How many truly high-end speakers sold yearly?


HI All,
Just curious here and wonder if anyone out there knows, or knows a good source to confirm some information? I was wondering about this hobby of ours, and how many speakers (new or used) actually are purchased every year by all of us, at these TRULY hi-end levels? ($100k Plus, $100k, $75k, $50k, $25k, $15k, $10k, $5k).

I remember seeing recently just ONE speaker manufacturer mention that they would be producing 100 pairs of a speaker that sells new for $75,000!!! Do the math....thats $7.5 MILLION (at the retail level) in sales from just ONE speaker, from just ONE manufacturer that makes SEVERAL models!!!

You see where I'm going with this thought? How much DO we actually spend yearly (JUST for speakers) on this hobby/habit? (Tell the wives it keeps us OFF THE STREET!!! ....outa the bars, and out of trouble!!!) :-)

So, if anyone knows, or knows where to get/confirm these statistics,(OK...tell us too about amps, pre-amps, CD players, etc. if you know) let us all know?

I've SEEN some information on electronics in general, but that also includes everything from tiny cheap speakers that go in cheap radios to boom boxes, etc. I'm just curious about the true HI-end picture. Anybody know the yearly volumes produced at the price points mentioned above ($100k to $5k, or however its broken down by price categories?
What DO you know?

Thanks and Happy Listening!
soundsgr8tome

Showing 2 responses by tireguy

Well first of all let me say I don't know much. But I do know that folks who blow 70k on a pair of speakers usually aren't your run of the mill audiophile, they have a good relationship with a dealer/friend. I wouldn't give 70k to anybody I didn't know/trust well, which also means most people who buy this caliber of gear(I'm not too far off, in a few years) don't pay close to retail. I recently priced a speaker(which I will keep to myself) msrp was 40k+ I was quoted 27k and we could talk about it a little more in person. I also know that Wilson's big speaker(I don't even know its name) is around 89k and they make 6 pairs a year, it is back ordered a few years in advance to prospective buyers.

I have been in this audio game for a good many years now and know a lot of members here and else where and I can count the number of people I know who have truly "megabuck" gear on one hand. Megabuck gear to me is 50k+ on speakers, 30k+ on amp(s), 20k on a digital front end, and 50k on an analog front end(based on the attitude towards cable lately I would rather not talk about them:)I am sure you can call Avalon and ask them how many Sentinals they have sold, and Call Kharma and ask how many Exquistes they have sold and so on, I think you'd be surprised how few it is.

But as I said at the begining of this post I don't know much.

~Tim
Now that its mentioned I know a high end amp manufacturer that sells his amps from $12,000-50,000 and when he made the new 12k stereo amp, he had 100 chassis made(which we found a minor flaw in, but with 100 chassis on hands the flaw went into production) and he didn't seem to think it was going to take long to blow through the first 100 before he could improve upon the design. Not sure if that helps any but another interesting fact I have learned over the years.