How important are the Speaker Cabinets?

Shadorne, why limit it to just what can be seen? Better it's what the audiophile knows is what they hear.

Yes absolutely. What I meant to say was that when an buyer sees the product and knows who makes it then he/she becomes influenced by all the reviews and aura around the product, as well as the aesthetics. You are right to correct me - it is not ONLY aesthetics but a whole bunch of factors - including testimonials people have read on the web...

In fact I was playing Golf this morning and I am still amazed at how many brands of Golf ball there are (and clubs) - I got to wondering if most of these are just OEM sourced equipment from a few large volume manufacturers that get a different cosmetic look and logo (is the Nike Golf ball really that different from Pinnacle)....much like many speaker companies using the same North European third party low cost drivers...much like cable manufacturers that don't make their own cable but simply add logos to what an OEM makes.

>07-18-09: Onhwy61
Shadorne, the article does not prove that looks are more important than sound quality

Speaker S went from the most preferred speaker in position 1 with blind listening to least preferred with sighted comparison.

While I'd accept that looks alone don't cover all of the bias (with brand recognition and influence from reviews being other examples) the priority inversion shows that sound isn't the most important factor in speaker preference.

selling hifi is a game of inches, even if you're jumping thousands of dollars....in the early 90's i did sales and marketing for a notable hifi manufaturer, who made wonderful speakers. each wrapped in a sock with wooden caps (not def teach or vandy). on the sales floor of a dealer, we were up against pretty big competition, and though we were certainly as good, we were being killed in sales. brainstorm.....we replaced the standard oak caps with a variety of exotic woods and of course, raised the prices a few hundred dollars. we also offered very rare caps and custom sock colors for a bigger price....sales and special orders improved dramatically....the speakers were always solid performers, they just needed to involve the consumer at a different level to seal the deal.

I know a lot us buy equipment based upon resale value just in case we want to upgrade and sell our equipment. So I guess brand recognition it just as important as sound quality. How do new speaker manufacturers overcome this?

Do they offer a comparable product for less than its value to break into the market? Then once they have broken into the market do they raise their prices to reflect their current market position.

I have notice some manufactures offer a great product at a reasonable price in the beginning and then almost price themselves out of the market.

It appears, IMO, that this becomes a game the consumer has to wade through to find the best value.

Very important!! You don't want them if you want the most accurate sound:

Quad

Soundlab

Magnepan

Martin Logan (well some)

Apogee

Analysis Audio