Design a $60,000 Speaker - Start here


Hi Everyone,

Just thought for interest I'd talk about one of the most expensive woofers in the 10-12" varieties, the Accuton AS250-88-552 CELL, actually an 11" aluminum honeycomb sandwich construction. Retail price at hobbyist volumes: $1,400, each.

In addition to the exotic material, the suspension and motor assembly are also worthy of note, as they leave a very large amount of unobstructed space directly behind the dome, allowing it to behave most ideally like a piston.

So putting this together into say a modest 3 way with all drivers from the same company and of the same level, I estimate around $6k / pair of speakers for the drivers alone. Add the normal markups, and this is a $60k speaker.

Will it sound any good? I have no idea. I just wanted to share with you all where some of these speakers that cost as much as a luxury sedan get their prices from.  Obviously, my estimates are rough, and go up and down. The point of this is just a general expose.

Best,


E

erik_squires
The point of my cost breakdown post is to illustrate that hardware is only one cost component going into the price of a speaker. Hardware won’t necessarily be the main determinant or best predictor of final cost or the price performance ratio of the unit.
Of course the cost of a speaker brand is much bigger than the cost to manufacture a single pair of speakers.

That's not what I meant to say. But rather, this is an important calculation that often appears.

The same type of analysis is done for restaurants where the cost per plate is calculated to be x % of the selling price of the dish. For a decent restaurant this is usually expected to be no more than 25-33%, and everyone who uses it accepts it is nothing but a rough estimate.  Mostly what we know is that if you are charging only 2x your food cost, you are usually going to be loosing a significant amount of money.

It is a fair number, but not precise and subject to a number of moderating factors.

Best,

E
There are a lot of great speakers out there . For most people way out of possibilities unless they win the big ones. I gave owned almost every type of driver, and type since the 70s. Lately I  just purchased Martin  logans totally 
Redesigned top  series the 11--A  which has  dual powered drivers per cabinet 
24 bit DSP and room correction.These  Electrostatic speakers are far better then 
Even 5 years ago. Myself being into modding and these have all electronics in their own tray under the bass only 3 capacitors, which I am already looking into 
Upgrading. ML have a 30 degree curve ,making sweet spot very similar yo s conventional speaker . If you have not heard these setup with Anthem room correction then you have not heard them at their best at $10-k  for the least expensive powered model they compete with speakers much more expensive 
And the speed and transparency are very hard to equal. I sold the larger Sonus faber Olympica-3: for these and  they were pretty well respected.  Everyone likes 
Something  different, and or unconventional. Being an Audiophile can be challenging to keep happy.
I never meant this thread to be how to design a "good sounding" speaker by the way. :) Just one that would retail for lots of cash.

Hahahaha. :)

Erik
*L*  I'm already making an 'exotic' Now...

I could sell you a pair for far less than 60K$ happily.  At 60K, I'd be more than ecstatic to give you a lifetime warranty, unless you blow them up on a weekly basis.  Then I might get a little irritated...*L*

At 60K, I'd rather buy a car...or build the house I'm planning now.

Don't laugh.  I Do that sort of thing with remarkable frequency...;)