PS audio new 25K dac and the psychological effect of owning a company's best.


I was purchasing some hi-res files from NativeDSD today and found mention of PS Audio’s Obsidian Ted Smith Signature Dac ($25K) in their compatibility excel table scheduled to be released in 2021. I am the owner of their Direct stream DAC and DSD memory player and I immediately thought that I would never spend 25K on a DAC. I also thought that now I can have their best so why to stay with the brand. This might be my personal bias but I was wondering if this has an effect on anyone else. Is owning the top-of-line of any brand important to you and would you leave a brand if you were priced out of the market?
rufusluna

Showing 1 response by jaytor

I have to admit that I have felt like the OP at times when I previously owned a company's top of the line product and they introduced something above the product I owned.

But I agree with @rlb61 that the best value is often in middle-of-the-line products. This is particularly true when the mid product was introduced after the current top-of-the-line since there is often things learned in the development of the top-end product that can and are applied to the new lower-priced items.