What makes an expensive speaker expensive

Marty, not sure why the 2k ones do it for you over the 10k ones.  Maybe there is something major missing in the more expensive three you have or you have the smaller system in an area where you listen more often.  Personally, I've owned and still do a few different systems in different rooms in my house.  Whenever I can listen to my major system with the Vandy Treo's, I"m all in.  It's the one that I connect with and love to listen to for hours and hours.  That's just me.

When I say reverse snobbery, it really is when folks make blanket statements that spending over X amount isn't worth it or it's  a waste etc..  The bottom line is that if folks want to spend that and feel that it is worth it, then it is if they can afford it.  I can't afford speakers over 15k and even then it's a STRETCH.  That doesn't mean that I feel anything over that is a waste.  My favorite speakers I've ever heard in a system are the Vandersteen 7 mk2's.  I've heard a lot of the 100k plus speakers set up the way the dealer or manufacturer wanted them set up.  They just haven't done it for me, but there are thousands who love them or they wouldn't be produced.  Conversely, it is snobbery when someone says you can't get great sound unless you spend X amount.  I fell in love with a system that consisted of a Rotel integrated amp with a Vandersteen 2 that was set up properly.  It was running with an Ayre Codex DAC/headphone amp.  

I'm also into personal audio and have a few pair of IEM's as well as headphones.  They all give me different things and are easy to collect.   I can say that in personal audio, you can get dynamic and wonderfully sounding music for very little if you want to.  You can also get unbelievable sound if you want to spend more money just like in speakers.  I do feel snobbery goes both ways just like it can in anything else.  That's not a negative as we are just passionate folks (as long as we are still respectful.  I try to be, but probably don't always succeed).

Ctsooner,

The less expensive speakers are Ohm 100s with a pair of Rythmik 12" subs. This set-up features full bass extension for every recording I own, plus omnidirectional dispersion for 8 octaves. That combination of benefits outweighs the strengths of my SF Cremona M, Verity Parsifal/Encore, and Merlin VSM speakers for me these days. Those speakers will IMO outperform the Ohm/Rythmik in certain other areas, however, and I still love the particular strength of each system.

For the last five years (or so) I’ve had the Ohm/Rythmik as my main system (listening room). The other are located elsewhere in my home. This raises another issue mentioned in this thread (aesthetics). The SFs are beautiful in my living room, the Ohm/Rythmik wouldn’t work there (WAF), even if I wanted to try it. It’s just a matter of personal priorities - which may change over time.

It gets more involved than even that. The $70k MBL 101 will go louder than the Ohm/Rythmik and images more impressively (to my ear), but I don’t necessarily prefer it. I considered buying a (used) pair, but in the end didn’t pull the trigger. The band-pass woofer's bass response in that system is hard to tame IME.

Performance and price don’t remotely track - for me. Performance isn’t everything and people’s hearing, taste, and priorities differ. Even comparing (essentially) full-range, omnidirectional apples to apples, I preferred the Ohm/Rythmik to the MBL 101 (admittedly not in every way, but overall). I expect that for many listeners YMMV.