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Stratospheric audio gear prices

The more time I have under my belt pursuing quality audio, the more I realize that high audio gear prices have some basis in their quality. Yet there is a limit. When you buy a Ferrari the cost is high, but you can see the money involved in the design and parts. Many would argue that high quality audio gear is similar to the quality and design of a hyper-car. But when you look a the sheer quantity an complexity of this kind of car, there is no piece of audio gear that compares. To me, a piece of audio gear that costs as much as even an inexpensive car is just a manufacturer cashing in because they can. Can you imagine what audio manufacturers would want to charge for a piece of audio gear that was the size and weight of a car? Like $100 million.  I believe it just drives the whole market up and we end up getting a little bit suckered. This is all perhaps a little overstated. I guess I just want to shame audio manufacturers. I do understand that they are not charities, or here for the betterment of mankind. If you are not frustrated by this, good for you.  Here is a quote from a book about marketing. The reference is a victim of link rot. Nevertheless it has common information. 
  

"Premium Pricing

Premium pricing is the practice of keeping the price of a product or service artificially high in order to encourage favorable perceptions among buyers, based solely on the price. The practice is intended to exploit the (not necessarily justifiable) tendency for buyers to assume that expensive items enjoy an exceptional reputation or represent exceptional quality and distinction . A premium pricing strategy involves setting the price of a product higher than similar products . This strategy is sometimes also called skim pricing because it is an attempt to "skim the cream" off the top of the market. It is used to maximize profit in areas where customers are happy to pay more, where there are no substitutes for the product, where there are barriers to entering the market, or when the seller cannot save on costs by producing at a high volume. It is also called image pricing or prestige pricing.

 

Luxury has a psychological association with price premium pricing. The implication for marketing is that consumers are willing to pay more for certain goods and not for others. To the marketer, it means creating a brand equity or value for which the consumer is willing to pay extra. Marketers view luxury as the main factor differentiating a brand in a product category."

Source: Boundless. “Market Share.” Boundless Business Boundless, 26 May. 2016. Retrieved 07 Feb. 2017 from https://www.boundless.com/business/textbooks/boundless-business-textbook/product-and-pricing-strateg...

ericrt

Showing 7 responses by sokogear

sokogear
1,111 posts
 
If nobody bought the stuff, they wouldn't make it or they would go out of business.

These are low volume niche products, some pricing elevation because of the look of the materials that have nothing to do with sound.

Also for some, there is snob appeal that they know everyone will know what they spent for something, like a Mercedes, or more likely Bentley or Rolls Royce. It's called luxury - which really means expensive.

The law of diminishing returns kicks in in my mind for systems listing for about $20K (depending on how many sources you play) to $25K. For this money you can get incredible sound if you know what you are doing. If you don't, you could spend $100K and it wouldn't sound as good.
sokogear
1,111 posts
 
It depends on the source. You can get something used for $2K like an integrated amp/streamer and a decent set of speakers with some $ left over for a non entry level interconnect and speaker cables. When you start talking about turntables, moving coil cartridges, phono stages, vibration control, it adds up and in IMHO you reach a nice plateau around $10-12K out of pocket for about $20K list. You can go way up from there, but the cost for increase in SQ becomes higher and higher, and in some cases it is not better, only different.
sokogear
1,111 posts
 
@unreceiveddogma - glad you agree about the system plateau for excellent sound, but who are we to say what is an insane amount of money to spend on audio? Some would consider $10-15K out of pocket on $20-25K worth of retail priced audio insane (including some of my relatives).

To someone with tens of millions or more in assets, I expect it is like you going out to a nice dinner, or even a lunch. Is that insane? It's a free country, and you can do whatever you want with your money, so long as it is legal.
sokogear
1,111 posts
 
I don't think the doom and bloomers are being ignored. It's all over the media constantly.

You have to really read closely what scientists say when they use words like predictions, assumptions, etc. and not the spin doctors who can take the most clear statements and change their meaning.

The best ones are measured and not panicky. The people on different sides of the issue are the more extremists trying to convince the "others" of the their position. Movie stars, Qanoners, the Squad, climate deniers....they are all over the place.

In almost all cases, the extremes are too extreme, and it takes the sensible people to take ALL points into account and see the truth is usually somewhere in the middle. Things are never as good or as bad as the media says - remember if everything is OK and not worrisome, no one watches.

We need more politicians and representatives without the "us vs. them" mentality. Pink Floyd knew this back when they wrote DSOTM.
sokogear
1,111 posts
 
I think amps and speakers represent the biggest opportunities for finding great values in the used market, especially solid state amps. Cables - I'm not one to spend excessively on them, so can't comment on buying used cables and saving big money. Speaker prices vary so widely, and someone's personal taste may not be champagne, but beer. Nothing wrong with that

Turntables and their components, not so much. You just can't see the wear and tear, especially used cartridges. That's not to say that if you have an expensive cartridge (>$2K) you can't replace it with a very nice new one the next time it needs maintenance and or a new stylus, and save some dough. 
sokogear
1,111 posts
 
Inflation, budget deficits, the national debt skyrocketing unmnageably .....Canada and Europe, here we come!
sokogear
1,111 posts
 
My son bought an $8 iPhone speaker from Walmart and is fine with it. He needed something when some people were coming over to his apartment. I had been saving an amp and preamp for him, but he was fine with me selling them....

Maybe when he is older and settled in one place he'll get something less portable.
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