Linn Bedrok LP12 Plinth Upgrade

@richardbrand

Fascinating Richard. It’s almost like everything is connected in some weird way. I also had experience of X-ray crystallography in a small way in the lab when studying Physics in the seventies at what is now the University of Westminster. I also had a great uncle who’d been some sort of technician/instrument maker at Cambridge and had worked with some of the great men who’d done much of the Physics that I was learning about. It wasn’t until later that I realised I'd missed the chance to ask him about them.

Since the focus of this thread seems to be the retail price of the new Linn plinth, I thought it might be worthwhile to post this extract from Pro-Ject's literature on their most expensive Signature turntable, which has a retail price of 12,000 Euros (my emphasis)

We‘re thrilled to offer these turntables at an extremely attractive price, as the development cost is not counted, as we anyway had to do the research to move forward with Pro-Ject technology in general

Obviously, all the development costs have been amortized in the revenue stream from their mass market products!

Every manufacturer has to cover their costs and make some profit, or they will go out of business.  Most manufacturers have high set up costs which have to be funded before the first unit makes its way to market.  After that, there are the direct costs associated with each extra unit produced.  So in setting a retail price, the manufacturer has to guess how many units they will sell so that the line becomes profitable once it reaches the breakeven number sold.  If the price is too high, the number sold may not even reach breakeven.

If the manufacturer only produces high-end expensive gear, they may need very deep pockets.  Wilson Benesch have been very adept at getting university collaboration and research grants to offset some development cost, at the time-cost of dealing with government!

Extreme examples of very high set up costs and low production costs include books, semi-conductor chips and polycarbonate disks which all have a unit direct production cost of around a dollar or less.

The above assumes that pricing is set on a rational value-for-money basis, but those rules don't apply to luxury goods where the consumer seemingly forgets about value-for-money and chases status and ego-boosting items.  I don't think the Bedrok is flashy enough to fall into the luxury category!

@richardbrand That’s an interesting point. I tend to agree with you that the Bedrok is not flashy enough to appeal to the folks who shop primarily with their eyes..and not their ears. 
However, since there have been a few Bedrok sales so far, I guess folk seem to believe that the SQ boost is worth it. 
I suspect these very same folk would have little problem with the same looking Bedrok if it was priced at three times the current ask. Question is what price is it that elicits push back??

Thanks - exactly what I was looking for.  I will read "diamond hardened" to mean a "Diamond-Like Carbon Coating" which is likely to be plasma sputtered onto a substrate such as tool steel in a vacuum under tightly controlled conditions,

No diamond hardening refers to a heating and cooling process used to harden the steel, it is not a coating. The Dohmann uses maraging steel - which is really an alloy, likely including elements of copper and nickel that results in a harder steel than ferrous metals, more stable.

@daveyf

Question is what price is it that elicits push back??

Answering that question is why marketing people get paid!

Or to put it another way, is the Pro-Ject Signature too inexpensive to be taken seriously by audiophiles?  I am sure it is a tempting upgrade for owners of lesser Pro-Jects ...