I have been a "high end" dealer for decades; not at todays ultra level but selling Krell, Classe, B&W, Quad, SME, VPI etc at various times. The market has contracted so much that many companies have had to specialize to an extreme degree and produce a very expensive product to survive. Take it from me; very few are making much money is todays market, no matter how much they are charging. I was talking to Bill Conrad a couple of years ago and he was astounded to the prices now common; he said another friend of his had counted 100 speaker models priced over $100,000. Even if he slightly miscounted there are still a lot of mega expensive gear out there. Believe me, you would not want to be a dealer. Even at dealer price inventory is so expensive even importers limit it as much as they can; and who can blame them? Old joke: do you know how to make a small fortune in audio? Start with a large fortune.
Oh, to be a high end dealer for a year.
I love hifi. But high-end mystifies me. I can't help but think it's my lack of deep exposure.
I'd love to know if $100,000 amps matched to $100,000 speakers really sound so much better than the few-thousand dollar systems in my foreseeable future.
Is the worth of a quarter-million dollar system purely a function of sound quality, or some interaction between sound quality + one's idle disposable funds + time on one's hands?
And lordy, assuming they don't become the next Conrad Johnson, how do these companies that only produce a couple of high-road-to-nirvana-reviewed $50k-ish components fair in the short- and long-term, financially? Do they live long and prosper, and how? If not, are they cleaning up in their short stay, or losing their shirts to their dream?
I'll probably never know.
I'd love to know if $100,000 amps matched to $100,000 speakers really sound so much better than the few-thousand dollar systems in my foreseeable future.
Is the worth of a quarter-million dollar system purely a function of sound quality, or some interaction between sound quality + one's idle disposable funds + time on one's hands?
And lordy, assuming they don't become the next Conrad Johnson, how do these companies that only produce a couple of high-road-to-nirvana-reviewed $50k-ish components fair in the short- and long-term, financially? Do they live long and prosper, and how? If not, are they cleaning up in their short stay, or losing their shirts to their dream?
I'll probably never know.