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cost of speakers in relation to the rest of the system

I don't intend this to be a "How much should I spend for speakers" question.  Seems a number of folks generally recommend a third to two-thirds.  My question is, generally for discussion, whether folks found happiness and "success" in spending significantly less than that.  Or--by price, are you happy with speakers that might be considered by some folks outclassed by your other equipment and don't think the speakers are the "weak link?"

As a "favorite" professor might have said too often, "Discuss."

I would think there would be a number of Maggie MMG/1.7 folks, Tekton DI folks, probably some Omega folks, some vintage speaker folks.... others?
stfoth
kosst_amojan
2,095 posts
 
There's the cost of making a thing, and then there's the R&D to develop the thing and bring it to market. Engineers don't work for free and the equipment they use isn't cheap. 
As for the electronics side of this hobby, having built a very decent amp, I can promise you that you're paying a crazy amount of money for the box they put the stuff inside of. If I bought the transistors in my F5 in bulk and matched them myself, they would have literally cost cents a piece. The caps in the power supply, the trim pots, and the non-inductive resistors in the feedback were about the only parts that cost more than $1. Buying in bulk the way a manufacturer does, they get much cheaper. 
Those crazy fancy cases that a lot of companies bolt the circuits into are at least half the cost of the product, probably much more than half in many cases. Do you think a Dan D'agastino amp chassis is cheap to make? It costs more than anything inside of it, I'm certain. Looks sell electronics even more than they do with speakers. At least a speaker might look weird for a functional reason. Electronics just look weird for the sake of looking weird so you'll pay more for it. Personally I'd like a stack of nondescript boxes that just do what they do very well and distract me as little as possible from listening. Spare me the glowing meters and flashing lights. If I want to know what my amp is doing, I'll bust out my thermometer and look. Yep... still hot as a toaster! Resume listening.... 
stfoth OP
435 posts
 
@Inna-"...to get more or less realistic sound in a big room, especially with big orchestra playing, one [HAS] to go over $100k." Damn. I may as well quit chasing an unrealizable dream.

@Kosst--Interesting take. Too funny about people paying more for stuff that looks "weird." Pretty sure a two of my friends bought Maggies and ML, more for the fact that, to most folks outside the hobby, they look weird. The facts that they both sounded great and that the weirdness was functional were probably somewhat distant seconds. I recommended the Maggie MMGs, and I’m certain the attraction was more that that much sound could come from a flat board than that they sounded ridiculously good, particularly at their price.
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
2,164 posts
 
transducers have the toughest job put $$$$ there
some supposdly great speakers are 10% distortion
the cone flops around is non-pistonic and out of phase...
also i would not look at total system cost would prefer single source to ear cost
those of us with server, reel to reel and a table are allocating $ away from one true reference source.
someone mentioned this with not including render / dac

so i am right at 50% with my reference chain



randy-11
1,913 posts
 
"transducers have the toughest job -- put $$$$ there"

best advice I've seen here for a while
mikelavigne
1,274 posts
 

at the top of the food chain %’s don’t mean much. chasing ultimate sound breaks all the rules. i don’t hold my system up as any sort of example on what to do.

but if asked what’s a good approach starting out or at modest levels, i would say that (1) getting the right speakers for your room and (2) stretching on the budget for speakers likely will result in the best sound. whether that is 50%, 75% or 90% of the budget for speakers......is ok.

these days perfectly competent amps and sources (even skip a preamp at the modest price points as they typically limit performance) can be found on the cheap. and entry level sources and amps with good speakers scaled to the room with bring the best bang for the buck.

the speaker<->room interface trumps all.

even more essential is having a sonic reference you are aiming for, otherwise it's a game of chance. if you don't have a good idea of the sound you want then find someone you trust and allow them to assist you. or don't buy until you hear something that satisfies.

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