Art Dudley Calls B.S. but without naming names - PLEASE DO!


Hey all,

As someone who hasn't been reading the audiophile press for all that long, I stumbled upon this article that I'm sure it lit up these airwaves when it was first published: https://www.stereophile.com/content/skin-deep

It's a great article and one that any knowledgeable person would most likely agree with, but hey, spending your own hard-earned (or inherited) money is a right and a privilege.  Art does call out some brands that he perceives to give great value:  AMVR, VPL, Conrad-Johnson, DeVore and Harbeth and Kimber and Peachtree and Quicksilver and Rega and Rogue and Spendor and Wavelength.  Shouldn't NAD be on this list?  

But what he doesn't do and I think is warranted, is name the companies that are most egregious in selling high-end products where the performance is far below the cost.  

I, for one, would love to see a list of those manufacturers from the people who read this forum.  You can group them by what they manufacture or just put them in order as you see fit.  I think it would be most helpful in calling b.s. but with "added-value", which is what this whole article was all about.  Right?

lgoler

Showing 1 response by joekapahulu

A couple of observations. 
1-Value is in the eye of the purchaser. It differs based on our engagement in the category and product considered.
2- We live in a consumer culture but each persons perception of appropriate spending is different and reflects more variables than I can discuss here. Wealthy people tend to think differently. 
I worked for a self made millionaire business owner years ago running two of his company's four divisions. I turned the businesses around making him more millions for which  he paid me Ok. I say ok because my initial contract gave me a share of the profits. He paid me on that one year, hen proceeded to "compel" a renegotiation to more of a salary based deal. He admitted this was not fair but said he needed the money to invest in the company....which I foolishly believed. While he did invest in the business, he also bought 2 new Mercedes and a Rolls Royce, for himself, his wife and his girlfriend......to him that represented a better use of money than paying a proven executive who got results or funding the strategic plans he had agreed to previously.