more often then not these companies piggyback on the brand Value to charge extra for a inferior product !

We all know about Almighty Bose ! battles has been fought and what not over this ! but still we serious music lovers ( Am not using the word Audiophile coz Am don't think I can call myself for various reasons including,I don't want to be the kind that Unleash has said) will almost instantly reject this product for the single reason,i,e the sound Quality ! so what this implies ?? Bose is very expensive and has loads and loads of patents in its kitty Via their R&D ! but where has all this patent been reflected in product ?? No answers or no explanation !

For the folks who knows less bout Bose,here's a small dose of the actual fact ! The drivers used in Bose is based on paper cone (relatively cheap) and they never use dome tweeter (not atleast uptill recent models) and one of the ( or the only Am not sure) Suppliers of these cones to the Bose is "SHIVA"( don't confuse with shiva of corrson) from our very own country !! so now the same manufacturers cone has been used by various other companies who's cost is not even 1/3 of bose !

I myself in my towers have used a driver based on the cone from Shiva !!

Same goes to soo many other brands ! B&W was the first company to use Kevlar in their driver (infact they are the people who brought the Kevlar to Audio world) but look at the prices of their speakers,Using the very same Kevlar many others have also brought out speakers to the market which are not only cheaper but also much better sounding then B&W !

One more example is Usher, The story goes that when approached scanspeak to supply them the driver for their upcoming speaker,The scanspeak Ridiculed Usher for approaching them !! what happened ?? they went on to manufacture their own drivers and look where they stand today !! why this is revelent here ?? coz the price of the speakers Vs their Quality !

A scanspeak or a Seas driver costs a bomb !! for Ex. Seas Millenium series tweeter costs a whopping 10K Indian Rupees !! So the one who has used it and the other who hasn't whats the difference in sound ?? and most importantly the price of the end product ??

It is very much Understood that,The secret of a good sounding speaker lies behind its engineering ! meaning the attention to smallest detail like what type of driver,what type crossover including the quality of the components used for that crossover,box design,damping etc etc etc... but does all this mean it necessarily has to be very expensive ???

MY ANSWER IS NO !!

after this post there may be 100 response which may agree or disagree !! but the fact remains that at one point or the other,Every brand sells products to a customer using the brand value more then quality !!

While I agree that higher price does not necessarily mean a better product, more often than not it is true. Just because a component costs a lot, does not mean it is a rip off.

R&D cost is a major component if you are not mass producing the product. There are many small manufacturers that make low production runs and hence their manufacturing costs are higher. The lower the sales volume, the higher would be the price.

It's not as simple as that. Not all manufacturers use wood (MDF). Many use cabinets moulded from proprietary materials (Hansen, Rockport, etc.), while some use aircraft grade Aluminium (YG Acoustics). Baffle materials and thickness' are different. Inner constructions are different. Dampening compounds vary. Many speaker manufacturers get their cabinets out sourced. One of the largest OEM cabinet manufacturers is based in Denmark and hence a speaker builder in USA would have to pay huge freight on bulky cabinets. Then there is the finish - some are painted/finished using multiple coats (7 in the case of Wilson). Labour costs in Europe and the US are very high - @ $50 an hour, this translates into a lot. Crossovers also have varying costs - the better the quality and closer the tolerance of components, the more they cost. Driver cost is varying too and matching of drivers is also not an easy task. It all adds up..

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Can you pls give us some examples?

The diamond drivers from T&P can go upto $2000 each. The Alian Super Ribbon Tweeter costs $5000 a pair.

As a buyer, everyone has the option to hear and choose what they want to buy. You have to make an informed decision based on your budget, taste, passion, etc.
If a speaker mfr sells a product that does not sound good at a very high price, few people will buy it. As with any business, market forces (brand, quality, sound, etc. included) dictate how much a product can sell for.

U are also paying for the R&D and brand image when u buy a speaker or for that matter so many material acqusitions one makes. Regarding Justification of price i guess thats relative. A meal in a 5 star does not justify the cost but people will dine there anyway. Ambience, decor, etc etc are as important as the food to some and hence they choose to pay a hefty premium for their meal.
Marketing plays a very important part in how a product is projected and hence perceived IMO.
With the internet everybody and his mother are now 'Gurus'. Regarding magazine reviews well thats a different issue altogether. I guess as unleash suggested its u who has to make use of your ears and decide the speaker/ set up u like and buy it if it falls in your budget. If u have heard musical instruments live, been to a concert etc the goal IMO would be to replicate as close to that in ur living room with your audio set up without really bothering to justify the cost to yourself!
Regards