What is the meaning of high-end speakers?

L00k_C

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What is the meaning of high-end speakers?

Is it the price? Is it the brand? Is it the materials made of?

Will all experts/audiophiles agree?

Could someone provide me a representative list for each category?

Thanks
 

chebby

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It means never having to say you can't afford it...

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Benedict_Arnold

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plastic penguin said:
Depends on your budget.

And your ears. If you're as deaf as a post, a 5 quid pair of speakers is a waste. If you have the ears of a symphony orchestra conductor a 5 grand pair can be inadequate.

And at the risk of offending the Kylie fans....:)
 

Chewy

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I think its based on performance, which generally correlates, and can be approximated by, price (not always mind - many expensive items don't necessarily perform better than their cheaper counter parts).

I don't believe it is based on budget, and certainly most people would agree £200 isn't going to be high end (unless we're talking banana plugs!).

I believe that you have to consider the sliding scale of performance/price. If you take the two extremes, say for example the bargain basement budget version of an item might be, for arguments sake say, £20, and the most expensive example is, say, £100,000. You then would logically expect to apportion particular sections if that price range into performance/price categories (such as budget, entry level, mid-range etc). You would not necessarily expect all sections to be of equal size either - most would agree performance of audio items tends to be affected by the law of diminishing returns, which gets more severe the higher up the price scale you go. So for example where the 'budget' section could be £20-£100, the 'extreme ultra high end' section could be £40,000-£100,000.

I'm not sure if that answers your question or whether you wanted someone to actually tell you that, say for speakers, what specifc range might be considered 'high end' and the same for power amps etc etc - that is something few of us are well versed enough in audio gear to answer, and something that is probably going to cause disagreement.

As always, just my 2p worth . . .
 

Overdose

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It is simply about price.

'High end' is a term used to imply excellence and exclusivity and is used to justify the cost, it is always relatively expensive, sometimes with good reason and at other times not so.
 

CnoEvil

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I think you could ask 10 people, and get 10 differing answers.

IMO:

- They are always very expensive

- Can often be a design statement

- It's not a guarantee of great performance, or that you will even like them.

- Usually have exotic materials

- Can be poor VFM, especially the really expensive stuff

- Often pretty exclusive, due to low numbers that are sold, or limited production run.
 

L00k_C

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CnoEvil said:
I think you could ask 10 people, and get 10 differing answers.

IMO:

- They are always very expensive

- Can often be a design statement

- It's not a guarantee of great performance, or that you will even like them.

- Usually have exotic materials

- Can be poor VFM, especially the really expensive stuff

- Often pretty exclusive, due to low numbers that are sold, or limited production run.

So these are usually 'strange' unkown brands?
 

CnoEvil

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L00k_C said:
So these are usually 'strange' unkown brands?

I suppose it depends on the circles you travel in.....most folk don't investigate this sort of stuff, and most dealers don't stock it (unsurprisingly).

Mainstream brands can have a concept model, like the Kef Muon for example.
 

L00k_C

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CnoEvil said:
L00k_C said:
So these are usually 'strange' unkown brands?

I suppose it depends on the circles you travel in.....most folk don't investigate this sort of stuff, and most dealers don't stock it (unsurprisingly).

Mainstream brands can have a concept model, like the Kef Muon for example.

So comparatively KEF MUON is high-end but as for the brand KEF it is not considered a high-end brand?

Same with ProArc Carbon Pro 8 speaker? or is this 'cheap' compared to MUON?

Is it also a 'relative' question on which speakers you compare with? Where do you draw the line? (if you can do that, that is?)
 

Chewy

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L00k_C said:
Could someone provide me a representative list for each category?

Thanks

I see none of us (myself included) have plucked up the courage to offer any suggestions for this part of the OP's question. I'll start the ball rolling and offer some options (in no particular order) others can chime in and label them either budget, entry level, mid range, high end, or ultra high end (feel free to offer alternatives):

Monitor Audio BX1

Revel Ultima Salon 2

Kef Reference 205/2

Monitor Audio RX6

Focal Grand Utopia III

ProAc Response D18

PMC Twenty 22

Wharfdale Diamond 10.0

Tannoy Revoluton DC6T

This is just for fun, so no one should take this seriously(!!!). Let the fun commence . . .
 

Chewy

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L00k_C said:
CnoEvil said:
L00k_C said:
So these are usually 'strange' unkown brands?

I suppose it depends on the circles you travel in.....most folk don't investigate this sort of stuff, and most dealers don't stock it (unsurprisingly).

Mainstream brands can have a concept model, like the Kef Muon for example.

So comparatively KEF MUON is high-end but as for the brand KEF it is not considered a high-end brand?

Same with ProArc Carbon Pro 8 speaker? or is this 'cheap' compared to MUON?

Is it also a 'relative' question on which speakers you compare with? Where do you draw the line? (if you can do that, that is?)

I don't think it relates to brand per SE, more to product - well know manufacturers like Kef, Monitor Audio etc etc offer products which cover most 'categories' I believe.
 

CnoEvil

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L00k_C said:
So comparatively KEF MUON is high-end but as for the brand KEF it is not considered a high-end brand?

Same with ProArc Carbon Pro 8 speaker? or is this 'cheap' compared to MUON?

Is it also a 'relative' question on which speakers you compare with? Where do you draw the line? (if you can do that, that is?)

I'm not sure there is a definitive answer.

I consider high-end to start at about £20k.....but that is very personal.
 

Chewy

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CnoEvil said:
I'm not sure there is a definitive answer.

I consider high-end to start at about £20k.....but that is very personal.

It is a very tricky in for sure - I think speakers such as B&W 800 Diamonds, PMC BB5i's or Sonus Faber Amati Anniversario's should be considered high end, but all are under £20k list price.

http://hifilounge.co.uk/image/cache/data/sonusfaber/homage/aa/Amati_1-675x500.jpghttp://hifilounge.co.uk/image/cache/data/sonusfaber/homage/aa/amati2-675x500.jpghttp://hifilounge.co.uk/image/cache/data/sonusfaber/homage/aa/amati2-675x500.jpg
 

L00k_C

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Chewy said:
L00k_C said:
CnoEvil said:
L00k_C said:
So these are usually 'strange' unkown brands?

I suppose it depends on the circles you travel in.....most folk don't investigate this sort of stuff, and most dealers don't stock it (unsurprisingly).

Mainstream brands can have a concept model, like the Kef Muon for example.

So comparatively KEF MUON is high-end but as for the brand KEF it is not considered a high-end brand?

Same with ProArc Carbon Pro 8 speaker? or is this 'cheap' compared to MUON?

Is it also a 'relative' question on which speakers you compare with? Where do you draw the line? (if you can do that, that is?)

I don't think it relates to brand per SE, more to product - well know manufacturers like Kef, Monitor Audio etc etc offer products which cover most 'categories' I believe.

How about let say MAGICO? Isn't it by default a high-end brand?
 

CnoEvil

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Chewy said:
CnoEvil said:
I'm not sure there is a definitive answer.

I consider high-end to start at about £20k.....but that is very personal.

It is a very tricky in for sure - I think speakers such as B&W 800 Diamonds, PMC BB5i's or Sonus Faber Amati Anniversario's should be considered high end, but all are under £20k list price.

I suppose I'm taking "high-end" to mean "ultra high-end"....if there are two seperate categories here, then I agree.
 

Triggy

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Whilst there are some six figure speakers, I would regard high end to start at about £10k.

It's not just the cost but the manufacturer, design and most, importantly, what they sound like!
 

Chewy

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CnoEvil said:
Chewy said:
CnoEvil said:
I'm not sure there is a definitive answer.

I consider high-end to start at about £20k.....but that is very personal.

It is a very tricky in for sure - I think speakers such as B&W 800 Diamonds, PMC BB5i's or Sonus Faber Amati Anniversario's should be considered high end, but all are under £20k list price.

I suppose I'm taking "high-end" to mean "ultra high-end"....if there are two seperate categories here, then I agree.

I agree, I don't think 'high end' is the end of it, I think there is an 'ultra high end' or however you want to label it, also, there may also be another category after that where the million pound products sit?? Who knows?
 

lindsayt

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CnoEvil said:
L00k_C said:
So comparatively KEF MUON is high-end but as for the brand KEF it is not considered a high-end brand?

Same with ProArc Carbon Pro 8 speaker? or is this 'cheap' compared to MUON?

Is it also a 'relative' question on which speakers you compare with? Where do you draw the line? (if you can do that, that is?)

I'm not sure there is a definitive answer.

I consider high-end to start at about £20k.....but that is very personal.

Is that per item or for the total system cost?
 

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