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The mistake armchair speaker snobs make too often

Recently read the comments, briefly, on the Stereophile review of a very interesting speaker. I say it’s interesting because the designers put together two brands I really like together: Mundorf and Scanspeak. I use the same brands in my living room and love the results.

Unfortunately, using off-the-shelf drivers, no matter how well performing, immediately gets arm chair speaker critics, who can’t actually build speakers themselves, and wouldn’t like it if they could, trying to evaluate the speaker based on parts.

First, these critics are 100% never actually going to make a pair of speakers. They only buy name brands. Next, they don’t get how expensive it is to run a retail business.

A speaker maker has to sell a pair of speakers for at least 10x what the drivers cost. I’m sorry but the math of getting a speaker out the door, and getting a retailer to make space for it, plus service overhead, yada yada, means you simply cannot sell a speaker for parts cost. Same for everything on earth.

The last mistake, and this is a doozy, is that the same critics who insist on only custom, in-house drivers, are paying for even cheaper drivers!

I hope you are all sitting down, but big speaker brand names who make their drivers 100% in house sell the speakers for 20x or more of the actual driver cost.

Why do these same speaker snobs keep their mouth shut about name brands but try to take apart small time, efficient builders? Because they can.  The biggest advantage that in-house drivers gives you is that the riff raft ( this is a joke on an old A'gon post which misspelled riff raff) stays silent.  If you are sitting there pricing speakers out on parts cost, shut up and build something, then go sell it.

erik_squires
fleschler
2,030 posts
 
@mijostyn J. Gordon Holt wrote about activated carbon in wall filtering in Stereophile.  I built a custom listening room, four walls and floor (had to keep the ceiling without them due to thin 2X8 rafters).  You can see a description on my profile.  The carbon is contained in a four chamber, wooden 12.5" wide X 48" high compartment lining all walls and both doors.  The wall width is 16".  With 6-12" woofers, I'm not overloading the room with this design and don't require external filtering, including available activated carbon boxes on walls.

From the ad for external boxes:

Carbon technology has the same smooth frequency response starting at 40 – 60 Hz. and going through 6,500 Hz. it is a smooth low-frequency absorbing tool for absorbing unwanted low-frequency energy along the boundary surfaces in small rooms. At a maximum depth of 12″, it won’t take up much wall space and gives you lower frequency absorption down to 40 Hz.

With carbon technology, you achieve a smooth absorption curve that is smooth in rate and level with a special quality of clarity that is not offered with foam or other absorption technologies especially the building insulation types that dominate the industry. If you are looking for a more natural rate and level of absorption that does not over absorb at certain frequencies and under absorbing at others, our carbon and foam technologies will give you that linearity you need.

erik_squires OP
16,407 posts
 
wrote about activated carbon in wall filtering in Stereophile.

 

Does he replace it every six months?? 🤣

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_carbon

asvjerry's avatar
asvjerry
4,775 posts
 

....ah, to be a lottery winner and younger....

...and another side of this life I could be living....

pennfootball71's avatar
pennfootball71
278 posts
 

Well, I’ll tell you about the garbage the big brands make too! Unfortunately, the sensors on audiogon don’t let me talk much about that!

you are not allowed to disrupt the sound mafia!

The nails that stands out gets hammered down.

fleschler
2,030 posts
 

@erik_squires The wall is sealed shut. Every orifice has sprayed Flex Seal.  The walls are 16" thick (see my profile)  The activated charcoal was recommended by J.Gordon Holt and implemented in a sealed design.  Green glue is silly (2% vibration reduction results at messy and high cost).  Using drywall in a listening room is silly.  I'm not saying my room is perfect or the best, just sensible and effective (since the moment I moved in, everyone says the room is on the slightly lively side but superior to 95+% of listening rooms-mastering engineers and confirmed audiophiles).  

@asvjerry Yes, young and wealthy would have been nice.  My late former wife suffered for 11 years with severe systemic lupus.  I could not avail myself of huge economic growth during my prime earnings years.  I have labored hard and studied harder to become comfortable economically at 67, in the top 15% of income earners in California with even greater net worth.  Music is my real equity other than family.  .  

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