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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
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,849 posts
 
@erik_squires

I've had this idea that the struts that go from the front to the back of the woofer need to be machined aluminum, and formed in a sort of airfoil, so as to minimize turbulence. So far I've yet to see any woofer that uses anything like that.

Do you know about MISCO?
erik_squires OP
16,200 posts
 
@ctsooner

Not sure why you are interjecting Vandersteen and this thread and me personally together. Seems a bit of a word salad. I mean, I'm sure Vandersteen makes fine products, but you seem to be replying to something I don't remember saying. I have no reason to disparage or undermine them.

I don't think my point was that there was just 1 way to do anything. I just think this is an interesting way to look at speaker construction and costs.

Vandersteen should do everything they can to minimize costs while improving quality. In my own field that is how I work. Increasing the COGS for its own sake is a bad way to do business.

Best,


E
erik_squires OP
16,200 posts
 
It is also very very bad for business if your customers focus on COGS. You want them to focus on value. In that are things bigger than technical performance. Modernity, aesthetics, sound decision making, exclusivity. Lots of reasons to buy a car/speaker/house or eat at a particular restaurant.

I'm not attacking anyone, it just is what it is.

Thanks for the list of driver makers I was not aware of by the way, very cool. :)

Best,


E
erik_squires OP
16,200 posts
 
@atmasphere

Wut? I missed a few posts that would put your question into context.

E
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,849 posts
 
^^ other than this thread, there is no context and even then not much. I'm a pilot and I think about aerodynamic issues sometimes. Turbulence around the basket of a woofer seems like a thing that if solved, could reduce distortion.

MISCO is a driver manufacturer in Minneapolis that can make a really wide range of drivers. They make custom stuff for some pretty well known high end speaker manufacturers in the US. 
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