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Krell, MBL, Levinson, et al... What if 50% off?

Lot of talk about the death of high end audio, which is warranted.  But is it just about price? 

What if a Krell K-300i was $4000 with DAC and not $8000 - would you buy it? The i800 monblocks were $40,000 not $73,000? Would they sell 4x as many? 

What if an MBL 100 MkII speakers were $45,000 and not $95,000 and could be paired with their digital streamer for $6,000 not $11,000 and N15 mono amps for $7500 ea instead of $21,000...  that gives you a state of the art digital system for $66,000 instead of $150,000. 

Is that the answer, or is it something deeper (system is still big, requires a big room, space from the walls, looks odd, etc)?

msheldonsb
msheldonsb OP
1 posts
 

I should add that this might require a direct to consumer model - the dealer network costs these firms 40-50% of their prospective margin...  Would you buy Krell equipment from the manufacturer directly, if still supported and installed, if you could only listen at hifi shows, or a handful of regaional listening studios?

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richardbrand's avatar
richardbrand
582 posts
 

My Krell dealer used to let me buy Krell items at a decent discount, and return them a month or two later if I did not get value from them, no penalty.  When the amp blew some capacitors. the dealer's technicians fixed it in his workshop.  But that dealer is pretty special, rated in the top five worldwide.

These days he still operates the same expensive listening rooms, but his bread and butter comes from home theatre.

The market is highly competitive.  Those manufacturers best placed to survive, in my opinion, have volume mass-market offerings plus flagship high-end products.  Sony and KEF spring to my mind.

Price is rarely the most important factor in any buying decision.  Just look at the variety of cars people buy.

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