So what's the better deal (honestly)?


Would you rather pay $27,500 for a paint upgrade on some Wilsons, or pay $7,600 for a set of outriggers for some Magicos?   Let 'er rip.  You first, EBM. 
shtinkydog
Why is Tekton even mentioned here ?i have heard  their models 
I donot think they are refined at all.
their top model has far better drivers and respectable,but not in agreement with their hype . They are cheaply made mdf,low quality Xover parts, and drivers youget what you pay for .
a wall of sound that is not
beating a Wilson ,or Magico in Refinement ,not happening 
unless the whole design has changed.
@tomic601 ....Ooooo, 'live edge'....for that 'rustic look'. ;)
...for that 'log cabin' in the woods, where one can blast Bach as loud as one might....

Daniel Boone, DB....
Thinking of 2” thick live edge plinths for them.... worst case, they will make hellishly good cheese trays....
I love the Ambrosia Maple veneer on my Vandersteen TREO so much that my new phono preamp will have a bespoke 3/4” faceplate of the same stuff. Life is way 2 short to drink crappy wine, race Ford Tempos, listen to elevator Jazz, etc

live a bit.....
Your right, The speaker manufacturers "should" build their speakers with a real "Base" as they used to. But that would cost them money....Hmm.
   I buy full, "live", "Slabs" of Maple, Walnut and etc. to make my speaker bases. And they do not need special "Feet", "Outriggers" or "Whatcha-Ma'call'it's", To sound decent!
A set of 6 Steelpoint Ultra 6 will cost you ~$5500.
Most of my audio pals, who use Wilson, use 8 of these (!!), and that is after the surcharge on paint ;) 

Stereo5

you nailed it!

why do people bite?

manufacturers do it if there’s demand. Who do we blame?

paint job is a “luxury”while special pods is “audiophilliac”?
Both the expensive paint job and speaker footers are the way the manufacturer gets more of your hard earned $$$. A pair of $7600.00 pods for your speakers is just Magico  excess.  If the speakers need the special pods to sound their best, they should be included with the speakers, not as an expensive add on. This is mostly greed by the manufacturer and it’s amazing how many people will get sucked in to buy it. 
You guy's "Paint" speakers???? Yuck!

 I only build with real woods. Plus, "When needed"- carbon fiber/resin.  Epoxy finishes with 1/4" clear over the wood. Never paint!
 Building a set now with "Mappa Burl" and "Mahogany". Also with "Flame/curly maple", accents. Next set will be "Bloodwood", "Purple Heart" with Carbon Fiber.
Also, some people have all the money in the world to spend but are wise enough to know when not to.
No sciencecop, just answering a very narrow minded question with a narrow minded answer.
@boxer12D


So you are saying that people who own Wilson don’t have a brain? ;)
A 27k paint job will not improve the performance  of the Wilson therefore its throwing out big bucks.I have heard Magicos before and after the outrigger purchase it does significantly improve the sound.
Shtinky dog

cant find this topic. Is it in the speaker section?

i want to read it and give everybody the benefit of the doubt
before shaking my head.
@ supermario:  see my other thread entitled "$27,500 for what?". there are people here who actually "justified" a $27,500 paint job upgrade, saying it's more work to paint a speaker than a car.  yes, really!!!!  
Hi, was in England back now.I don't think you can hear a 27k paint job however the Magico outriggers do improve the sound greatly. The stainless still feet that are included tend to give a harder sound with far less detail.I am using custom Symposium Super plus with Stealth top that were custom made for me they use Tellurium Copper spikes on Magico Q3s.
I love my sasha 2 but that paint job cost is a total ripoff.
its like being robbed by your own relatives.

Will a cars paint job cost you that much? Putting into
consideration a car is harder to paint with all the curves,
dent and all the parts you have to remove to start painting
like windows, handles, bumpers etc.



That's why you're one of only four people that have them; they don't have to sell very many of those things as long as you're around. Good luck
What’s the other one that we would recommend all the time.....

Japanese...Mogami. Mogami Neglex it was and is. And Mogami cables in general.
Clarity cable. Sensible sound. Etc.
That is, if someone does not want to buy a liquid metal cable from us, we recommend the above two. If they don't want to spring for that, then mogami and canare are excellent choices. Buy the wire, self terminate the cables, etc.
There are others. Obviously.

cheap speakers are a bit tougher than all that, though.
The biggest challenge in the industry, by far, is to create high quality low priced speakers.
Exactly....just like Belden and Canare did with cables!
Anyone can build an expensive speaker.

The biggest challenge in the industry, by far, is to create high quality low priced speakers.
I'll paint the Wilson's  for $7600 plus travel expenses. I'll provide the brush and Benjamin  Moore. 
I would buy the outriggers for the Magicos and put them on a set of Wilsons. But only after a high end paint job...
Modern Wilsons have more bass, warmer sounding.

Magicos have very wide very smooth dispersion. Need more room to the sides. For some reason to my ears in multiple demos they also have a bump in the presence range. Best for wide listening area. Sometimes sound rather cool, but not harsh.

But if you asked me what speaker has a better chance of sounding great in a wide variety of rooms, you'd have to look to the top of the Vandersteens. :)

What, you cannot tell the difference between an aesthetic and a performance improvement?   ;)
The best deal is to buy Tektone for $3000 and rest of the money spend 
to go Las Vegas