Most overpriced audio component made


Are all audio components overpriced? It seems when I try to trade in a used piece that I paid 2000 for and I'm offered 175, I wonder if I paid too much in the first place.
cody
I do not wish to offend anyone, and i have just recently gotten back into buying audio gear after a 20 year absence.what i go for is the sound and not the pestige of owning overpriced equiptment.I have about 10,000 invested in my system. my dealer gave me about 100 feet of bi-wire speaker wire. It's not the big name brands and infact some of you might just call it fancy lamp shade copper wire. I asked my dealer if i should go ahead an upgrade my speaker cables. i was going to spend several hundred dollars. I asked him if there would be a noticable difference to invest some more money to upgrade. He told me NO! and to save your money. Now he has about 15 or more years in the audio business.So who do believe? There is alot of views, and all of them always seem to be different.If these people would lower their prices so everyone could afford to enjoy what they say is truly high end gear than everyone would be happy and we could tell for ourselves whats what. And they could easily make money if they did that.You'd be selling on volume instead of making a killing on the one big sale that you made.Do these manufactures really want everyone to enjoy their products, or do they just want to say it's the best,and put a 3000.00 price tag on it.AND THATS! JUST FOR THE PRE-AMP!COME ON......and mr. genesis.you say theres not that much profit. my speakers listed for 1200.00 i know this cause i checked the co's web site my dealer sold them to me for 900.00. several months later i found them on the internet for $599.00.brand new. END of story.
Case04: A suggestion. Since the you and the dealer seem to have a decent relationship, and you have a freind who owns a hi-fi shop, wouldn't they allow you to audition some cables at home - in your system? Assuming the cables are properly "broken-in" (misnomer), YOU would be able to tell if the $$ spent would be justified - and hopefully they'd cut you a deal. As others have mentioned on this thread, cables ARE important but the cost should be placed in context with the rest of the equipment. Happy listening!
Folks, let me tell you the story on margins in audion gear. I used to work in the industry and have many friends who still do. Assuming we are talking about decent mid-fi to high end equipment, if it is sold at MSRP, the gross profit is typically about 40% (sometimes a little higher sometimes a little lower) for speakers and components and 50-60% for cables and other "accessories". The gross margins on video equipment are usually lower, about 30-35%. Having said that, after overhead, taxes etc., most dealers are making net profits of between 6-11%.
A dealer pays 50% of MSRP for the loudspeakers I sold. And they were VERY familiar high end brands.
Good point Treyhoss. but unfortunately he only carries a limited supply. He is one of these new breed dealers that are going to custom instalation.You have to order what you want. i called some stores in palm beach as well and same thing no demo of this no demo of that. i said how am i suppose to know if i like it. he said the people we deal with already know what they want.I'll tell ya, getting back into this after 20 yrs. what happened to walking into a place and just having rows of stuff to listen too? I am disabled and i can't drive too far. so almost all the equiptment i buy is without demoing it. I know thats not the way to do it, and i'm on this computer for hrs. investigating reviews and articles. this is the only choice i have.this dealer where i live is limited to a few brands or lines of gear. and the other dealers won't do anything. they just want you to pay FULL PRICE and not even have to work for their commission.Heck when i was a salesman. i drove 3hrs. to make 1500.00. not these people. you come to us. thank you for the internet.