Nice thread ;)
Often the price difference is marketing. Like anything else, if you compare expensive dacs, some may sound like their price, others will not. A $32K dac may sound worse than a well designed $1k dac (Lite Dac 60 with a few mods) but it is housed in solid steel with fancy artistic designs and laser engraved logos/buttons. The only difference being that they used a $20 TXCO with low phase jitter than a standard Chinese one at $0.50 to make it sound well grounded. So if you take away that the metal housing, the exotic wood, and the logo, one is left with the internals of a $500 dac.
Another $32k dac has some amazing engineering but priced higher because a select people are willing to pay for it although everything over $5k is pure profit. You may even come across a dealer that has a demo unit or trying to get rid of stock that is at 75% off. These deals are not typically advertised.
Also learn about manufacturing costs - especially with medium to small companies. A do it yourself home builder has higher costs and a medium company can sell you a dac for $4000 that costs $500 to manufacture. Don’t be afraid to negotiate and offer to pay what value you place on the item.
I find that companies that market and advertise less gives you more for your money.
Often the price difference is marketing. Like anything else, if you compare expensive dacs, some may sound like their price, others will not. A $32K dac may sound worse than a well designed $1k dac (Lite Dac 60 with a few mods) but it is housed in solid steel with fancy artistic designs and laser engraved logos/buttons. The only difference being that they used a $20 TXCO with low phase jitter than a standard Chinese one at $0.50 to make it sound well grounded. So if you take away that the metal housing, the exotic wood, and the logo, one is left with the internals of a $500 dac.
Another $32k dac has some amazing engineering but priced higher because a select people are willing to pay for it although everything over $5k is pure profit. You may even come across a dealer that has a demo unit or trying to get rid of stock that is at 75% off. These deals are not typically advertised.
Also learn about manufacturing costs - especially with medium to small companies. A do it yourself home builder has higher costs and a medium company can sell you a dac for $4000 that costs $500 to manufacture. Don’t be afraid to negotiate and offer to pay what value you place on the item.
I find that companies that market and advertise less gives you more for your money.