85,000 vs. 1,000 Truth or Hype?

liv4fam

What does everyone think about 85,000 speakers vs. 1,000- 3,000 is it money well spent or is it hype?

phuz

Hype. Or at least not worth it. I feel the same way about $200 cables and $5000 cables.

liv4fam

Phuz, How high do you think the LSI15's can go before they are toppled? Every reviewer so far says that they can pretty much hang to Krell LAT-1 range or Evidence Temptation. So why spend the extra money huh?

mantis

It's a world apart in my opnion.I have listened to speakers on alot of different levels and feel that the ultra high end speakers are not the best because they cost the most but because the companies but alot more time into them to sound the way they do.They use finer materials and it shows.

The speakers in the 1,00 to 3,000 class are nice in there own right but have no bussiness being compared to others out side there respected classes.

I hear and read alot about people knocking high end ,and comparing lower end speakers to high end..there is a world of difference when you reach a certain level.

I came from the 1,000 dollar class and felt that was a nice class, now my personal tastes have grown and I wanted more then what they caould do for me.

The Lsi 15's are a great speaker for what you have to spend.At 1740.00 they are priced right.Speakers that cost more areen't always better when they are close in compare.Like The Vienna Beetovens..which I once liked have a very hard time sounding as good as the Lsi 15's.
There are alot of speakers that I have listened to like Energy's which cost more then the Lsi 15's and I thought they sucked bad.
Maggies are the same price point and I wouldn't own them as I feel they suck.

Now if you take the example of the Lsi 15's and put them up against the Dynaudio Contour 1.8's,at 3600.00 the Lsi 15's have just about no chance, they would get out classed in every department.

Speakers and gear is personal, but there are bette and worse things on the market.Built quality ,current,materials used are all factors.

You just have to make due to what you can get into with you limited check book.I have found my place in audio right now.Can you find yours?????????????????

mantis

reviews are reviews,
I think its alittle extreme to compare a 1740.00 speaker up against a 36k speaker in Dynaudio.I have listened to both of them countless times and in no way are the Lsi 15's that even close to be considered that kind of caliber speaker.

Wes Phillips likes the **** out of the Lsi 15's and wanted to see where they stood against the extreme.He felt they didn't get embarrased.......he can say that it is his opnion.........even as extreme as I fell about that comment......it's his words and nothing else.

People make your own desicions about what sounds good to you.there are a ton of good speakers to choose from.

You also got to come to terms with your bank account...you simply can't have high end sound without high end money.

mantis

Wire is the same, you can say all you want that wired does or doesn't make a difference, untill you have heard many different kinds,your opnion is limited.

I have demo'd my face off with wire,and I learn more and more each time.I like alot of different kinds.Transparent is my personal favorite.Monster isn't for me it's to slam mode and bass heavy for me.Not a refined cable if you will.

shack

It's all relative. If it is what you want and you can afford it....it is worth it. You can always spend more to get something better. You can spend $25,000 on a Honda, $80,000 on a Porsche, $150,000 on a Ferarri, $260,000 on a Lamborgini or maybe $3,000,000 on a Bugatti Royale. They all do the same thing a Honda does...they just do some of the things a lot better....not everything mind you...just some. Plus there is the law of diminishing returns. Once you get to a certain level the improvement becomes exponentially more expensive. This is the same in speakers, gear, computers, boats, planes, homes etc.....

Are the Dynaudio Evidence speakers worth $85,000? To someone yes....and I guaranteee the person that buys them will be able to tell you why they were worth that to them. You or I may not agree but that doesn't matter because it was their dollars that were spent.

For me, the value I would recieve for my $85,000 would be better appreciated elsewhere. Give me a nice set of speakers for under $2,000. Now there is this really nice 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S for around $80,000........

phuz

Originally posted by liv4fam
Phuz, How high do you think the LSI15's can go before they are toppled? Every reviewer so far says that they can pretty much hang to Krell LAT-1 range or Evidence Temptation. So why spend the extra money huh?

Good question, but that's something I really can't answer. I've never heard Krell - and don't have nearly enough experience to make a decent opinion.

Most of what I've listened to has been posted in previous posts, and is in the $1000-$10,000 (pr) range, and I rate the LSi15's pretty high for the moment although I know there are 'better' things out there within that price range.

I'm big on questioning everything, even myself - that's why I have big doubts about the value of the difference in a $2000 set of speakers and a $30,000 set of speakers. Sure they might be a little bit better, but $28,000 worth? NO.

That's just my opinion though. If I had that kind of money... I would have better things to do with it. $28,000 could feed a lot of hungary people or put my nephew through college.

gidrah

Providing you can afford it, have the room and like what they sound like. I'm not about to trade my truck and house to live in a trailer and ride a 10 speed just so I can get some German Physiks, but If I won the Lotto you can bet they'd be on my demo list. There'd be a whole mess of stuff on my demo list.

That goes for everything audio and most things in life. There's a law of diminishing returns. With enough money you can get away with breaking laws.

Then again the most expensive doesn't always sound the most pleasing to me. There are people out there with Altec A-7 VOTS hooked to amplifiers that cost 10 times as much as their speakers. They could obviously afford to buy new speakers that might be more accurate on some specs and be more audiophile but they're happy with what they have.

phuz

Originally posted by shack
Plus there is the law of diminishing returns. Once you get to a certain level the improvement becomes exponentially more expensive. This is the same in speakers, gear, computers, boats, planes, homes etc.....

Excellent! Very well said. We call can agree that the difference in a $200 speaker and a $2000 speakers is substantial. That difference narrows by a great deal the higher up you go.

Like the difference between a honda and a porche is substantial, but the difference in a farrari and a lamborghini? The only difference I really see between those two is about $100,000 and a name.

You're never going to go that fast anyway, period.

fireshoes

It's definitely all relative. There are lots of people that can imagine spending $1500 on a pair of speakers, just like many people can't imagine spending $50,000. I'm one of them. But after I win the Powerball jackpot this weekend, I'll be one of the people that can justify it!

shack

$28,000 could put my nephew through college.

I WISH. I'm less than a year away from this reality for my oldest daughter. $15,000 to $22,000 per year for private moderate to small colleges. $10,000 per year if she goes to UT lives at home and commutes. Then there is the Ivy League Schools that my youngest mentions at $42,000 per.

Its like I told my oldest. Honey, you can go to any University you want...as long as you get the scholarships to pay for it. No scholarships....Then you're going to be a Vol (That is a University of Tennessee Volunteer).

mantis

they are all good post but without the personal time and experience it's hard to judge something just because of it's cost.

I can't believe how much better high end is over mid line stuff like what I own.

shack

You're never going to go that fast anyway, period

Sure I will. Already been to 148 in a Porsche. I'd like to see what 180 is like:D

phuz

Originally posted by shack


I WISH. I'm less than a year away from this reality for my oldest daughter. $15,000 to $22,000 per year for private moderate to small colleges. $10,000 per year if she goes to UT lives at home and commutes. Then there is the Ivy League Schools that my youngest mentions at $42,000 per.

Its like I told my oldest. Honey, you can go to any University you want...as long as you get the scholarships to pay for it. No scholarships....Then you're going to be a Vol (That is a University of Tennessee Volunteer).

If you had put $20,000 away 10 years ago... or even less that $10,000 away when she was born... you'd be able to put her through whatever college she wanted to go to... and buy her a car for graduation.

I don't have kids yet, that's why I can spend all my money on gear.

gidrah

And yet I could see spending $50K on a 2ch system befor I'd buy a $50K car or truck. I'll have it longer and use it more.

shack

If you had put $20,000 away 10 years ago... or even less that $10,000 away when she was born... you'd be able to put her through whatever college she wanted to go to... and buy her a car for graduation

If you had been able to find something that would have paid a guaranteed 8% compounded rate of return over the last 10 years on your $20,000 then you would have roughly $45,000. Maybe gets her through UT and a decent used car. $10,000 seven years earlier is about the same. Problem is anything that offerered that rate of return (bonds etc...) would have been called. Given the stock market today If you had been able to match the Dow Jones Industrial average rate of return you would have around $58,000 today (not bad) and if you had matched the New York Stock Exchange composite average rate of return you would have around $53,000. These are just averages if you do as well as the market as a whole. Maybe you picked great and did better or maybe worse. None of these gets you Havard. But it is not a bad start.

Now $10,000 in the stock market 17 years ago would get you about $66,000 today on average.

Granted if you had picked well and sold at the right time and reinvested well then sure.... Its Harvard and a Lexus. On the flip side it could be a Govt. loan to get into Maureen's
School of beauty and a used K car.

I've seen all of the scenarios above.

Plus the cost of higher education has risen faster than the average rate of retun on investments.


Sorry.....This is what I do. Finance that is.

F1nut

Originally posted by shack


I'd like to see what 180 is like:D

FAST....did it in a '68 GTO on I83 north out of Baltimore!
Expensive....spun the main bearings

organ

If I had the money, I probably would buy those super expensive speakers. We have to stop and think about this for a second. I'm guessing everyone in this forum are in the $1000 to $2000 price range. But there are tons of people out there who think we're crazy for owning something that's more than a boom-box. To a lot of people, as long as they can hear the music they're cool, but we demand more, way more than boom-box fans. The only thing that confuses me are people who spend tons of money on their car systems. Unless I was living in my car, the normal system should do for me. But again, they must be thinking we're nuts for building a home system instead of going out there pissing off people during bed-time and tryiing to pick up chicks with mega watt subwoofers.

Maurice

TroyD

Value, like beauty is all in the eyes of the beholder.

BDT