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In the Forum: Horn-Loaded Speakers
In the Thread: The most promising “best” commercial speaker
Post Subject: AvantgardePosted by Merlin on: 4/29/2008
 coops wrote:
Romy Hi, I didn't particularly set out to 'demean' Avantgarde, they have a good business model, I don't believe it is a secret that they modify conventional drivers, I simply mean that the constituent parts of a Cessaro horn , add up to a far higher percentage of the final  retail than any other 'hi-end' speaker I can think of . Keith. 
If they are modifying conventional drive units by hand, the labour costs alone can be prohibitively expensive. The fact that they are using heavy Alnico magnets and coating the diaphrams suggests that these units do not cost a "few bucks" each.

It's also worth noting that with the likes of the Omega Duo you are also buying some fairly robust amplification and rather clever crossovers from what I can see. in short I think it's wrong to discount them - especially as the likes of the Duo are considerably less expensive than the base Cessaro

The parts cost for a pair of the basic Cessaros is in the region of £5K. I think selling at £25K is a little cheeky as there is no national dealer network or marketing costs associated with the product. I think when you stand back and look, the AG's actually represent fair value for money - or they would do if they sounded half decent. For myself, I haven't heard a large format loudspeaker that comes close to being worth the cost of admission. At this level, with the help of Romy, Kevin, Greg and others, it's possible to build your own system around your personal priorities that will undoubtedly work better for your needs and save you the cost of a small BMW.

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