I have a difficult time understanding how some people find it absolutely necessary, and almost essential, to drop more than 10K—let alone 40K—on a set of speakers. I fully realize this would be a naive comment, if I were a person who was simply stating this based on monetary comparison alone; however, that is not the case with my latest experience.
I recently had the opportunity to audition Sonus Faber’s Stradivarius Speakers and B&W’s Nautilus 800s. Both were in the same custom audio room, connected to the latest Rotel—and other hardware I’ve never heard of before. I listened to the same CD and the same track for many minutes, to compare as many aspects of the speakers as I could. Granted, this audition was flawed in that I was not able to sample multiple genres of music, nor was I able to do it over a length of time; however, my five minute impression was fascinating. I was very unimpressed with the quality-to-price ratio of the Sonus Fabers Stradivarious, when compared to the B&W’s. The Stradivarious retailed at $40,000; the B&W’s price was $16,000. I left the store thinking the B&W has more depth, more clarity, more soundstage, more tight bass and definitely better more clear treble all for $24,000 LESS. Is that just me? I have a hard time believing it was, since I’ve often been told I have a very acute ear and insight into what is right and wrong with audio--besides the obvious fact that $24,000 has to sound SIGNIFICANTLY better to ever be worth it. But it wasn't significantly better.
My point with this post is the more I experience (audition), read, and learn, the more I realize the high fidelity industry is driven by prime movers who have mal intent that often translates into wasted effort and money to many consumers. Said differently (and more plainly) the perception of quality, equated with expensive speakers because of their cost, drives many to spend more than simply the quality of sound the speakers produce.
Sadly, like many other successfully industries, profit corrupts. Since I was young, I’ve been very well acquainted with the automobile sales industry. I’ve heard—and even seen—many of the scams that are evident in that line of business. Why would the audio industry be any different? You have rip-offs in the matrices, diamonds, furniture, you name it industry. Why would Hifi audio be any different? So in the end, all I can say is…Buyer Beware; don’t simply skip past folks such as Axiom, because .."how could a speaker the costs only $900 ever sound very good…."
