Check these Altecs out

[RonSSS]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sculptures-Altec...QQcmdZViewItem

Man oh man, I'd love to hear these!

Ron

[selmerdave]

Wow, they look nice. I'd like to know how they get the low end..

Dave

[Old Guy]

Sorry but not impressed at all.

Looks like a teenage woodworker's idea of how to build speakers and make money.
Just as good sound can probably be had for 10 cents on the dollar.

In my opinion, if 90% of your cost is cosmetics- your customers are fools.

Think about what the Altecs there cost actually.

12,000 bucks is a lot to pay for wood.

I've been in situations where I could haul away 210"s for free.

[bfish]

Originally posted by O G:
...12,000 bucks is a lot to pay for wood...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">What wood? The drivers make up ~ half the 130lb total. Might as well be made from refrigerator boxes.

"I can no longer go through life without having a pair in my living room.!!! Once experienced, you will agree with me."....

...Lacking the $14K, I'll have to take his word for it...where's my .45?

They are kinda purty. I'm just imagining all the 'tang I could attract with a pair of them parked outside my VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER.

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ May 15, 2008 08:19 PM: Message edited by: bfish ]</font>

[Old Guy]

Comes down to are you buying sound- or bragging rights...

I doubt they are highly enginneered- somebody read a few articles, figurd out a design program, and voila!

I don''t mean to be harsh towards anyone...it's just there isn't 14 grand worth of sound there...

They are pretty- and I doubt they sound bad...but if I paid ten times what everything was worth, I wouldn't have much.

Let's see where the designer's degree is from...and what else he has done...

Fifty bucks says he has no degree, and has never designed a successful big system...

It's a money making deal- I am more impressed with deals to improve the art- not pretty it up and sell it for top dollar.

There is someone out there who wants to brag he paid 14 grand for these. And he has the money to waste. May he and the seller find each other.

Just none for me thanks.

BTW bfish- thought you might enjoy this one...

http://www.j-walk.com/other/todd/ebayparody.htm

[RonSSS]

I just thought they looked kinda cool and wondered what they sound like. I didn't post this thinking they were worth the money.

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ May 15, 2008 05:30 PM: Message edited by: RonSS ]</font>

[Old Guy]

Hi Ron- I'd actually like to hear them too-

and please don't think I was targeting you...no way.

Just saying that's a LOT of money for looks, thats all. And again- there is somebody out there who wants that...if he and the seller find each other- hey who am I to criticize?

I don't understand why guys in California drop Ten grand to get their GF a new chest...I'd rather tell the redhead I'm putting ten grand down on a new Lexus for her, and that I'm satisfied with what she's got- I could probably bring in all the junk I wanted for 90 days...

Different strokes for different folks.

But a guy who will drop 10 g's to pretty up his GF will likely drop it on speaker cosmetics...

[RonSSS]

Well,
There is no shortage of folks with too much money to spend. I doubt anyone on this board has that problem.
If, and I mean if, I was such an audio junkie that I wanted those, and could afford them, I'd pony up for an airplane ticket and go hear them.

I agree the ad was rather strange in that respect what with the return fee and all.

I didn't think you were criticizing me.

Ron

[bfish]

Wow! Anyone that ever listened to The Beatles backwards can dig this!

Scroll down to picture #5, sideview. Now tilt your head, and view it sideways. Isn't that the cutest little jonboat with a built-in bath & bar that you ever saw?

Even though the +10/-20dB plot has been "posed" to appear far flatter than it is, it's probably about what one could expect with proper placement/room gain. What's not alluded to is sensitivity, which, given the materials/construction, has to be pretty compromised, with all the energy that a cork-plastered, flimsy box/horn absorbs. A different way of dealing with resonances than we're used to, and it comes at a price. Heck, even 210s don't come into their own until you've added ~ 50lbs of extra bracing.

Too bad the bang-for-the-buck is just ridiculous. I know a guy that would chainsaw out a pair of polished, old-growth, solid walnut trunks for a grand each.

[Audio_by_Goodwill]

There is a lot of labor in those horns..... and labor costs a lot.