Based on the pictures I've seen the Gemme cabinet would cost an awful lot more to make than the Atelier one. So that's part of the price difference. Is Atelier sold direct and Gemme through retailers? That would easily make up the rest. So the company may well be making the same profit per speaker. Also, maybe they've sold enough Gemmes to repay the development costs and so don't feel the need to factor this into the price of the Ateliers.

Of course, as we know, many luxury goods cost little more to produce than their commodity relatives and may perform similarly. But how many Lexus drivers like being reminded of their car's Toyota heritage?

I'm somewhat disturbed by the fact that the 'First Horn' speaker looks almost identical to the Hornshoppe Horn. I love my Hornshoppes, but I have to say that the Horn is probably the last speaker I would ever see anyone copying in a commercial sense!

Actually they don't use the same drivers. The First Horn uses the Fostex FE126E while the Concerti 108 uses the FE108EZ. I'm told they are very different sounding drivers. The First Horn is constructed with birch ply while the 108 uses polyester lacquered MDF and has a more complex internal structure. And keep in mind the 108 is sold through the conventional dealer network with the usual markup and can be ordered in just about any color, finish etc.,whereas the First Horn is factory direct. I'll have alot more to say when I complete my review of the 108 for 6moons.

Thanks for the clarification, Paul.

Yeah, speaker drivers aren't typically the biggest cost that goes into any loudspeaker. Jeremy, every point you made is exactly right.

I was told the Gemmes are smooth as a baby's butt all through the entire horn construction and lacquered inside and out. A statement of construction, so to speak.

A good comparison is the Audio Note line of speakers. The An-E series goes from, what, a couple grand all the way up to $125,000 from just magnet and crossover changes. And Audio Note isn't doing too badly for themselves...

I would like to thank Paul Candy for his clarification. There is indeed a good difference in sound between the FE108EZ and the FE126E as used in the Concerti and the First Horn (FH). There's a difference in price too...

My partner designed the FH from the ground up to take advantage of the FE126E. The same thing was done for the FE108EZ in the Concerti, where we went much farther in the horn contour design. WAF was also a goal, I should add. :-)

To finish, I can say that the stainless ring around the FE126E driver (an Atelier exclusive) makes it look like the FE108EZ on the Concerti at first look, so you're all excused, dear Josh! ;-)

Yes but can they be had in a invisible paint finish?

If so that would really be Magic-Oh