What makes an expensive speaker expensive

Jim, let me take a stab at the Vandy 1's vs Totem.  For this price range Richard is using pretty expensive parts under those covers.  That's been his whole deal starting with the 2's many years ago.  The cones and drivers are derived from his more expensive speakers since he came out with Treo's on up.  The 1's also got better drivers and keep getting them as he keeps upgrading.  He also does a ton of listening and choses the best sounding boards and components for the price of the speakers.  

The 1's are not the same crossover set up at his other speakers though. That said, for the price I think they are amazing. I heard those Totems recently here in CT and felt they were very good speakers in this price range also.  Plenty of good choices.   

Thanks ctsooner that is interesting & helpful.

To vander off topic (get it, vander instead of wander ), while I admire and appreciate the thoughtfulness put into the Vandersteen 1ci's and other vandersteen models, the sweet spot is too small (something like a square foot). You move a little bit, or there is more than one person listening, or there is a slight mis-measurement and the benefits are lost.

Jim, I hear that from folks, but honestly, it's much larger than a foot or so.  Everyone on the couch in my house enjoys them greatly.  Like many great speakers, the sweet spot is smaller than others.  There are always tradeoffs with any speaker build.  Richard has chosen the best sound he can give you in it's price range, but that means that it won't be a sweet spot for the whole room.  I find most speakers with large sweet spots to be unfocused a bit with no true sweet spot if you would.  Again, this is a general thought as I think through my recent auditions.  I know that recently at an event for the 7s, the sweet spot was very large.  Larger than I remember it being for the mk 1's.  I also think that the Niagara 7000 made part of that difference as we all felt the sound stage was larger and more realistic than usual.  I try to always take the time to maximize the room acoustics when I'm able to.  After that I do take the time to dial in my speakers.  I've always had a sweet spot for two if you would, but the rest of the room never seems to suffer at all.  I'm the only one who ever listens critically and even then, I enjoy the music so much with the Vandersteens, that I won't have a problem with the sweet spot, but that's just me.  Most audiophiles I speak with Jim, seem to listen alone when it's critical time.  It's going to be a personal thing of course, but honestly, for the price if you want a special sounding speaker, the Vandy's will give the critical listener a great sound and that's why he has and continues to be the sales leader in these price categories.  

Not saying you are wrong, but its' one of the trade offs and none of us who have them for long periods of time seem to have that problem.  :)

Hi ctsooner, actually I bought a pair of Vandersteen 1ci's about a month ago. I bought demos (with full warranty) and believe I received very good value.

I'm still getting to know them and am second guessing myself.

Congrats Jim.  What I've noticed in the years with all good speakers are that they won't wow you necessarily, but give them time to get to know them.  Often times it's what they don't do rather than what they the opposite.  Just like some stores turn up the brightness on their TV's to wow you in the store, may speakers are made to sound more exciting in a store do they show up better in demo's, but in the long run the best choice is often the one that you listen to and enjoy and you get to know them better and better during the journey.  At first when I went from my Proac towers to the Vandersteen Treo's, I noticed a difference for the better, but I wasn't blown away.  The longer I listened, the more I realized that I was reaching for all my recordings and not just the best recorded ones.  I also was listening on average an extra couple or hours a day on days I was able to.  I started to really heard the layering difference. Kind of like when I started to learn about wines in my 20's.  It wasn't until I was told what to look for or taste that I really understood the huge but subtle differences in wines and cost.  The detail retrieval is real on the Vandersteen speakers, where on some of the competing speakers in the 1's range, it's just tipped up on top and distortion.  Too many folks hear that and think it's a 'cleaner' speaker or more open when in fact it's not.  Just isn't so.  That goes for expensive high end speakers also.   Vandersteen puts tweeters on the backs for the 5 and 7 I believe, but no one I know uses them. They keep them on off all the time. I asked Richard about this and he said that in order for him to be competitive in the market, he decided to include them as some folks feel that makes the speaker better as it has more ambiance.  It really doesn't.  It's just more waves that aren't needed in the room.

The more folks I speak with about Vandersteen in the industry, the more I realize that they privately own them for their personal listening.  Some of the largest names in audio use them for personal use when they get other stuff for free or high reduced rates.  They are often purchase and torn apart to try and recreate what he's done and it's been like that since he broke onto the scene with the 2's back in the early 80's. 

Feel free to email me about your thoughts and system.  I just like seeing folks happy with their purchases and listening.  Pete.