Why the huge increase in the price of Sonus Farber Amanti G5 speakers.

@sns 

I did see that video and I even commented on it.  I don’t think I said exactly what I wanted to say, but he was doing his schtick on speakers from 2018 and that there have been updates to that speaker since that model was released, two I believe.  
It is kinda funny watching him when he finds something Ferris anywhere in or on a speaker. I see Chicken Little every time he points it out.

@gano 

No worries, you did not annoy me in any way.  I really don’t like where politics have gone in the last few decades. So I do my darn best to stay as far away from them. That’s why I repeated that my question was not politically motivated.

Enjoy the music.

Perhaps late to this party...but having purchased SF Olympica Nova iii speakers in the late May 2025 (pre price increase) I'd like to offer my 2 cents (3 cents with inflation).  Indeed the value of any luxury item is dependent on the perceived value by the consumer.  Is a Rolex watch "worth" $5k to 125K?  Yes to some, no to others.  For me, at the original price of 13.5K the Nova iii's were what I consider a value proposition given the sound quality and beauty.  Sonus raised the prices a couple of years later to 15K, and for me there would still be value.  Now at 18K, it is a tougher call, but given inflation and tariffs there is some justification for sure, and is not a case of greed.  Plug in the numbers (13.5K in 2019 becomes 17K in today's dollars) and given the tariff situation the new 18K price not greedy but a considered choice.  Finally unlike some purchases Sonus Faber products (as McIntosh products) could be considered a lifetime purchase.  My Nova's are mated with my original and updated McIntosh separates from the late seventies and the results are stunning.  Even our dealer advised "not to change a thing."  I'm only sad that the new prices might discourage some from taking the leap.....but there is always the used route.  So good luck to all....but regarding the product itself I find it stunning in beauty and sound.

@robertc_f 

I completely agree with your post. I agree with value... etc. 

But on a tangent. 

Luxury goods I have bought in the past have always surpassed my expectation on performance as well as aesthetics. I have come to expect it. High end audio, automobiles, cameras, binoculars, and telescopes for instance. When it comes to performance... while I might have been dubious... the reality has always been, they outperform my expectation... often from what I think is possible. There is one very different category: Watchs. 

As a kid I always thought that a "successful man" would own a Rolex when in his fifties or sixties. So in my late fifties I started my research. Like all things I research like crazy then verify my assumptions with some intermediate purchase before a full commitment. So, I bought a nice Tag Heuer watch. A couple grand or so. The crystal bezel was amazing... but it could not keep time. It was off by several seconds a day! I did more research and found that mechanical watches are considered really accurate at one second a day! I can get a cheap digital that outperforms that. I was really disillusioned. I got the Tag adjusted and it kept time to one second a day. 

I worked in Japan a lot of the time. The trains run to the second on time, sometimes with different trains leaving 30 seconds apart. Adjusting and keeping your watch to the second is difficult with a mechanical watch like Tag or Rolex. So, I abandoned the whole category. Without performance, I could not give a hoot. 

Ultimately I purchased a Seiko Astron which automatically changes time by GPS when you pop up in a new time zone and is good to a thousandth of a second for centuries. Get of the plane and walk around outside and it figures out where you are and exactly what time it is. So, there is the performance... good looking... but not like a Rolex. 

All of this is like talking about slide rules now that Apple Watches are virtually mandatory for health monitoring of us old people like me... who are prone to prattle on about irrelevant topics... so sorry.