Pulsars and the Mythical Armchair Speaker Maker


There’s another thread going about Joseph Audio Pulsar speakers which I did not want to derail, but it is showing up some common logical fallacies and dead ends I wanted to talk about.


As anyone who has read my posts knows, I’m a huge proponent of DIY for speakers and cables especially. Not that I think you should only go with DIY but because the more audiophiles who can build their own we have in the community the less snake oil gets spread around as fact and there’s less worshipping of the price tag as the almighty determiner of speaker performance.


The myth I want to talk about is kind of related. It is the idea that we should value speakers based purely on driver cost. JA’s Pulsars suffer from this because they seem to use off the shelf components, in very nice cabinets, with perfectly executed crossovers. The thing that I don’t understand are buyers who look at driver cost, and say "well, these speakers should cost no more than x amount, so I’m not buying them... "


I call hogwash. Speakers are more than a collection of parts. They are curated components brought together by a designer and manufacturer. Those same people who are likely to engage in this behavior:

  • Can’t actually design a speaker themselves
  • Would NEVER build a DIY speaker even as a complete kit because it doesn’t have a brand, nor would they buy an assembled DIY speaker.
  • Would probably go with a speaker with in-house drivers which have an even higher markup
  • May not have very good ears anyway


My point is, knowing the price of the parts does not make you at all qualified to judge what the final price should be. That is, fairly, in the hands of the market, and it doesn’t actually make you a better listener or more informed buyer. I would argue you end up buying speakers for brands with even more of a markup and more likely to have questionable performance.


It’s perfectly reasonable for a manufacturer to charge for parts, and skill. So, yes, talking tech and drivers and crossover components is always fun, but please stop evaluating the price of finished goods until you’ve attempted at least designing one pair yourself.

And again, DIY is a lot of fun, and if you want to go that way, you should, but let’s not denigrate high value, high quality manufacturers and delers by reducing them to part assemblers any more than you'd judge a restaurant based on the cost per pound of chicken.


Thank you,

E
erik_squires
Some people find overpriced restaurant meals or expensive clothing objectionable. Why should overpriced high end speakers be any different?

Speaker design is not magical. All you need is a very rigid sturdy mdf box. Mdf is a very cheap material. Buy the best drivers you can afford and stick them in the box. As for the crossover, that is much easier to do now than it used to be due to the availability of dsp crossovers like hypex.

Most commercial speakers are actually worse than diy since they use passive crossovers that have no advantages over active. 

The only advantage you get from commercial ones is the glossy finish which has no effect on the sound but is used to justify the cost.

if we dont stop buying these overpriced toys, the manufacturers will happily continue raising their prices.






Some people find overpriced restaurant meals or expensive clothing objectionable. Why should overpriced high end speakers be any different?

It isn’t, totally different argument.


Judging the price of the meal by the cost of chicken at the store is a horrible way to judge a restaurant. Judging a shirt by the cost of a bale of cotton is a terrible way to judge the value of clothing.


Most commercial speakers are actually worse than diy since they use passive crossovers that have no advantages over active.

Most DIY speakers are passive, so this statement makes no sense.


In addition, I disagree with the statement I think I can discern, which is : "Active crossovers are universally better than passive." Dear lord do I disagree with that for home use.


Based on kenjit’s argument, homes, cars, restaurant food, and most every other item should be valued solely on the cost of component parts. That scenario is unrealistic since most folks do not have the skills to roll their own.