Rectangular versus fancy design speakers?

harbeth seems nice.

Rectangular speakers are generally a lot less than the fancy speakers is there a reason for this other than the looks?

can anyone really tell the difference between rectangular speaker and one of those fancy shaped things?

Marketing hype?

It is much cheaper to build a rectangle box then anything with compound curves.

@gunderwood

This is true but do the other more creative designs really help noticeably change sound.

I have a rectangular speaker from 20 years ago, a very heavy piece of wood, and it does a great job transmitting sound throughout the room.

having looked at close to 500 speakers,

https://speakerchoices.com/ rectangular speakers are generally cheaper to make/ and are priced lower. Small boutique shops in the lower price range won’t make curvy speakers.

You won’t find a significant SQ difference attributed to shape is my guess. Most "fancy speakers" tend to have a teardrop top profile - narrower at the back, which is embracing the shape of the driver. It’s more pleasant to look at, exudes higher quality, therefore can be sold at higher prices.

Contradicting that is the vintage look (boxy with wooden surfaces) that also sells to a certain clientele. The loser of this race is the boxy modern look.

Because the boxes are less expensive to build, more of the cost is spent on the insides, which to me are much more important to the endpoint—the sound. So in my experience, at a similar price point, the boxes often sound better. I agree with an earlier poster that ATC is a prime example of this.