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Thoughts on high-performance speakers with a utilitarian finish?

Would you be interested the cost savings of a utilitarian finish on a high-performance speaker?

  • Yes, if the savings and performance were good enough.

    Votes: 47 63.5%
  • No, I don't want cheap-looking speakers in my home.

    Votes: 20 27.0%
  • Maybe for a basement/secondary/home theater system.

    Votes: 6 8.1%
  • Other, please explain in the thread.

    Votes: 1 1.4%
  • Get a real job!

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    74
  • Poll closed .
OP
Duke

Duke

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That backside , which speaker in the line up is this ?

That's the backside of the Azel Tower. Here's the front:

7-594.jpg


The "utilitarian" model, or at least the first one, will probably be similar in configuration but a bit smaller in footprint.
 

makinao

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If your loudspeakers spend a considerable amount of their functional life behind a screen in a home theatre system, by all means make them as utilitarian as you like.
But, if your speakers are in lounge-room or dedicated listening room, especially one where wives, partners or guests might be surveying an audiophile's gear, cabinet finish and quality is paramount.
High-end equals perfection to audiophiles and a basic cabinet finish is not compatible with that, in my opinion.
Unless your house is hardcore brutalist. If that's the case, then it will fit right in.
 

restorer-john

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However, unlike others in this thread I loathe speakers wrapped in grille cloth. It’s up there with “black ash” vinyl in my never-again category. You’ll basically turn off anyone with cats, young kids, or probably dogs. Or anyone who hires cleaners, or anyone who has family members with poor elbow control.

The main reason I had to let my Timewindows go was I feared for their safety. My Birman cat sniffed around them, but rarely put a paw up- especially after a few high level bursts of white noise scared her away. But I knew she'd decide one day they were a perfect scratching pole. It was either the cat or the speakers and the cat won.

All my speakers have their grilles off (and stored) now, as Julio (our newer cat) would be all over fabric grilles like a cheap suit.
 

Mr. Widget

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Like many speaker manufacturers my costs have been going up recently, with enclosure costs rising the most dramatically. Since my speakers tend to be large, enclosure cost has always been a high proportion of my total cost, and now that proportion is increasing. I don't like this trend.

Therefore I am considering offering, as an option, a utilitarian-finish version of at least one model. The cost savings would probably be in the neighborhood of 30-40%. So it would be like buying a utilitarian-finish F328Be for the price of an F228Be.

This isn't a “whichever choice gets the most votes wins” thread. I don't need or want a very big share of the market. But if utilitarian-look “high end” speakers are just a bad idea, I'd rather find out before I start turning a bad idea into a bad investment.

Any and all comments welcome.

(Note that this thread is about products from my own company, AudioKinesis, and not about products of Illusio Audio, a new company I'm associated with, which was mentioned in a recent Desperate Dealers Forum thread.)
In the '70s Klipsch offered their entire line in raw birch plywood along with a variety of veneer finishes. The Klipschorn was available in 4 versions, "A" being the most common and most expensive, the "B" version was a bit simplified, the "C" version was nicely finished in raw birch, and the "D" version was the "decorator" version which was extremely rough and meant to be custom built into the home.

For a larger manufacturer managing all of those skews can reduce the savings, but for a smaller company there can be real savings for the consumer which can lead to added sales.

That was the long answer. I think a "utility" version seems like a great idea.
 
OP
Duke

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I'd love the cheap looking true audiophile type performance as well...

I'm not planning to hold back on things that I think matter as far as sound quality. Crossover parts quality will be just below "boutique", and drivers and horns will be very good. If I can't be proud of it, I'd rather not put my time and energy into it to begin with.

In the '70s Klipsch offered their entire line in raw birch plywood along with a variety of veneer finishes. The Klipschorn was available in 4 versions, "A" being the most common and most expensive, the "B" version was a bit simplified, the "C" version was nicely finished in raw birch, and the "D" version was the "decorator" version which was extremely rough and meant to be custom built into the home.

I had forgotten about that!

For a larger manufacturer managing all of those skews can reduce the savings, but for a smaller company there can be real savings for the consumer which can lead to added sales.

Since I build-to-order anyway, rather than warehousing a bunch of pre-built enclosures (tried that once), it would be a lot less complicated for me than it was for Klipsch.

I think a "utility" version seems like a great idea.

Thank you. I'm surprised at how well "yes if the savings and performance were good enough" is doing in the poll. It's around 60%, and I would have interpreted a much lower percentage than that as a go-ahead.

as a cat owner(6).. Give me something that's hard to ruin cosmetically.. Or something that doesn't matter if it gets puked on..

One of the utilitarian-finish pairs will be for me. Our cats' high-speed parkour sessions can be hard on veneered surfaces.
 

tw 2022

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I'm not planning to hold back on things that I think matter as far as sound quality. Crossover parts quality will be just below "boutique", and drivers and horns will be very good
.. That's a great plan imo, i think function over looks in a value rig every time...
 
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