Are more expensive speakers better?

No sir.

There are some great $3000 speakers and plenty of lousy sounding $20,000, $30,000 and $50,000 speakers. There is little to no correlation between quality and price.

Maybe, or as a attorney would say "it depends"!!!

Doesn't the baseball analogy fall apart by looking at the Yankees? I know they didn't quite win this year, but they were darn good and basically win every year by spending a lot more than everybody else.

I once read that beyond $4k for speakers, you were buying the bottom few Hz and the top several db. That has always seemed about right to me - there are many speakers in the <$4k range that to things REALLY well but are not the last word in bottom end extension, and would not necessarily fill a large room or play AC/DC at concert levels. Examples that come quickly to mind are the Dunlavy SC-III and Dynaudio Contour 1.8. There are many others to be sure.

I think it is also safe to say that to achieve "the ultimate", you're going to have to spend more. It is not safe to say the reverse - that is, that if you spend more, you'll get closer to the ultimate. -Kirk

To achieve greater quality in ANYTHING typically requires more money and research. Whether or not the money and research are used wisely or in the most worthwhile or productive manner is another story. As you know, some things in high end are STRICTLY cosmetic based, which can add DRASTICALLY to the cost without doing anything for performance.

Bottom line: More expensive speakers ( or components for that matter ) SHOULD sound and measure better, but that is not necessarily the case. Every design involves trade-offs. Which trade-offs you can live with or can't live with is a personal thing. That is why audio is so "subjective". What you hear and like may be different than what i hear and like. Regardless of price. Sean
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