Why most users here HATE all very expensive speakers?

[delta76]

When I looked at these photos https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...a-2026-estelon-vitus-1-5m-audio-system.70694/
I have no desire whatsoever "this is beautiful, I wish I could have it" - simply "well, that's a lot of money to waste"

1.5M is basically what at least 90% of us will never have in our bank account. Let alone the room for all of this. This kind of spending is incomprehensible to most of us. Sure some people craving for luxury lifes but nice houses, cars, expensive trips come first. The people who are craving for luxury sound systems are a pretty small group.

 

[Karmacoma]

When I looked at these photos https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...a-2026-estelon-vitus-1-5m-audio-system.70694/
I have no desire whatsoever "this is beautiful, I wish I could have it" - simply "well, that's a lot of money to waste"

1.5M is basically what at least 90% of us will never have in our bank account. Let alone the room for all of this. This kind of spending is incomprehensible to most of us. Sure some people craving for luxury lifes but nice houses, cars, expensive trips come first. The people who are craving for luxury sound systems are a pretty small group.

I can't help but say they look at best intimidating but certainly not pretty, they look like some gear you could find on a cheap 90's SF show.

 

[Dialectic]

I can't help but say they look at best intimidating but certainly not pretty, they look like some gear you could find on a cheap 90's SF show.

Yes. Tekwar with William Shatner.

 

[TurtlePaul]

You’re making a lot of generalizations. But as an example, that new Wilson speaker costs a million bucks. A MILLION! That is ludicrous. Even if it was objectively the best sounding speaker ever made, it would still deserve to be ridiculed.

Let’s be real. 10-20k is expensive for a speaker. You shouldn’t have to pay more than that to get world class sound.

With $10-20k speakers, I often say that people underestimate wealth inequality when they look at the market for these. There are about 60 million people in the world who are millionaires. As a millionaire, I feel that $10-20k speakers don't make a dent on my net worth or monthly income relative to the benefit received of good sound. I have pairs of used Revel towers and used Genelec monitors and feel like I should have reached higher because it didn't even impact my monthly budget.

With a $1 million system, a similar comparison would be to ultra high net worth (UHNW) individuals, which are people with $30 million or more net worth. There are only about 700 thousand individuals in that range and most probably aren't audio enthusiasts. I worry that the actual market for million dollar systems is people who will notice the difference in their bank account given how few centamillionaires and billionaires are out there. Then again, for HNW individuals, so little of your money goes to 'needs' vs. 'wants'.

More realistically, I suspect that the Autobiography is a 'halo' product. It isn't designed to move units but instead establishes Wilson at a company at the ultra high end of the speaker market. Then when somebody come in to evaluate speakers, the rep can do a 'good, better, best' with Wilson Alexx, Chrosonic and Autobiography, and present the $375k Chrosonics as somewhat of a bargain (it's half price!).

 

[Ropeburn]

I can't help but say they look at best intimidating but certainly not pretty, they look like some gear you could find on a cheap 90's SF show.

While I don't find them ugly, it's a very typical "look at me, I'm hella expensive" kind of look that instantly raises the suspicion of looks over substance.

 

[Buckchester]

With $10-20k speakers, I often say that people underestimate wealth inequality when they look at the market for these. There are about 60 million people in the world who are millionaires. As a millionaire, I feel that $10-20k speakers don't make a dent on my net worth or monthly income relative to the benefit received of good sound. I have pairs of used Revel towers and used Genelec monitors and feel like I should have reached higher because it didn't even impact my monthly budget.

With a $1 million system, a similar comparison would be to ultra high net worth (UHNW) individuals, which are people with $30 million or more net worth. There are only about 700 thousand individuals in that range and most probably aren't audio enthusiasts. I worry that the actual market for million dollar systems is people who will notice the difference in their bank account given how few centamillionaires and billionaires are out there. Then again, for HNW individuals, so little of your money goes to 'needs' vs. 'wants'.

More realistically, I suspect that the Autobiography is a 'halo' product. It isn't designed to move units but instead establishes Wilson at a company at the ultra high end of the speaker market. Then when somebody come in to evaluate speakers, the rep can do a 'good, better, best' with Wilson Alexx, Chrosonic and Autobiography, and present the $375k Chrosonics as somewhat of a bargain (it's half price!).

Made expensive to be expensive. A ludicrous price for a ludicrous customer.

 

[TurtlePaul]

While I don't find them ugly, it's a very typical "look at me, I'm hella expensive" kind of look that instantly raises the suspicion of looks over substance.

I imagine the owner of Wilson Audio parks a Lambo in his reserved spot on Fridays and thinks that is just the coolest thing.

 

[Oddball]

With $10-20k speakers, I often say that people underestimate wealth inequality when they look at the market for these. There are about 60 million people in the world who are millionaires. As a millionaire, I feel that $10-20k speakers don't make a dent on my net worth or monthly income relative to the benefit received of good sound. I have pairs of used Revel towers and used Genelec monitors and feel like I should have reached higher because it didn't even impact my monthly budget.

With a $1 million system, a similar comparison would be to ultra high net worth (UHNW) individuals, which are people with $30 million or more net worth. There are only about 700 thousand individuals in that range and most probably aren't audio enthusiasts. I worry that the actual market for million dollar systems is people who will notice the difference in their bank account given how few centamillionaires and billionaires are out there. Then again, for HNW individuals, so little of your money goes to 'needs' vs. 'wants'.

More realistically, I suspect that the Autobiography is a 'halo' product. It isn't designed to move units but instead establishes Wilson at a company at the ultra high end of the speaker market. Then when somebody come in to evaluate speakers, the rep can do a 'good, better, best' with Wilson Alexx, Chrosonic and Autobiography, and present the $375k Chrosonics as somewhat of a bargain (it's half price!).

Well the stats are always off, and especially when measuring individual wealth. They are transparent to some extent in the "western" world, but entirely opaque for the rest of the globe. My best bet is that there are many more millionaires.

IMO, even if you have the means, it does not mean you have to "reach higher". You have to reach to what is that you are trying to achieve in audio, and that won't just be a choice of speakers, although it is one of the most important factors for the overall experience.

I don't really care what dents my income/assets in terms of purchases, but I do care about what I want and get for my spend. I usually tend to be quite conservative, so that's why no need to worry.

This was my choice for LR, and I got exactly what I wanted for the price I thought was fair. Street price was around EUR 7K for a pair, which I found as advantage over Perlisten S or R series towers, Revel 328, or Arendal 1528 towers. Can admit that I am a bit shallow so the competition was not really looking good at all based on my aestetic criteria.

Heco La Diva: Seite 6 - i-fidelity.net

www.i-fidelity.net

 

[delta76]

While I don't find them ugly, it's a very typical "look at me, I'm hella expensive" kind of look that instantly raises the suspicion of looks over substance.

I maintain my assumption that people with f**k you money buy this as a social status. They are either too busy making money or spending them than sitting down and listen.

Of course what do I know. Not having that kind of money myself nor having a friend of that class

 

[Oddball]

I maintain my assumption that people with f**k you money buy this as a social status. They are either too busy making money or spending them than sitting down and listen.

Of course what do I know. Not having that kind of money myself nor having a friend of that class

Who buys this stuff remains a mystery as we don't have the data, and never will. I know quite a bit of family rich people and their lives are not that bad. Lots of playtime involved. Few hours a day of focused business time in the right setup is all that money needs to make more money.

It is not like they are CEOs of Amazon or Google struggling for world domination.

Quite a bit different than my path. Charging by the hour makes you...you know what. And then there are lots of hours in a day.

 

[Sokel]

So it's all about price, right?

Now let me quote something that older, "old money" European schools taught to its pupils:

"If you want to separate yourself, you don't need to build a fence.
You can easily do it with a ten carat diamond necklace. And it works both ways, for you and the others"

Yes, it's awful, and the worst thing about it is that it works.
Some people, are just seasoned to think this way and has nothing to do with function or form, dumb or smart.
That's for the ones priced up there, they are meant as a fence, not audio gear, their function is just coincidental but surely impressive at some manner, that, it has to be.

And as "expensive" is not specifically defined, nothing scientific to see that suits a technical forum.
"Expensive" for what? Near-field? Far-field? Looks? Premium feeling of some kind?

And most important after the usual good measurements:

Extension? Distortion down low? Highest SPL?

If these are not defined, pretty talk are no better than gossip.

 

[Robin L]

I do not want to listen to a Dire Straits album (ever), but thanks.

MY wife's favorite band.

I'm a musical omnivore, I learn to adapt, like Knopfler's solo albums more than Dire Straits, though I can abide when she drives the car (always) and picks the music. She skips over "Orgasm Addict" every time it comes up, which I simply cannot fathom.

 

[Online_olympian]

Hello,

from my experience on ASR, almost no very expensive speaker receives broadly positive recognition. A recent example is the new flagship model from Wilson Audio, which is extremely costly. I understand that many people here prefer to rely on measurements or “proof” on paper to validate a speaker’s performance and only a few manufacturers provide such data.

But even brands with a generally good reputation in this community, such as JBL or Genelec, often receive more negative feedback when it comes to their higher-end or flagship models. Their measurements are frequently scrutinized in great detail, sometimes to the point where every possible flaw is highlighted. At the same time, actual listening tests (which could put these measurements into a more meaningful context) are often avoided or dismissed.

There are many threads where not a single participant has heard the speaker in question, yet dozens of people still offer negative judgments.

This makes me wonder why that is the case. Of course, there are expensive speakers that do not perform well, and sometimes this can indeed be identified through the standard measurements. However, there are also exceptional speakers that are very costly but deliver phenomenal sound quality at least in some categories like sound stage, live like dynamics or... To truly appreciate their capabilities, it is necessary to listen to them in person and experience what they can do!

My somewhat critical assumption is that many people here may have limited experience listening to a wide range of state-of-the-art loudspeakers, and possibly also limited exposure to the sound of real instruments. Only a small number seem to regularly visit dealers, manufacturers, or live acoustic concerts to explore different approaches to audio reproduction.

Nevertheless, many participants appear very confident in judging speakers—often in a negative way.

I don’t intend to offend anyone with these remarks. However, I do feel that this approach may lead people in the wrong direction and prevent them from ever experiencing great sound.

Best regards
Thomas

Haters gonna hate

 

[Ropeburn]

I'm a musical omnivore

You'll love this DJ

Yousuke Yokimatsu

 

[IPunchCholla]

Haters gonna hate

I rarely hate, but when I do it is from a place of logical precision founded in well proven truths, thank you very much.

 

[Online_olympian]

My thoughts are this:
• If you can justify the cost with sane, rational engineering (regardless of how fringe it is), I can understand the cost. Rockport Lyra’s or McIntosh XRT2.1K’s or the legendary Infinity IRS are worth the price due to the provable fact that they are building speakers on the bleeding edge of technology. Wilson Audio is not doing that in any sense.

• 25 years ago, I owned Paradigm LRC-450 active mains & Servo 15 subs ($4k). It was my first 20-20kHz (+\-1dB) system. After I got it dialed in, I went back to the dealer to see how my system faired against Meridian DSP8000 actives ($45k). The two systems at sane levels sounded almost identical. Pushed to actual rock concert levels, my Paradigm mains ran out of steam and the limiters kicked in. The DSP8000’s seemed to have no dynamic limits.

The point is that you can get 95% of the performance of the best speakers in the world for less than 10% of the price.

You pay a great deal for every percentage point past 95.

This,
The law of diminishing returns.

 

[Online_olympian]

I rarely hate, but when I do it is from a place of logical precision founded in well proven truths, thank you very much.

Touche~

 

[ahofer]

I doubt that people with less than $100m net worth will buy this. You need a huge mansion for this, and all kinds of expense (cars etc.).

Depends. Did you see that video about the Japanese guy with his own transformer/utility pole? Some people are merely wealth but push all their resources into one thing.

 

[Oddball]

This,
The law of diminishing returns.

Not really - it's just not knowing how to set up a system for high SPL. And way back then, both of them kind of, excuse me for my French, suck compared to what we have now.

 

[Oddball]

Depends. Did you see that video about the Japanese guy with his own transformer/utility pole? Some people are merely wealth but push all their resources into one thing.

Lol, many islands of Japan. I suggest that next step is to actually buy the whole island and then organize it so it does not interfere in any way with the art of listening.