Lenny, I totally agree with what you are saying, but I will also add that these speakers are built here in the USA, paying American wages, using the best materials, paints, components, etc. I haven't toured the factory, but have been told first hand that if I did go through it to see how their speakers are constructed, I would not be able to fathom that they could sell them for as little as they do. The person who made that statement also had been through the Bowers & Wilkins factory as well, and made the same comment concerning the 800 series line. A lot of it is the factory, the technology, the training, the expertise, and many other intangible things that contribute to the price of anything. Sure you have drivers that are outsourced, but you also have changes made, resistors and such that have ridiculous tolerances, and so much more than what could ever meet the eye. All of this doesn't come free or cheap.
I am in a customer service business and it's amazing that people can get in their head an idea of what the components or parts cost, and then think that if they add a few hours of what their idea of an hourly labor rate is, that if the company is charging any more than that, they are ripping people off. In the case of my business, it's not just the parts and the labor, but it's the salary and benefits paid to the employee, the retirement, the matching contributions, the unimaginable healthcare insurance premiums, the vehicle he drives, the parts that are stocked in the parts room and on that vehicle so that they can get their repair done immediately and not be inconvenienced. It's also the building they go back to, the utilities, the taxes, the overhead, the workman's comp, the social security, the specialty tools, the training and certification, the continuing education, the thousands and thousands of dollars to have your ad in the 10 different yellow page books that are available, so that when they need your service they can find you. It goes on and on and on! Those costs have to be fairly distributed or we will not be in business when you need us.
Fortunately we are not in the pharmaceutical industry where billions are spent on R & D, clinical trials, jumping through hoops to try to get approval through the FDA in less that 5 years, and then the massive marketing campaigns, the free samples, the free meds to people who can't afford them, and of course the pretty blondes, and sexy brunettes that are calling on the physicians, wining and dining them, gifting them to get them to write the prescriptions for their version of the medication, instead of the other company. Have you ever looked at what you and your insurance provider are paying for those 30 or 60 pills that are a 30 day supply? I take several prescriptions monthly for health problems and some of them are in the $300 to $400 a month range. I will average over $200 a month just in co-pays alone. I'm not happy about it, but I have no choice. Take the meds, or face the alternative.
People want to complain because a company charges X number of dollars for a speaker, when I have yet to see someone marched into a Hi-Fi store at gunpoint and forced to buy WIlsons, B & Ws, or anything else. Even the very special boutique speakers that make Wilsons and B & Ws look like the blue light special from K-Mart! They are more than welcome to go to the big box store and buy from the shelf, or they can go the the Bozo store at the local mall and plunk down $3000 or $4000 for something that they are psyched into thinking sounds good, when you can put the entire system in your microwave oven and hide it. Hooray for jewel cubes if that is what turns you on, or perhaps all you have space for, but don't compare them to "real" speakers, even the big box units that are particle board, and chinese drivers. I personally think that for the most part speakers are like high performance engines, "there is no substitute for cubic inches!"
Do I wish that Wilson Audio speakers were a fraction of their current cost? Sure I do! If the do cut them down to half price, something along the way is going to get cut right along with that price and then people will really have something to complain about.
If you don't like the product, don't buy it. It's just that simple. I have found for many years that it is so conveniently easy for people to dislike, and even hate what they can't have. I can't have a new Ferarri, but that doesn't stop me from loving them and appreciating them, even if they don't perform a bit better than a Z-06, or even a ZR-1 Corvette, but yet cost two to ten times more, depending on which models you are comparing.
The bottom line is, people will pay for things they want to own, whether it's the best choice, the best value, the cheapest, the most expensive, or whatever. Part of the experience of ownership in higher-end products is the ownership experience as a whole. It's the way they are treated from the first meet and greet, all the way to a warranty claim.
