Why do bookshelf speakers cost so damn much?
Theyre such an old piece of tech that've been around relatively unchanged and mass produced for 50+ years
Is it because hipsters cucks will pay anything just to epeen over some frequencies it's been proven the human ear cant even notice ?
Or is there something I'm missing?
Just find a cheaper model or buy used.
It's the same with cars.
>>53814294
It's not the same with cars. Cars have changed alot in 50years relatively.
My Dad has some well looked after speakers from the 60s and 70s. Exactly the same. Same connections. Indiscernable sound quality compared to my mates brand new audio engines. What gives?
>>53814127
No you're pretty much right. There's a certain point where difference in quality plateaus but price keeps rising, driven by brand loyalty and marketing.
Then it hits a point where you have to spend "fuck you" amounts of money to get something better.
>>53814127
Magnet coils & inductors are expensive.
Imo its like the male version of having a gucci handbag. Form over function. I wont deny some of the high end speakers do look bad ass.
>>53814456
As demonstrated by Orpheus from Sennheiser
>>53814488
Ok well why has the technology remained so stagnant? Almost every other technology has over the decades figured out ways to do much more with less raw materials, eg computing, display, printing, combustion engines.
>>53814127
What do you consider much? The components in them are not that cheap to even produce. Transducers cost a hefty amount and a good crossover(which are rare) aren't free either. A lot of speakers are also hand made with nice materials and finish which takes time and effort to do right. Of course once you step into the "audiophile" brands you pay a lot for nothing important at all, mostly fancy exterior and empty promises.
>Is it because hipsters cucks will pay anything just to epeen over some frequencies it's been proven the human ear cant even notice ?
No. Problem is always in the audible domain of frequencies where a small amount of loudspeakers actually are accurate.
>>53814816
I'm not too familiar with these terms, but is a crossover what somehow sends the sound to the right speaker cone thing depending on the frequency?
>>53814656
There's no way around the fact that the electrical signal needs to be converted into sound energy and while the conversion is easy, doing it accurately isn't.
>>53814859
A passive crossover is an electrical filter which splits the signal by frequency and sends it into the corresponding driver. It's built into all passive loudspeakers with two or more drivers.
>>53814419
The audioengines are terrible.
>>53814127
>Why do bookshelf speakers cost so damn much?
They don't. You can get decent stuff for $100 - $300 for a pair.
The same sound quality in 1995 would have run in the $1000 - $2000 range.
That's not to say *everthing* priced $100 - $300 is great, but you can find great speakers in that range.
Get a pair of jbl lsr305, affordable and sound better than most speakers that cost twice as much.
>>53814419
>My Dad has some well looked after speakers from the 60s and 70s. Exactly the same. Same connections. Indiscernable sound quality compared to my mates brand new audio engines. What gives?
1) The new speakers being compared to probably aren't very good.
2) "Well looked after" or not, your dad's old speakers don't sound as good as they used to. Capacitors degrade. The crossovers don't have the same frequency response graph that they used to. Foam speaker surrounds degrade badly. Rubber speaker surrounds degrade more slowly, but relentlessly.
3) Who knows what equipment you have them hooked up to.
4) Who knows how good you are at discerning speaker performance.
5) It's subjective anyway.
>>53814999
If you know where to look you can find a few good sets for between $50 and $100. I'm not gonna claim they perform the same as ones 3 times the price, but they're there and great for a setup on the cheap.
Honestly at that price range the amplifier is going to be a bigger expense if you're doing it right.
![Kro-Craft-Speaker-Rev_B-View-1_01[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/M3xAcou.jpg "Kro-Craft-Speaker-Rev_B-View-1_01[1].jpg")
>>53815396
This. If you know where to look you can get some very nice sound quality for under $100.
>>53814127
If you didn't buy meme brands like Awful Engine, they wouldn't seem so expensive
>>53815022
This is about right.
>>53815491
>everything I don't like is a meme
le haha'd
BUILD
U
I
L
D
u just got memed 2 shit b0y
>>53816835
>actually thinking audioengine isn't a meme
>>53817012
give me at least 3 active desktop speakers that are better than audioengines A5+ in every way, while not costing more
>>53817031
jbl lsr305
yamaha hs5
even micca pb42 sound better than the audioengines
just fuck off you don't know anything about loudspeakers.
>>53817043
>jbl lsr305
literally the BIGGEST meme speakers ever created, and you call other speakers memes? fucking kek
>>53817060
they're proven to be good, fuck off with your awfulengine meme garbage. literally the beats of active speakers
>>53814127
What do you mean so much? They are like $100 for a decent entry level pair.
>>53817069
>they're proven to be good
so are audioengines, what is even your point apart from memeing out of control you fucktard?
>>53817031
No one is going to give you a list because all active desktop speakers get shit on by stand alone speakers. Get an amp, dork.
>>53817078
no they aren't. show me a favorable measurement of the awfulengine crapa4
>He bought memes for speakers
>>53817090
http://www.audiostream.com/content/audioengine-5-a5-premium-powered-speakers#745MOO89KvMMoZcS.97
>>53817182
not a single measurement to be found, anecdotal evidence is completely meaningless. glad we've come to the conclusion that the audioengines are trash.
>>53817182
>a subjective review
to the trash it goes.
>>53817060
The fuck does memespeakers even mean. Fuck this website has gone down hill with the newer generations coming in. Jbl lsr305 are fantastic sounding, fuck off.
>>53814656
He said: “The cost was the biggest problem for us, from the start of the project. Because the original 1210 turntables were manufactured for so many years, the manufacturing process had got to a very low cost. Now we need to invest in all the tools again, and the price now is much higher than the 1970s.
"We began to study just a few months prior to IFA, maybe summer 2014, for the new SL-1200. We learned that it was impossible [to make the same deck], as almost all the tools for manufacturing were gone or heavily damaged - only one "die" remained, and that was for the dust cover.
The tech has changed plenty. We have planar/ribbon tweeters, curved cabinets, and drivers made of improved materials.
Honestly you can always build your own bookshelf speakers if you think the better ones are too expensive. There are plenty of schematics out there for DIY speaker builds.
>>53817101
>sad frog
>>53814127
better speakers have more expensive drivers that sound better than the typical plastic shit you find in jbl lsr 305
if you actually heard better speakers you wouldn't be asking such stupid questions
