Are more expensive speakers better?

Pbb; you say calling any component/speaker "mid-fi" is the ultimate insult. And you go on to state that Vandersteen 5 (my speaker), Thiel CS 7.2, and MG 3.6 are "mid-fi". Are you *&%@&8%*^$# serious??? And yes, I'm insulted. If you stand by such assertions, you're an insensitive and really out of touch ass, or maybe you just have so much money that $10-15K is pocket change to you.

What do other A'gon members and readers think of Pbb's remarks/conclusions. No cheers here.

I'd just add that in Robert Harley's TAS review of The Vandersteen 5s, he put them sonically in a class with much more expensive speakers such as the Avalon Eidolons and some other highly regarded speakers, and declared them "world class". I had enough guts to actually state what kind of speakers I own. Perhaps you'd care to tell us about YOUR system, or at least your speakers. Do you use Bose? CRAIG.

You go, Craig!!! I wasn't going to rise to the bait on this one, but I have to agree that the speakers listed as "mid-fi" are anything but. Infact, the Vandy 5's, Thiel 7.2's, and Maggie 3.6's will run rings around many far more expensive speakers. This is one very clear case where spending more often on speakers does NOT result in better sound quality.

Scott (Sdcampbell)-- thanks much for your support, it just "made my day". Sorry gang, but I just couldn't let Pbb's insulting tripe go unchallenged. Craig.

I walked away with a slighlty different take on what Pbb said. I "think" he meant that, due to their pricing, that the Vandy 5's, Maggie 3.6's, etc... were "mid-fi" in the eye of some "hi-enders". This pertains back to his comments that it takes $50K, $75K or $100K to achieve "state of the art" performance. If you don't spend this much on speakers, those people would in turn tell you that it was simply "mid-fi" because it was not on the "hi-end" of the price spectrum. To further bring the point home, Pbb also stated doubling or tripling your investment may not get you much in return, i.e. that the Vandy's may be able to hang with others in the $20K to $30+K range.

Maybe i mistook what he was saying, but i don't think that he meant to insult anyone or any specific models of products. He simply said to buy the best that you could afford. Sean
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