It is also possible to under price an expensive product. Many audiophiles feel if a product seems to cheap for what it does there must be something wrong and won't buy it. I know that about 20 years ago the now defunct company Melos produced triode tube monoblocks rated at 400 watts(they did more) for $10,000 a pair. The dealers told the manufacturer to put a new thicker front plate on and call it a Mark II version because they could sell more amps at the higher price than the lower one. Melos kept the price the same.
Is it possible for a high end manufacturer to overprice their goods?
Having just read the interesting and hyperbole laden review by RH of the new Rockport Orion speakers in the latest issue of The Absolute Sound, one thing struck me..
is it possible in the high end for a manufacturer to overprice their product ( doesn’t have to be a speaker, but this example comes to mind)? I ask this, as the Orion is priced at $133k! Yes,a price that would probably make 99% of hobbyists squirm. Yet, the speaker now joins a number of competitors that are in the $100k realm.
To that, this particular speaker stands just 50.3” tall and is just 14.3” wide…with one 13” woofer, one 7” midrange and a 1.25” beryllium dome ( which these days is nothing special at all…and could potentially lead to the nasties of beryllium bite).
The question is…given this speakers design and parts, which may or may not be SOTA, is it possible that this is just another overpriced product that will not sell, or is it like others, correctly priced for its target market? Thoughts…