Affordable vs. ultra expensive speakers - what's the difference?

50K - it looks nice, kinda sexy.

87dB @2.83V/m is low. Correct method of specifying dB.

Frequency response, while specified looks good, ambiguous despite saying +/- 1dB "ïn the audible band"- the audible band could be anything between 20 and 20,000 hz. Anything.. I don’t like ambiguity, where a question needs to be asked or clarification required.

4 ohm is not unusual in expensive speakers..Not "most amplifiers"as in the speil - most retail amps are nominal 8ohm, sometimes have 4ohm capabilities if specified, otherwise don’t assume.. Rule of thumb - don’t mix n match.

No cigar for those.

$1,600 (each?  who buys single speakers I wonder) - looks good, nothing fancy.  Fine.

Better sensitivity,at 90.5dB, BUT could be 87 because not specified if it is W/m or V/m. A marketing trick to be aware of.

Fairly OK frequency response - 27-35,000, except at -6dB! Seek -3dB.

Can’t comment on actual drivers. 50K one mentions phase characteristics, and that’s important.

From just a few moments looking and summary appraisal (some may be horrified) I’d pass on both, irrespective of price. Keep lookin’ . Look at another 20.

Expensive speakers like Tidal the tweeter alone I hear are $10.000.00 add the additional drivers, crossover parts which are Dueland , the cabinets are furniture grade, labor I’d say a high end speaker company is making 200% maybe 300% but hey that’s what a top end company needs to make to stay in business and on the cutting edge.

$50000 to them is nothing compared to $3200 for us. So in effect, what you perceive as expensive is actually a bargain.

So this is kind of interesting.

I bought a pair of QLN Sonoras and just absolutely loved them. Very minimal simplistic design. Engineered with the less is more philosophy and they worked extremely well in my setup with the Audio Hungary Qualiton X200.

I was in Mexico San Jose visiting one of our plants, went to dinner at our plant managers home and he has a X200 with the QLN Prestige 5 in his much larger listening room. They sounded fantastic. Open, dynamic, detailed, everything my Sonoras are but more. Same design cues a bit harder to drive for lower powered amps.

I bit went from what was a perfect $5500 pair of speaker and spent $12500.00 more for the 5’s and well regretted it. They just did not work in my room. 
 

The lesson I learned in my situation is that less is more. The 5’s went back and the Sonoras are back.

Go listen and answer the question yourself.