$12,000 is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a speaker. In any field the state of the art will always be expensive, but I've gotten sick and tire of hearing how components costing $10,000+ are described as "a bargain" just because they don't cost $50,000. The majority of music lovers I've met do want high quality audio reproduction, they just don't obsess about it and they won't pay the equivalent of a nice new car to have it.
Hey, we don't get no respect
...to paraphrase the late and great Rodney Dangerfield!
When it comes to quality, luxury, or status items, people seem to know brand names of very expensive cars, private jets, jewelry, watches, clothing, upscale communities, etc. Yet, when it comes to audio, Bose is considered to be an expensive and luxurious audio brand [their marketing model is exceptionally successful]. Just the other day, CNBC reporters doing a piece about luxury gifts were shocked that a pair of B&W speakers had a $12,000 list price. I am not "bad-mouthing" B&W. Point being that a $12,000 list price for a pair of speakers, while unaffordable for many audiophiles, is much less expensive than many other speakers, and certainly does not carry an "only in my dreams" stratospheric price.
What's your opinion about this?
When it comes to quality, luxury, or status items, people seem to know brand names of very expensive cars, private jets, jewelry, watches, clothing, upscale communities, etc. Yet, when it comes to audio, Bose is considered to be an expensive and luxurious audio brand [their marketing model is exceptionally successful]. Just the other day, CNBC reporters doing a piece about luxury gifts were shocked that a pair of B&W speakers had a $12,000 list price. I am not "bad-mouthing" B&W. Point being that a $12,000 list price for a pair of speakers, while unaffordable for many audiophiles, is much less expensive than many other speakers, and certainly does not carry an "only in my dreams" stratospheric price.
What's your opinion about this?