Are more expensive speakers better?

You go, Craig!!! I wasn't going to rise to the bait on this one, but I have to agree that the speakers listed as "mid-fi" are anything but. Infact, the Vandy 5's, Thiel 7.2's, and Maggie 3.6's will run rings around many far more expensive speakers. This is one very clear case where spending more often on speakers does NOT result in better sound quality.

Scott (Sdcampbell)-- thanks much for your support, it just "made my day". Sorry gang, but I just couldn't let Pbb's insulting tripe go unchallenged. Craig.

I walked away with a slighlty different take on what Pbb said. I "think" he meant that, due to their pricing, that the Vandy 5's, Maggie 3.6's, etc... were "mid-fi" in the eye of some "hi-enders". This pertains back to his comments that it takes $50K, $75K or $100K to achieve "state of the art" performance. If you don't spend this much on speakers, those people would in turn tell you that it was simply "mid-fi" because it was not on the "hi-end" of the price spectrum. To further bring the point home, Pbb also stated doubling or tripling your investment may not get you much in return, i.e. that the Vandy's may be able to hang with others in the $20K to $30+K range.

Maybe i mistook what he was saying, but i don't think that he meant to insult anyone or any specific models of products. He simply said to buy the best that you could afford. Sean
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I love the van 5's ! I used to own a set - sold them because they were too big for my listening room. Given a cost-no-issue choice, I actually preferred them to the handful of big-dolla 20-40K speakers I've heard. They have the most natural, full weighted presentation I've ever heard in a speaker. In fact to gush-further they are my favorite speaker of all time. Lastly, they're the only reasonably sized reference grade full range speaker I know of.

Seriously I don't think van 5's, thiel 7.2's or maggies can even remotely be called 'mid-fi'. When I hear midfi, I think of components like the adcom gfp-650 preamp.

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Are expensive speakers worth it ? I think so. They tend to define the character and performance of a system more than anything else.

One thing that a person must first do is evaluate what they like. Aesthetics ? Bass ? Imaging ? High detail or a more forgiving sound ? Room/spousal compatibility ? Class of your other components? Once these parameters are evaluated, I think the sweet spot for great speakers is in the 1000-3000 (used) range. I've owned a half dozen or so speakers in this range and they were all excellent in their own way.

craig (garfish): i think sean is correct. were pbb actually insulting your speakers, or you, by calling them "mid-fi," i'd be plenty pissed, too. in this instance, however, i believe he was listing your speaker and others to demonstrate ironically or satirically how absurd it is to include vandy 5's in a listing of supposed "mid-fi" models. perhaps pbb could have made his intentions a bit clearer but i don't think his post was meant to criticize anyone but those who look down their noses at any speakers costing less than $50k. -kelly