neo33 Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 http://www.bornrich.com/entry/top-10-luxury-speakers-everyone-cant-afford/ I have never seen nor heard any of these speakers but, In my opinion, none of them can match the dynamic, efficiency and clarity of my Klipschorns for a mere thousand bucks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeFord Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Just a list maker, no cognition involved. IMHO the most important factor in a sound system is the room, get the room "right", and you will have many options for creating amazing sound. Can you imagine what that huge stack of horns would sound like in a big marble walled hall? Yuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Just a list maker, no cognition involved. IMHO the most important factor in a sound system is the room, get the room "right", and you will have many options for creating amazing sound. Can you imagine what that huge stack of horns would sound like in a big marble walled hall? Yuck. Agreed. We get some decent audio shows in Las Vegas and I stopped going. I know that the equipment can sound amazing, but most of it sounds terrible at the shows. They just don't seem to have the time or energy to get it right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Well, the list of speakers are all over $100, 000. I guess they ought to sound better than $100 speakers. But, not necessarily. For me, the most important things are clarity, good bass, build quality, and sensitivity/power handeling. The super expensive speaker are nice and I would take one in a heartbeat due to their unique design, material and constrction. That's what make Klipsch such a great deal, the clarity, bass,buiild quality, and sensitivity/power handeling, set them apart from similar priced or greater priced speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest David H Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 I am sure some of them are quite good, not as good as their price tags Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeFord Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Agreed. We get some decent audio shows in Las Vegas and I stopped going. I know that the equipment can sound amazing, but most of it sounds terrible at the shows. They just don't seem to have the time or energy to get it right. Two years ago was my last CES in Las Vegas, and I looked at some of the high end audio, but its shifted away from what I enjoy. Oddly I don't think its really anything the high end audio people have done, its home theater. Home theater is much more profitable and MUCH higher WAF, so the dollar volume difference is huge, and with THX the average sound quality has been pushed higher and higher. OTOH it doesn't help that much of the high end is totally populated by subjectivists that have killed any "real" audio progress for the last few decades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik2A3 Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 I always like to find out more about something before passing judgement. I really like my Klipschorns too, but know quite a few people who have told me that they found them overbearing, somewhat colored, and ultimately not as natural as whatever loudspeaker it was they happen to choose for long term use. Some interesting things happened when the transistor was born, one of which was something of a paradigm shift from lower powered valve amps used with extremely efficient speakers (the Klipschorn being one of those) to far less efficient transducers energized by comparatively higher powered solid state amplifiers. I do agree, however, that the Klipschorn continues to probably be better suited to very low powered single-ended or push-pull triodes like the 2A3 -- though many also enjoy their big K-horns with solid state receivers and amplifiers. Moondogs (mine now use the 300b triode on a permanant basis) and Klipschorns are an awesome combination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neo33 Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 It's really simple to me. I am a cheapo and I want the best of sound for the least amount of money. Spending a hundred times more when my aging ears can't tell the difference makes no sense at all. I always like to find out more about something before passing judgement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik2A3 Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Great! It seems your ears are still good enough to recognize they, and thus you, are pleased with the overall Klipschorn presentation; however, that wasn't my point.... I think we are all in the position to want to afford the best (a complex word, in this case) we can given our means. My observation had to do with elements of comparison, without respect to cost, and that it's not only difficult but impossible to describe one of the things being compared (whether loudspeakers or lawn mowers) as 'better' without having seen or heard the other contenders. That was the essence of my argument, Neo -- I am glad you like your speakers, and I doubt I would spend $100k + on an audio component even if I could. But then again, in a relative sense, if I could -- which would suggest I also had enough money to help fund educational programs and repair public schools in need of repair (my choice over building multi-million $ sports arenas), maybe I would! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik2A3 Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 I would follow up with the fact that there is a pair of speakers I'd like very much to hear, though at $10,000 (each, not per pair) I can't afford them, either. That's twenty times the cost of my Klipschorns, and I have every reason to believe they would sound very, very good. But, I can't say that they would be as good as (or worse than) the Khorns until I heard them. The cost of admission factor alone puts them out of my reach, but that is not at all to say that they are not worth their cost simply because I can't afford them. The Klipsch Heritage line is the great grandfather of this speaker, and one I think looks extremely elegant, sculptural, yet purpose oriented at the same time. Right now, $20,000 and $100,000 don't sound very different....to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaudeJ1 Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 If the Grand Enema, I mean, Grand Enigma speaker is your cup of tea, then you can get about 40 of the Klipsch Grand 4T's, each with KPT-684's for the same price and keep the hope factory busy for quite a while, with a TRUE "Wall of sound" Or, you can just get a pair of Danley Jericho Horns with the TH-221 "CineMonster" Subwoofer and blow those Grand Enemas right into the back wall and crush them. Than I would take the leftover cash and build the best listening ROOM humanly possible, which is 90% of the "sound," not the speaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Bum Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 OTOH it doesn't help that much of the high end is totally populated by subjectivists that have killed any "real" audio progress for the last few decades. RMAF has been trending in the opposite direction the last few years; more mainstream, big companies, showing more cutting edge tech. Sure, there are still the woo-meisters, but they seem to be making a smaller and smaller percentage of the exhibitors. Many of the woo-meisters are beginning to adopt at least a veneer of respect for empirical science, too, but that could just be in response to more well informed customers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Oh no. This always turns into a "dude, you can get 10 pairs of speakers for what those cost." I have heard a lot of high end speakers set up right, and just like Heritage, they sound great when they are dialed in. One interesting thing that I have seen over and over, many people put together a crazy expensive system, enjoy it for a while, then sell it and go with something more simple. We all have our own definition of crazy expensive but it does happen quite a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaudeJ1 Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Oddly I don't think its really anything the high end audio people have done, its home theater. Home theater is much more profitable and MUCH higher WAF, so the dollar volume difference is huge, and with THX the average sound quality has been pushed higher and higher. OTOH it doesn't help that much of the high end is totally populated by subjectivists that have killed any "real" audio progress for the last few decades. I like the term, "subjectivist." My setup consists of an evolution of about 5 years and lots of measurements and listening of hundreds of components and combinations, all from the USED market. So, the instruments are "objectivist," and provide the other half of the process to determine REAL WORLD performance at a reasonable cost. The real world is MY ROOM, and taste in "test music." Any other criteria, at any price is irrelevant. Most people who can afford these extravagant speakers mostly want the bragging rights and of course they will sound good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeFord Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Wilson kicked it off by including setup in the speaker system price, and it worked well, only downside was cost. Subjective experience is all that ultimately matters. How well does an entertainment system entertain you? The trick is, very very few people have any real ability to judge the subjective merit of a sound system. Everybody is certain about what they think they hear, but its only rarely true, and I have had it demonstrated to me time and time again (often via some new "thing" at a hifi show or store). Over in the Sony forum I was in a LONG thread with a guy sure that the most beneficial thing in his system is a thousand dollar AC cord. How does anyone make a serious attempt at improving the state of the art in audio when AC cords are selling for a thousand bucks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaudeJ1 Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 How does anyone make a serious attempt at improving the state of the art in audio when AC cords are selling for a thousand bucks? No kidding. A friend of mine recently showed me an ad for $15,000 cables. The very EXISTENCE of this pisses me off. It has been proven over the years (Nelson Pass included), that anything beyond even 14 AWG wire of reasonable length was inaudible. There is science, math, instruments and statistical double blind listening that cables are inaudible, but these things will persist into the next millenium, I fear, like 2-inch "woofers." I measure less than 10-250 MILLIWATTS when my horns are playing at a reasonably loud level. Woofers take the most POWER to drive, yet mine measured 25 milliwatts typically while the mid horns measured 10 milliwatts. 250 mw was for the tapped horn sub. Woofers typically have #30 AWG wire in the coil, so why do we need cables that can jump start a locomotive? The answer is "marketing." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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