a4eaudio
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What's your vote for where the Law of Diminishing returns starts for tower speakers?
- Thread starter 2Sunny
- Start date
@mj30250 This is gonna sound a bit weird, but the true story is that with all the changes I made recently my wife would have a cow if she was here when I took out the Revel's I just put in and put in something else, but she's leaving for a week on April 1 to visit her sister in South Carolina so I need to get this done while she's gone. I certainly get what you're saying, but I'm pretty sure I won't regret having F208s instead of ELX's
Oh, I understand the struggle. My Ring camera has "mysteriously" gone offline on a couple of occasions - and just ignore those big cardboard boxes in the garage, they've always been there.
Keep in mind that the F208s are much larger than both the F35s you have now and the Ascend towers. It seems that you're betting on the "ask forgiveness later rather than permission now" play. Hopefully it works out!
edit: Ha, beat me to it.
OP
2Sunny
Active Member
- Thread Starter
- #144
Well here to fess up. I started this thread not even 2 weeks ago, and I'm here to say I was most definitely wrong in my initial belief, at least from my own stand point. Just as a brief recap, I started out with a set of Klipsch Reference Premiere speakers and quickly learned that most folks here consider them too "bright", and I further learned about the theory of "flat" speakers and how Revel was keen on making speakers to fit that theory. So, I bought a full Revel Concerta 5.1 setup including F36 towers. I was blown away by how much better the Revel F36 towers sounded when compared to my Klipsch RP-280Fs, but honestly I still believed that the F36s which retail for $1400 were so good that spending more money wouldn't get me a noticeable difference. I'm here now to admit (too no one's surprise I'm sure ) that I was wrong.
Just today I setup my new Revel Performa F226Be's. I had my son connect them so I was blind to which pair I was hearing and then played several songs and several movie scenes on each pair . . . and . . . drum roll please . . . I picked the more expensive F226's over the cheaper F36's. I'm not an audiophile by any means, but to me the F226s just had a little more clarity across the board in drums, claps, guitar sounds, human voices, and even in the sound of rain and waves. Now mind you today I'm moderately wealthy so the extra $3k in price is nothing, but if I was 30 something again and setting up a home theater I would consider the F36s (especially if bought used) to be an enormous bargain given how good they are, and I would never have paid for the very small upgrade in sound quality so I would still say that for me I would put the Price Point of Diminishing Returns for speakers somewhere in the $1k region, BUT I do now agree that more expensive speakers DO actually sound better where as before I didn't think that I ( capital I there) . . . that I would hear a difference. Much to my surprise and somewhat happily if I am forced to admit to myself I did hear a difference between $1400 speakers and $5400 speakers (per pair retail).
Anyways, just thought some folks might be interested in my final thoughts.
) that I was wrong.Just today I setup my new Revel Performa F226Be's. I had my son connect them so I was blind to which pair I was hearing and then played several songs and several movie scenes on each pair . . . and . . . drum roll please . . . I picked the more expensive F226's over the cheaper F36's. I'm not an audiophile by any means, but to me the F226s just had a little more clarity across the board in drums, claps, guitar sounds, human voices, and even in the sound of rain and waves. Now mind you today I'm moderately wealthy so the extra $3k in price is nothing, but if I was 30 something again and setting up a home theater I would consider the F36s (especially if bought used) to be an enormous bargain given how good they are, and I would never have paid for the very small upgrade in sound quality so I would still say that for me I would put the Price Point of Diminishing Returns for speakers somewhere in the $1k region, BUT I do now agree that more expensive speakers DO actually sound better where as before I didn't think that I ( capital I there) . . . that I would hear a difference. Much to my surprise and somewhat happily if I am forced to admit to myself I did hear a difference between $1400 speakers and $5400 speakers (per pair retail).
Anyways, just thought some folks might be interested in my final thoughts.
boxerfan88
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Let’s see how the opinion goes after $10k level is tasted .
. 
restorer-john
Grand Contributor
The diminishing returns kicks in these days very early when it comes to tower and large loudspeakers.
Personally, I wouldn't be in the market for new tower speakers in 2025, but that's probably (definitely) due to the fact I have more loudspeakers than I will ever need for several lifetimes. The issue as I see it, is there is no need or desire for manufacturers to really compete or show-off anymore. At the height of the late 80s and into the 90s, the big manufacturers threw tons of money at R&D and produced some absolutely incredible loudspeakers that made it to market as heavily-subsidized "halo" products, where smart audiophiles could buy speakers at a fraction of what they really should have been. It was all about the trickle down sales where the numbers and profit was.
Freight costs have skyrocketed and transit damage for large speakers is not helped by all the BS "sustainable/environmental packaging" that does little to protect the contents when compared to the overkill packaging used in the past.
Tower speakers sold today are boring designs mostly, with a pile of mostly identical "bass" drivers, cheap tweeters and 2.5 style crossovers etc.
I miss the designs with push pull internal woofers, large 12" to 15" actual woofers, separate mid/treble pods, rock solid cabinets and gorgeous piano/gloss rosewood finishes. Even 10" woofers mean a tower is out of the question, unless side firing, so people wanting a "tower" style are stuck with several small woofers which despite all the effort in marketing them, never sound as good as a single large driver.
If I wanted a new pair of speakers, it'd be the Yamaha NS-5000s (circa AUD$20k here), but they aren't a tower, they are a "bookshelf" LOL...
Personally, I wouldn't be in the market for new tower speakers in 2025, but that's probably (definitely) due to the fact I have more loudspeakers than I will ever need for several lifetimes. The issue as I see it, is there is no need or desire for manufacturers to really compete or show-off anymore. At the height of the late 80s and into the 90s, the big manufacturers threw tons of money at R&D and produced some absolutely incredible loudspeakers that made it to market as heavily-subsidized "halo" products, where smart audiophiles could buy speakers at a fraction of what they really should have been. It was all about the trickle down sales where the numbers and profit was.
Freight costs have skyrocketed and transit damage for large speakers is not helped by all the BS "sustainable/environmental packaging" that does little to protect the contents when compared to the overkill packaging used in the past.
Tower speakers sold today are boring designs mostly, with a pile of mostly identical "bass" drivers, cheap tweeters and 2.5 style crossovers etc.
I miss the designs with push pull internal woofers, large 12" to 15" actual woofers, separate mid/treble pods, rock solid cabinets and gorgeous piano/gloss rosewood finishes. Even 10" woofers mean a tower is out of the question, unless side firing, so people wanting a "tower" style are stuck with several small woofers which despite all the effort in marketing them, never sound as good as a single large driver.
If I wanted a new pair of speakers, it'd be the Yamaha NS-5000s (circa AUD$20k here), but they aren't a tower, they are a "bookshelf" LOL...
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I know this... at least I think I do., that I'm at a point were to make the next jump to where I want to be it's going to take DIY because of my income now. Big punch & big spl, ran full DSP active can only be done in my mind in the DIY world for me. Top Purifi & or top pro divers or a mix. The punch I want i's going to be done with subs. I need to do this for 5k ish & think I can. Diminishing returns on commercial gear does kick in fast if clean high spl or BIG pinch isn't on the list. I 'am running DSP active 500/500/250 3way stand mount & not even close too were I want to be. Theres nothing out their new commercial that will get me there for under 5k new active dsp . So I guess I feel I'm maxed out on the diminishing return part for tower or whatever. I think DIY is the only game in town for me to meet my goal now for sane $.
