[Tom Bombadil]

Three articles on RMAF 2018 - So many goodies!

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/rmaf-2018/

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/rmaf-2018-digital/

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/rmaf-2018-loudspeakers-under-20k/

[Dieterle Tool]

Thanks for the strings TB... I will have to find more details on this ABX test performed by Thorsten Loesch of Abbington Musical Research and IFI.
How many times have we all done this on accident? Sat down in ours chairs, hit play and thought wtf, something's askew.

-Dieter

[FullRangeMan]

''Loudspeakers Under $20K'' its a car price.

[Tom Bombadil]

''Loudspeakers Under $20K'' its a car price.

Many loudspeakers over $20K nowadays.

Many, many cars too.

The high price market is doing very well.   

[FullRangeMan]

Many loudspeakers over $20K nowadays.

Many, many cars too.

The high price market is doing very well.

Hi Tom, there is no merit is a expensive great sound loudspeaker, anyone can do it to OEM, what custumers want is a inexpensive great sound speaker.

In this price range I dont need a audio magazine to shopping.

[Tom Bombadil]

Hi Tom, there is no merit is a expensive great sound loudspeaker, anyone can do it to OEM, what custumers want is a inexpensive great sound speaker.

The ELAC Adante AS-61 monitor, $2500/pr, received great reviews again from the show.  Highly praised in several reviews. 

Even cheaper, the Vanatoo Transparent One Encore at $599/pr also got a good review.

I've heard $40K speakers which I didn't like, so there's no guarantee of an expensive speaker sounding great. 

My experience has been that the best sounding speaker (to my ears) at $1000/pr has not been as good as the best sounding speaker (to my ears) at $4000/pr which hasn't been as good as the best sounding speaker at $10,000/pr, and so forth.  So to my ears, if I spend a lot more, I generally find speakers which I like better.  Not all more expensive speakers are better but I can usually find a few which are better.

[FullRangeMan]

I've heard $40K speakers which I didn't like, so there's no guarantee of an expensive speaker sounding great.
I have see that speaker since I started buy audio mags in the 1980s, they are the same til today:
Multi driver, 2 or 3 ways, complex xover,
Mono pole, emit sound only to front,
Most are pocket size, need stand,
Low sensitivity 90dB or less, hard to drive,
Sells through dealers, hi retail price,
Advert in various audio magazines.

[dB Cooper]

''Loudspeakers Under $20K'' its a car price.

Yeah, to TAS that's a 'budget' speaker.
I read partway through the show report. Loudspeakers costing $72K, $87K, $130K. I think of that not as 'high end', but 'deep end'. At some point it's about conspicuous consumption more than music.

[OzarkTom]

Was it The Absolute Sound or Stereophile that talked about a system costing over a million dollars?

[dB Cooper]

Both

[Tom Bombadil]

There are an estimated 45,000 Americans now worth over $50M.  If I were one of them, I might be tempted to spend $1M on an audio system, if that system were audio nirvana for me.  Who knows how many people from across the world have $50M+?  High-end audio companies market heavily to Asian and European markets.

[witchdoctor]

Yeah, to TAS that's a 'budget' speaker.
I read partway through the show report. Loudspeakers costing $72K, $87K, $130K. I think of that not as 'high end', but 'deep end'. At some point it's about conspicuous consumption more than music.

I think you would be hard pressed to find a better speaker than the JBL M2 for pure SQ. $20K for a pair, including amps (that makes it a bargain comparatively speaking):

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/jbl-m2-tower-speaker-best-jbl-ever