Average Price Spent for Speakers

The determining factor in how much I spent was the speakers I wanted to buy. My new speakers are about $16,000 retail. I had a short list of speakers that I was interested in, including:
Sony SS-M9ES
B&W Signature 30's
Kharma Ceramique 1.0
Wilson Audio Watt/Puppies.
After I did my homework The Kharma's were number one on the list. So I bought them.
I think most peoples speakers are in the $100-250 range.

Although I'm single I want good looking gear. None of the black, mindless looking boxes. Too many companies nowadays are putting a lot of thought into the appearance of their products.

From past experience I'd say the majority of people spend around $500, if they want something that really lights their fire. The other people would be estatic over a $100 pair og speakers.

I wish I had enough room for my Apogee Stages. Someday....

1500.00 is where good speakers start used. Aerial 10T's are a nice reference speaker at $ 2,500.00 used. If you want a sub/sat set up main speakers can start at a lot less.

To further consider this question, what impact does the cosmetic component play in this choice?
Is a small black box like the b&w more or less acceptable to the wife (gender assumption there, sorry) as the, say dark red cherry cabinets they put on their more expensive models?
While Vice President of Sales for THIEL Audio, we sold 58% Cherry finish, which always surprised me. The cherry we used, was not darkened, only finished with a lacquer. Real cherry looks somewhat salmon like, for want of a better description; and some people thought it bland looking. So when I asked the question to start the thread, I thought more people would respond about the looks of their speakers, with greater passion. For example: Has anyone out there ever bought a speaker simply based on it's cosmetics? Dumb question? I'm thinking of the appeal of the B&O, gear. Audiophiles generally dismiss the B&O's sonics, so cosmetics must make up a goodly portion of some buyers decision making.
Just asking.
Larry

Maple is the speaker veneer of choice in our home. It seems to blend unobtrusively inti the decor. When we bought them, it was black or maple. If black had been the only finish, it would have been a harder spouse sell. When we were looking to upgrade the sub and the amount I was looking to spend was about 2-3 times what I'd spent before, the fact that the custom sub would come in maple helped sell my wife. Speaker finish importance really didn't hit me until I mentioned that we could upgrade the bookshelf monitors in the bedroom (the analog setup) with some nice Soliloquy speakers in Rosewood. Responses that I got about Rosewood being too dark and we already had brown speakers in there and they won't match the others set me and probably my search for new (used) monitors back months. Cosmetic importance seems to be growing at our home. The only possible way around this is if she hears speakers that aren't maple and really likes them, but living in rural Montana makes store auditions very difficult and many hours on the road with the children. So it goes.....