Did I Expect too much?


I purchased a pair of speakers from a US manufacturer who I shall not name.  The speakers are beautiful and the sound exceeds my expectations (after a minor upgrade).  So why would such a reputable company use six dollar binding posts?  It makes no sense.  I replaced them with Cardas binding posts and decent 12 gauge wire between the driver and posts.  My system is valued for clarity and clean highs.  The difference was audible.  I know, snake oil.  But it wasn’t.  I don’t think that spending $15K for speakers is nothing.  So yes, I was disappointed.  

langla4

Showing 2 responses by steve59

Our need for value has the bigger companies outsourcing to sweat shops to manage costs. There's also companies that invest in themselves, Dynaudio, KEF, Paradigm to name a few that do everything in house that has the benefit of controlling markup, but the current state of high end pricing has put many brands catering to the 1%. It would be hard to take a modern brand seriously that used spring clip wire retainers for their products.

 
sns

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@steve59 I don't think need for value is the culprit here, need to keep cost of device lower and/or extract max profit margiins culprit for the labor cost part of equation. Price is the major purchasing determiner for consumer items, value hard to determine or doesn't even enter the mind.

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sure, there's brands that can pull prices out of the air without justification, but they don't get my dollar.