most overpriced but popular speakers? (1 Viewer)

[Mike_Gr]

Two come immediately to mind:

- Def Tech
- Thiel

 

[Kevin T]

two votes for thiel?! man, i totally loved the sound of the cs2.3. haven't heard the new cs2.4 but i doubt it's that far off. i guess one man's crap is another man's caviar. oh well.

kevin t

 

[Brett DiMichele]

I personally don't see how Thiel or DefTech could be
considered immensely "Popular" to warrant being listed.
I am not defending either company I don't aspire to own
either.. But when I think of Overpriced But Popular, brands
like B&W and Paradigm come to mind. Overpriced may be a bit
of a stretch for B&W though, because they do truly make some
fantastic speakers and B&W DOES spend lots of time on the
R&D and Enginnering side of things.
The only *true* speaker that really comes to mind, that
actually warrants being listed is of course Bose!

 

[James Gallup]

Obviously speakers are VERY subjective and while I own and love def tech speakers, I can say that having worked at a def tech and B&W dealer the markup on def tech is about 47% across the board and B&W is about 40%. Klipsch and the other brands he carries are all in the 35 to 50 percent range. BLOSE on the other hand wich he has one small lifestyle setup is 70%.

 

[MikeLi]

James: that was a great thing to share... I had no idea the mark up on some of this stuff... I don't mind spending money on something I like nor do I mind someone making a commission on a sale but 70% is BS. Also I never have been able to figure out why on some brands there is never any negotiating room period. Def Tech is one of those brands. The sales guy told me (this has been several years ago) when I was looking that if they offered a discount they would pull the whole line from the store. I think that is totally un American!

 

[David Judah]

The sales guy told me (this has been several years ago) when I was looking that if they offered a discount they would pull the whole line from the store

Welcome to the world of Bose's unilateral pricing structure. Incidently, that might have been a store policy, but it is definitely not a Def Tech policy.
35-45% mark-up is fairly typical for all but the budget tier of speakers, so I think dealer cost vs. retail would be a better indicator than people's impressions(misguided as some of them are ). As you go above 50%, perhaps you could make a case for a speaker being overpriced for its level of performance.
In addition, B&W and Bose should never be mentioned in the same thread unless you are talking about the two quality extremes.
DJ

 

[Mike_Gr]

Kevin T,

I listened to the new Thiels (cs2.4) a few weeks ago and thought they were fantastic. Despite their good performance, I wouldn't shell out $3900 for a pair.

 

[Mike Sloan]

Overpriced...Try Revel,B&W,KEF,VON SCHWEIKERT,Aerial Acoustic...I think all the "esoteric" speakers are OVERPRICED! Now lets talk about $100.00/foot speaker cable...it's all smoke and mirrors.

 

[Richard Burzynski]

I can't help but re-word the question to, "what speaker brands are you not too fond of?"

Boston Acoustics - they do nothin for me.
Def Tech - Good highs, great bass, great at filling room, but I don't like their mids (must be the bipolar design).
M&K - good sound, weakish highs
PSB Gold i's - awesome mids, does it even have a tweeter?
Paradigm - good highs, very good bass, mids sound unnatural to me (very boxy) - I hope the V3's sound better, all you HTForum paradigm fans can't be wrong! - don't flame me too much.
Meadowlark - TERRIBLE! they sound dead.

FWIW, I very much like the sound of:
NHT, Revel, Energy Veritas, B&W, VMPS

My response is just my opinion guys, this thread should be looked at as fun, what we like/don't like.

No offense, please.

Rich B.

 

[Jaime B]

First a clarification for Brett DiMichelle. Def Tech is one of the top selling brands in the US, so it is a popular brand. I had a pair of BP-20's with a C-1 center with my Yamaha DSP-1. For stereo, forget it, for Home Theater they sound good because of their expansive (read diffused) soundstage. As for pricing, they are BIG speakers (floor standing models, that is) and shipping cost are high. As for their powered models, well, they include an amp.
As for the most overpriced but popular speaker as originally asked by Karen, the answer to this IS NOT relative, but an easy ABSOLUTE! When the best selling AND worst sounding speakers ARE also the cheapest to build (with 50 cent mid/tweeter in a tiny plastic molded box) AND have the highest dealer mark-up to boot, you know the ABSOLUTE and only answer is BOSE.
Thiels are one of the best Hi-End buys out there, but need very good electronics and careful room placement. Just ask my CS1.5, they'll tell ya one or two things!
As for Wilson, once you hear a Watt/Puppy (well set-up!) and suddenly hear a chorus outside the room boundaries, no, its not that you're psychotic, or took too many pills or alcohol. No, its not the girls next door singing either, it's the Wilsons, they image like nothing I've heard and worth the $20K asking price.
As for Karen, John Palacio told you very wisely: you didn't know what you had started here!
JaimeB

 

[MikeH1]

Lots of people here in Canada buy Nuance because they equate spending $5000-$10 000 on a 5.1 set up of speakers that it HAS to be good sound. Most just honestly don't know.
Nuance, Bose and White Van Speakers ARE the black and white overpriced speaker scams. Everything else is just a opinion, IMO

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Jaime B,
Thanks for the clarification. Mind you it wasn't needed as
I am aware of who Def Tech is, and what they offer. And I
have to disagree about them being one of the most popular
speakers in the US... B&W and Paradigm seem far more common
place to me than Def Tech.
Of course I guess we would need annual sales figures from
each company to prove conclusively one way or the other.

 

[Jason.Soko]

B&W B&W B&W, you have to spend at least 8grand on those things before you get any depth out of them. Terrible line of speakers, they are missing half the range on their "lower" end speakers.

 

[Rob_K]

I'm not sure if this has been discussed already, but FOX 5 here in NYC did a special on the white van speakers. Normally, I wouldn't trust FOX with anything they told me, but this was an exception. Apperently the guy who runs this scam in New Jersey is facing rape charges, and a few other things.

 

[ChristopherD]

I've felt pretty violated after a bad purchase before, but rape charges? That seems a little harsh.

 

[Rob_K]

I'm serious... apparently he raped some woman.

 

[Kip Lackey]

Paradigm - good highs, very good bass, mids sound unnatural to me (very boxy) - I hope the V3's sound better, all you HTForum paradigm fans can't be wrong! - don't flame me too much.

I think this is an inherent flaw in the argument. Because everyone else likes it, does that mean you must? Of course not. IMHO, Paradigm makes a good speaker. IMHO, they are also the current rage on the forum. The same thing happened with those ceramic, round speaker a couple of years back. Paradigm have decent marketing and provide good value for the Canucks or folks close to the border. Are they, according to everyone's individual taste, that much better sounding than Polk, Boston, PSB, or whatever? I own Boston Acoustics VR-950's and VR-10 in the front and center. I specifically chose these over Paradigm's (Monitor or Studio 20/40's) because they suited my tastes and budget better.
Eh, just thought I'd voice a random thought.
Overpriced to me is anything I really like that I can't afford

 

[Jeffrey Stanton]

Yeah Klipsch are overpriced, that's why I do not own anything BUT. Those crummy K-horns & KLF-30s don't sound the least bit good. For what I paid for them Bose are a better deal. haha

 

[Manuel Delaflor]

Once you know how much they cost to make (any one of them) then ALL are overpriced!
Come on!

 

[Jaime B]

Brett:

It sure would be interesting to find who the "top ten" speaker manufacturers are and how much they invoice per year.

I'm goig to call a friend in the trade to see if he has the list. Will let you know if I find anything on this.

BTW, Manuel has it right, speakers have the largest margins for the manufacturers (vs. electronics) since the real cost is always low relative to the retail price.

JaimeB