The Arcadia looked one hell of a lot more Venetian than the hotel it was playing in. The enclosure is made from a ceramic compound — cast in some places, chemically welded in others — that’s as inert and resonance-free as any I’ve ever encountered. “You’re not burning up any energy by vibrating the cabinet,” company president Carlos Candeias said. “And if you scratch it, you can just sand out the scratch and re-wax the cabinet.” The $36,300/pair Arcadia is bipolar; the two 6-inch woofers and the AMT ribbon tweeter on the front are mirrored on the back. Side-mounted 11-inch woofers pound out the bass. The external crossovers are also built into ceramic enclosures. The rig sounded amazing playing “Time After Time” from Miles Davis’s Live Around the World, simultaneously delivering a colossal soundstage and pinpoint imaging. One of my top two rooms at the show.
@billr - it's definitely true that these things aren't for everybody. The costs associated with designing and producing these sorts of products, which are made in very small numbers by very small firms, are often astronomical, and for the select audience that's interested in having the very latest, best, or most paradigm-busting designs, the price might make sense.
If you page through this very gallery, however, you'll find some things we liked very much that are in the price range you mention, for instance Def Tech's ProCinema 400 home theater in a box, which comes in at a quite affordable $599.
This is nuts! Such a bargain at the cost of a very nice sedan (no, not sedan chair, an automobile!). Who is going to blow Thirty Six Thousand Three Hundred Dollars, plus tax of course, on a pair of speakers unless they are a politician expensing it as a fact-finding trip to the bowels of the Amazon Jungle with nary a mosquito bite to show for the venture. It goes without saying that no self-respecting mosquito would stick her probe into a poisonous politician, but I digress.
How about telling us what you saw in an affordable price range? Say under $500 for two or better yet, under $500 for a home theater system--you know, numbers us downtrodden poor folks can swing by cutting out meals for the kids once a week. I don't want to waste my time hearing about speakers that I wouldn't buy if I COULD afford them. I would rather give the $36,300 to OPERATION SMILE and buy 145 kids with split palates new hope for a normal life. I think, now that I mention it, that each pair of speakers should come with a required donation of a like amount to Operation Smile. Now that is something I really would like to hear!
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@billr - it's definitely true that these things aren't for everybody. The costs associated with designing and producing these sorts of products, which are made in very small numbers by very small firms, are often astronomical, and for the select audience that's interested in having the very latest, best, or most paradigm-busting designs, the price might make sense.
If you page through this very gallery, however, you'll find some things we liked very much that are in the price range you mention, for instance Def Tech's ProCinema 400 home theater in a box, which comes in at a quite affordable $599.
This is nuts! Such a bargain at the cost of a very nice sedan (no, not sedan chair, an automobile!). Who is going to blow Thirty Six Thousand Three Hundred Dollars, plus tax of course, on a pair of speakers unless they are a politician expensing it as a fact-finding trip to the bowels of the Amazon Jungle with nary a mosquito bite to show for the venture. It goes without saying that no self-respecting mosquito would stick her probe into a poisonous politician, but I digress.
How about telling us what you saw in an affordable price range? Say under $500 for two or better yet, under $500 for a home theater system--you know, numbers us downtrodden poor folks can swing by cutting out meals for the kids once a week. I don't want to waste my time hearing about speakers that I wouldn't buy if I COULD afford them. I would rather give the $36,300 to OPERATION SMILE and buy 145 kids with split palates new hope for a normal life. I think, now that I mention it, that each pair of speakers should come with a required donation of a like amount to Operation Smile. Now that is something I really would like to hear!