I’ve been around high end audio for a great number of years. I have had the opportunity to hear, at shows, at audiophile friends homes and at audio shops, a great number of high end speakers: old and new, from the low, to the ultra megabuck price ranges. I’ve heard very, very expensive speakers that didn’t sound so good to me, and then, I’ve heard vintage speakers or relatively affordable speakers that just knock my sock off. In all my personal experience in this great hobby of ours, IMHO, there is no other item in high end audio that fall under the "Rule of Diminishing Returns" like loudspeakers.
i think how speakers go is that the more capable and expensive speakers tend to be more full range and move a lot of air. and they can be huge. sometimes the ability to spend the money is inverse to the system building and set-up effort expended. "sometimes". so we might commonly observe systems delivered by brick and mortar dealers to well off customers and viewed as plug and play. when they are far from it. and we form our opinions based on these anecdotal circumstances. or also audio show conditions; where the larger speakers are more exposed with messed up rooms or limited time for set up. even with competent exhibitors. we then point fingers at the speakers. yet in some cases those large expensive speakers are actually guilty as charged. some are actually a bit of a hot mess. the biggest issue are speakers where the coherence or level of tonal balance is lacking. then the amplification synergy is critical. and not always successful.
whereas we find that some modest sized, modest cost or vintage speakers might have sins of omission; where they tend to just by the odds not offend as much, and in balance be less in the way of the music. are they better? well, they are simpler and have less ability to offend, but also have lower ceilings. amplification choices for especially the vintage speakers tend to be more thoughtfully selected. so it’s not just a speaker thing. and the rooms are not quite as critical when the speaker is not doing as much. also; the musical choices tend to be less dramatic, asking less of the room, speaker, and amplifiers.
@sokogear
thank you for the kind words.
Diminishing returns depends on how much you are willing to spend on the entire listening experience - room (see @mikelavigne’s system) and then each component. Nothing exists in a vacuum. He based his entire house purchase on what he could convert into a dedicated listening room. First item - design of the room including minimizing noise from his HVAC system!
so buying and optimizing a large or very large speaker system is not trivial. when you are going for the ultimate everything matters. large speakers, in my case; twin 7 foot tall and 600 pounds each tower, requires a huge commitment to be musical and coherent. where they disappear and are capable of nailing any recording large or small. but when you actually pull that off, you are in a whole different experiential dimension. so the payoff is huge. my speakers do not limit me.
but if you never heard a large system do it, it would be easy to dismiss the concept as a waste. not worth it.
unfortunately; access to successful large speaker installations is rare. so we are left with the idea that there are diminishing returns. nothing could be more wrong. the right large expensive speakers are a great value in terms of ROI.
just my 2 cents. YMMV.
and anyone who wants to hear how this goes is welcome to visit and judge for yourself.