Whether one cares or not about what other people buy is a moot point. I am of the opinion that in general vendors will charge whatever amount people are willing to pay. Making people willing to pay more is what it’s all about. In many cases the value proposition is totally unclear or poor . Call it snake oil or what you will. Just saying. This is what makes the world go round and be weary whenever someone with something to sell tries to convince you that high end audio is somehow uniquely noble and immune to that.
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...
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There is some truth to what the OP opines, but there are two sides to that coin. There are pieces of equipment that over the years I have wanted to own, but there were other financial priorities in life. Today most of this gear are considered to be classics and are still sought out. There has been other expensive gear that were en vogue for a time, then faded away like so much smoke. Their mirror partners were probably lonely for awhile, but they eventually got over being jilted. The market shifts and changes. New technologies arise and old ones come back like the Phoenix, resurrected for another go at life. All of which is why I love AudiogoN. I don't ride the audio carousel like some; my systems usually stay intact for a decade or more. But AudiogoN has allowed me to put together several systems that were beyond what I could have afforded at the time. This site has let me live an audio Life of Reilly on what has effectively been a shoestring budget. Interestingly, my financial situation has greatly improved over the past few years. Now that I can afford to upgrade, my current system is not in need of any major changes. It's the system I had wanted for so many years. I bought most of it used. Added a few new pieces the last couple of years. Now I'm investing in music. But stay tuned. The reports of my audio demise have been greatly exaggerated. |
There is some truth to what the OP opines, but there are two sides to that coin. There are pieces of equipment that over the years I have wanted to own, but there were other financial priorities in life. Today most of this gear are considered to be classics and are still sought out. There has been other expensive gear that were en vogue for a time, then faded away like so much smoke. Their mirror partners were probably lonely for awhile, but they eventually got over being jilted. The market shifts and changes. New technologies arise and old ones come back like the Phoenix, resurrected for another go at life. All of which is why I love AudiogoN. I don't ride the audio carousel like some; my systems usually stay intact for a decade or more. But AudiogoN has allowed me to put together several systems that were beyond what I could have afforded at the time. This site has let me live an audio Life of Reilly on what has effectively been a shoestring budget. Interestingly, my financial situation has greatly improved over the past few years. Now that I can afford to upgrade, my current system is not in need of any major changes. It's the system I had wanted for so many years. I bought most of it used. Added a few new pieces the last couple of years. Now I'm investing in music. But stay tuned. The reports of my audio demise have been greatly exaggerated. |
Hi ericrt. To be fair, it does cost something to develop a product. The lab lights must be lit, the soldering irons heated, etc. Then you have to market the thing, and polish it, and QC it, and pack it, and ship it. Insure it maybe? That money has to be gotten from somewhere. The big things is: How many will you sell? How many people will pay a quarter million dollars for an amp? How many half million dollar speakers can you sell? Not 10,000, I'll bet. the super pricy products do impress people who will never hear them. They make the line look impressive. They give the manufacturer a chance to experiment with ideas he can use in products lower in the line. It provides a WOW item at audio shows. If company X can sell 100 half million dollar products worldwide, he'll do alright. But he never expected us peon with a 1750 square foot house and three kids to buy one. He doesn't think you are stupid; but he does think you can be impressed. That's why some products have more money in the case than in the guts of the product. There are fifty cent cent capacitors, and five dollar capacitors and fifty dollar capacitors with the same electrical values. Do they sound different? You bet. How much better does the $500 capacitor sound? I'll never know! But there is a difference between the $5 and the $50 ones. I tried it. Once. Maybe an 8% improvement in "transparency." How many capacitors are in that premium preamp? Are they the super-duper ones from Denmark? Are there four? That's $2k in parts cost and we haven't got a knob! And the manufacturer wants to make a profit on those caps. The people who insist on the "BEST" don't care what it costs. they are the fat cats with the $$$. Those products were never aimed at guys like us who say, "How can an amp possibly cost $100,000 @#&*!" Look for fancy stuff used. If it wasn't abused, it's probably as good as it ever was (unless the tubes are OLD). Don't be upset by the pricy stuff. Their advertising pays for the magazines we read and write letters to complaining about the pricy stuff they review. Relax and enjoy the music. Keep Smiling! |
bpolettiI Said I've heard that from the perspective of many high-end manufacturers and dealers, the best way to make a small fortune in audio is to start with a large fortune." Well said! And this from: hilde45 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5638129/ "People who are unable to maintain the same standard of living as others around them experience a sense of relative deprivation that has been shown to reduce feelings of well-being. Relative deprivation reflects conditions of worsening relative poverty despite striking reductions in absolute poverty. The effects of relative deprivation explain why average happiness has been stagnant over time despite sharp rises in income. Consumption taxes on status-seeking spending, along with official and traditional sanctions on excess consumption and redistributive policies may lessen the negative impact of relative deprivation on well-being. I think this is great also. Basically if you compare your stuff to what others have, it will make you dissatisfied with your perfectly good stuff. Being content is of great value, for sure. I think that audiophiles are just fascinated with what the next level sounds like. I am just disappointed with how the entry level sounds compared to things I grew up with that were not 'audiophile' grade. It seems like you have to lay out what is truly a small fortune to even start to get to the good stuff. But I have, and I enjoy the good stuff. I am not trying to start another conversation 🙂. It seems like if you spend even $2000 on a system, the sound quality and appearance should blow away a non audiophile. Instead, (I feel like), you get borderline junk for that cost. |
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