Are more expensive speakers better?

No! It's completely based on what sounds best to you.

Instant gratification enters high end audio.

Lots of the threads you mention are from people who don't care about the sound enough to go to a reputable dealer; listen, borrow the speakers, set them up in their room, listen to them, and make an independant decision without the help of a magazine reviewer or audio buddy to hold their hand and tell them what they are hearing.

How does anybody know what your sonic values are, what you listen to, how your room is set up and decorated, what your other equiment is, and what YOU want it to sound like when you are done.

To thine own ears be true.

Your opinion, based on your research is the ONLY one that counts. There are lots of great products out there at most every price point that can give you what you want. And none of this involves the opinion of someone in ____________________ (fill in the name of your favorite obscure city)

fact is, relatively inexpensive speakers (< $2k) that are well-conceived and manufactured can sound FABULOUS driven with $100k in electronics/frontend/wire. the inverse of such a combination produces an opposite result; i.e, $100k speakers sound like dog shit smells driven by $2k in electronics, etc. it's all a matter of balance. but, then, as "a beautiful mind" portrays: madness and genius are sometimes, perhaps often, closely linked. -cfb

If the goal is to achieve a theoretical 100% perfect sound, as you move upwards from within a mfg line, the starting point towards achieving this 100% is higher. The biggest killer of speaker performance is room interaction. A less expensive speaker may sound better in a given room than a more expensive speaker. Let us say that the room cuts the speaker's potential in half. This said, the most expensive speaker max out at 50% of the goal while the less expensive speaker max out at, lets say 40%.

Now for the fun part. Each component in the chain interacts with each other. Buying the best of everything does not guarantee the best sound. Lets use this analogy. A major league team can go out and sign the best players at each position, yet never win a championship. There is the lack of chemistry that comes in play. This chemistry also is applied to system matching. The infinite variables involved with matching components to maximize sound is astounding-->speakers, speaker wire, preamp, interconnects, source, amp, power cord, line conditioners, etc. This is why you cannot assemble the perfect system with one purchase. There is the much publicised trial and error, buy and selling that you see on audiogon. A true audiophile would never be satisfied and will always be searching. Are more expensive speakers better? Not necessarily, but it does give you a higher starting point from which to start your quest to the ultimate sound.

No sir.