I agree that technical effort is what makes a product superior but we are talking about a single 4" wideband driver in a folded horn enclosure, the sound signature is always reliant to the driver. If it was a multi-way system I would think twice about commenting on the price, it is difficult to achieve synergy between different types of drivers in a single enclosure and create a linear phase then make it sound excellent...But I am not bashing the product, I am clueless as to how they sound, I am only commenting on the price.
I also wonder about the filtering they used: notch filter or band filter? zobel maybe? it can even be done digitally nowadays with miniDSP. The past couple of years I have literally browsed & read hundreds of speaker builds in different implementations over at DIYaudio and to tell you frankly more than a few are better looking & more compelling than the dubh, and they also come with frequency response graphs to support. In Srajan's conclusion he said: highly layered depth staging, high transient precision, very good off axis behavior, highly developed intelligibility and clarity. Not exactly as flowery as those words but isn't it the same as my findings with my 10Ps?
You'd think that I say too much and ask if I can build better speakers than the dubh, the answer is NO. I am just a hobbyist who recently took the plunge in the scary waters of DIY and slowly finding out what's going on with those little things inside the enclosure of a hi-fi audio product. And that it's more than just reading the BS in the brochures, spec sheets, and blabbering of the tacky sales rep who more often than not doesn't know enough about what he is selling.
What I see here is the difference in the driving force behind a build, the main motivation of a consumer product manufacturer will always be profit. The higher the mark-up they can get away with, the better. while a DIYer does it for the love,fun & frustration of it. He wants to learn, he is developing a passion for it. He wants to share his knowledge with his friends or others in the same hobby. Maybe it's his way to unwind, to escape from the everyday boring routine or he simply have too much time in his hands. Maybe he wants to do projects so he can stay out of trouble, like gambling, drinking, even girls, wife & kids would be happier
Whatever the reason is, the bottom line is he wants to be productive, to build something, to stare at it at the end of the day like it's a trophy. The same way a well off person would stare at his £3,500.00 pair of speakers and say I've worked my @$$ off to pay for it
