Hello Harvey,

Some of them can be quite beautiful, acutally. I once lusted after a compact 2-way (Italian, I believe) built of Koa wood (Hawaian?). It sounded okay but it was physically beautiful and it was about $3,500 a pair.

Then again, at the recently concluded Stereophile-sponsored Home Theater Show at the Hilton here in New York, I just heard a largish bookshelf speaker from a famous high-end amp manufacturer. It's all-metal (stainless steel?), looks fabulous, and sounded awful! And, get this: $10,000 per pair!

A few years ago, I almost spent $2,500 on a steel-string acoustic guitar from Craig Breedlove because it was made of curly maple. Very peculiar sound, rather soft but lovely nonetheless. I bought a Taylor, not as beautiful, $1,000 less expensive and very balanced detailed sound. Still, I sometimes wonder ....

In my judgment, it's rapidly diminishing returns in speaker sound quality once you reach about the $2,000 level. In other words, slight, if audible improvements cost thousands. . .

Regards


Alan Lofft,
Axiom Resident Expert (Retired)