Q. Your answer to E.H.'s question regarding expensive vs. inexpensive speakers may have been correct and reasonable from an audiophile's point of view, but Mr. H. specifically excluded himself from that community. I know it's your job to evaluate high-tech equipment and to recommend the best of that equipment, but sometimes a low-tech solution is just as good.
In reality, neither Mr. H. nor I can probably hear a substantial difference between the $1500 5.1 channel speaker system you mentioned and a pair of $100 Radio Shack stereo speakers.
--"dhyouse"
A. I understand what you are getting at, and do feel my column needs to be expanded upon and clarified a bit.
In the column I said "$1,200 to $1,500 for a 5.1 channel home theater speaker system based on bookshelf or small tower speakers provides movie and music performance that the non-audiophile will be completely thrilled with." Reading this you could almost infer that audiophiles would not be happy with the sound quality, when in fact they would find the sound excellent.
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And what is an audiophile? An audiophile is an audio hobbyist with a passion for music, good sound and high-quality equipment, investing a great deal of time and money on the hobby. Most audiophiles spend a lot more on their systems than my lower-cost recommendations.
Though Mr. H. is not an audiophile, he was interested in good sound for his money and asked about "the point of diminishing returns for the average person." That is how I answered, recommending products at what I have found to be the point of diminishing returns for the average person. The $1,200-$1,500 price point is not out of line and the differences between these systems and an $800 system are clear, even to a non-enthusiast. There are lots of non-audiophiles who spend several thousand dollars on Bose systems, so I know there are plenty of non-audiophiles willing to spend the money. (It is pretty safe to say that it is not audiophiles buying the Bose systems.)
In reality, most anyone without a hearing deficiency can tell the difference between a $100 pair of speakers and a very good 5.1 system selling for $1500, or even $100 speakers compared to a pair of highly rated $250 speakers. It's the difference between looking through a clean window, a tinted window, and a dirty window. If you can tell the difference between a mediocre singer and a great singer you will hear the difference.
As for low-cost solutions, I am all for them. One of my favorite recommendations is the nice-sounding Insignia NS-B2111 bookshelf speakers from Best Buy, which sell for $89.99 per pair. When The Speaker Company (TSC) was still in business I recommended them to people like Mr. H., as many TSC products were very affordable and sounded great too. Though the Insignias and TSC speakers sound very good, they are still noticeably outperformed by the Axiom, Acculine and Paradigm products. People should have that information when they are shopping, so I tell it like it is and then they can decide on their own what to buy and how much to spend.
As always, I will keep my eyes out for exceptional speaker values and tell my readers when I find them. I hope to find the next TSC soon!
