Dynaudio C1, why so expensive?

I've auditioned the C1 (and the Sapphire). The price of the *tiny* C1 is certainly arresting, but as others have noted, hard to say what is "fair."

What does seem easy to say is that at 7k, one has a *lot* of options besides small 2 ways. (Perhaps especially among smaller American companies.) To pick just one, I'd say anyone auditioning the C1s ought to audition the new Gallo Ref 3.5s @ 6.5k retail (also a pretty small speaker). No knock on the C1s -- lots of people more knowledgeable than me rave about them -- but I'd be a little surprised if everyone who made this comparison choose the C1s. John

High labor and material costs in Denmark, shipping costs AND A WEAK DOLLAR all conspire to raise costs. You cannot underestimate currency effect as foreign mfr pays a certain amount for materials and components and if it sells speakers in US, has to bear currency risk for when finished product is actually sold and they are paid in dollars.

Neal

The Baffle of the Contour series is not aluminum it is a powder coated steel, which is the reason why the grill magnets stick to it. The baffles of both the Confidence and Contour have a very similar end goal and that is to reduce the excess driver energy from reaching the cabinet, both are mechanically decoupled from the cabinet with a 1/4" layer of a neoprene type material. Aluminum is used in the trim ring of the tweeters for heat dissipation especially with the Esotar 2 tweeters using Neodymium magnets, and it is a very inert material when machined.

Why is a Breitling watch so expensive? Hand made in Switzerland using only the highest quality materials by Swiss craftsmen,you get what you pay for. Dynaudio speakers are handmade in Denmark by Danish craftsmen using only the highest quality parts available. Drivers and crossovers are made by Dynaudio for the specific application, parameters and performance for the $. Quality and technology are maximized for the price points, no extra fluff in the margin. Conspiracy theorists would like you to believe manufacturers have loads of extra margin built into high end audio products and this just isn't true. Listen to the C-1 next to ANY bookshelf speaker regardless of price and make your decision.

Bigbucks5
You are 100% correct regarding the baffle. I had that confirmed by Dynaudio. I lost my video and from I remembered I though it was aluminum. I'll stop relying on my memory in the future.