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

hmmm, gouging ? resist with your wallet- if people stop buying at absurd price points, prices decrease. 

Many cabinets were made in China....which is now a dirty word.

Wait until you see the prices when magnets can’t be sourced.

@deep_333 

The ARC story is about the specifics in one case of development in the high end audio arena. I did not know any specific  numbers of hours on anything from Sonus Faber speaker development. But I am sure it is similar, it demonstrates the huge investment that goes into high end audio equipment. 
 

The amount of effort… since very large number of change and listen cycles are involved with engineers with very specific skills… like they can hear nuanced voicing and have the musical experience to understand the objective. 

@kofibaffour that's nice :)

Somehow I have no illusions that my post will be back. I know why, I know who.... 

There are many possible reasons for the price increase, which have been touched on. Obviously, it would not have happened without Bose approval. The high-end market is thin, it’s not like they’re selling 10,000 of these at a time. I would certainly think that the tariffs and the great uncertainty created by the ever-changing policy toward them likely created increases in cost. I think we better get used to that.
 

Whether it’s a good business, move, remains to be seen. I think this is a risk even though these are fine speakers. Pushing them into competition above their class might not work out, but I suppose they’ve had some smart people do the figuring. 

This is very subjective and I understand that SF is not for everybody, none of these products suit every taste. These are well-made, reliable speakers, however, and built to a great finish. If you like the voicing, it’s a great product. if you don’t, it’s not for you regardless of the price.

and of course, there’s always the argument that there are speakers that sound better for half the price. That goes on forever right down to cheap Audio man who would say that there are $1500 speakers that would outperform the speakers that are half the price of Sonos Faber. 
 

this is probably just the beginning and it will probably not be just SF

I've had posts that were deleted, contacted Admin, and found out that sometimes they are deleted automatically. I've also had some reinstated. Those that like to censure and/or hold grudges from past spats where they didn't fare well know they can get posts deleted just by clicking on "report this" and abuse it.

All the best,
Nonoise

@gano it has been reinstated mysteriously.

Here is it:

"the speaker itself isn't even worth half the cost. that's how ridiculous the pricing is. Just charlatan behaviour @curiousjim

and when they end up being bankrupt, they throw their hands in the air and cry for a big company to buy them out"

and this was the email I was sent 9 hours ago:

" 

so my comment was just deleted above, which is proof that the moderator doesn't delete it based on the rules. My comment was a response to not very relevant and bright IMO comment, and violated no rules. But someone flagged it and it got deleted. They err on the safe side, if someone flags it, it must be offensive to someone, hence it must be deleted. 

Ya, well since Giorgia Meloni was one of the first to get on board with the POTUS, its not tarrifs. Worst case scenario would be 10%.

and now I am really curious @kofibaffour what was your post that got deleted. 

I never said "automatically". 

Once the posts is flagged, the admin deletes it. That's what they told me in several emails. They don't make a judgement whether it violated any rules. 

I find it difficult to believe that flagging a post automatically gets it deleted. Someone point me to a forum rule that states this is true.
 

@ozzy62 you appear to be correct. As an experiment, I reported your post underneath “other” with explanation of testing out your theory. 

I remember a video a year or two ago by Paul McGowan of PS Audio saying his son had SF speakers, but Paul said they were NOT "audiophile" to him, meaning they didn’t provide all the detail he considered important. Nothing against SF. They sure are pretty, and heck, I’d not mind having a pair, but I’ll be happy with something else for less which sounds similar or even better. 

Regarding the 20% price increase, well, others do it too. (JBL-L100 MK II, Polk R700, and Wharfedale Super Linton as examples). The idea is to find the price to number of sales ratio that makes you the most profit. For all their failings, Bose knows how to do that and stay in business. 

And yes, the overhead costs of R&D, pay raises for employees, sourcing materials, keeping the lights on in expensive Italy, complying with all the government regulations and restrictions, etc. are all added into the cost of every speaker across their range. It has to be that way. Say you spend $2 million developing a new speaker. Well, you can’t put all of that cost on that one speaker line or it’d be too expensive even for most with deep pockets, so you spread it out. 

I find it difficult to believe that flagging a post automatically gets it deleted. Someone point me to a forum rule that states this is true.

….. ummmm .. a company taken over by a giant corporation and giant tariffs by a country which is now officially a just a giant corporation run by a giant Cheeto. 

….. ummmm .. a company taken over by a giant corporation and giant tariffs by a country which is now officially a just a giant corporation run by a giant Cheeto. 

@kofibaffour if someone flags it, the rules don't matter. I don't think it should work like this. It destroys threads. Many of my comments (on topic, respectful, relevant., etc.) were deleted because I posted them. I would prefer to be banned than to be randomly censored. You should write to the administrator. 

A cash grab to say the least. No doubt beautiful workmanship so if you want pretty and it’s your style it’s there. Sound wise there are many speakers available for considerably less with equal if not better performance. Do yourself a favour and look around you ‘will’ find pompous bragging rights can be very expensive. 

The price increase was obviously necessary because SF speakers are being upgraded with higher quality Bose speaker drivers and crossovers.

Ha, ha

@rsf507 understandable tbh

@gano my comment that got deleted was about how the Amati G5 wasn't worth half the original cost already and them adding any more cost is charlatan behaviour 

How does that warrant a deletion? I didn't use any crass words unless charlatan hurts someone's feelings

Bose bought Sonus and apparently made the determination to charge more. This is the "new business model" used by private equity and rollup investors. Raise prices and cut value. No surprise here- we were all expecting this.  Now get ready for quality and or service cuts. 

@kofibaffour Audiogon does not look at your comment and then deletes it. Someone flags it and then it gets deleted. On a few occasion I asked the admin why my comment was deleted as IT DID NOT break any of the rules, and the answer was: it was flagged. No other reason is required.

I did not see what was deleted but maybe you said unfavorable things about Sonus Faber. If that was the reason, then this would be the end of the forum as the whole point is to read and exchange opinions and different views.

Because they can.

@kofibaffour +1 it's one of the reasons I've been not participating on these forums as much as previously.

Audiogon why are you deleting comments? I didn't insult the OP or anyone in the comments. WTF

SF was recently acquired by Bose. Surprised no one mentioned that as a contributing factor. Bose is a consumer brand with armies of marketers.  I would speculate that Bose wants to use SF as an ultra-luxury brand.  No easier way to do that than simply increasing prices to target a loftier audience.  SF has a wide range of products for many segments, so not much risk in staking a claim at the top of the field. 

? What does some supposedly heartmelting story about Audio Research have to do with sonus famrber jacking up the rates on their speaker? 

Research and development. 

 

I was reading about the design of the Audio Research Reference 330m. The announcements was released about two years ago. When the new owner heard it, he said stop. He hired a team of seven engineers and they spent two years redesigning it and released it recently. Seven engineers for two years... retooling and all that goes with producing a new piece of electronics. Designing the workflow, test points, test routines, manufacturing process. 

@foggyus91 I can afford them and your comment is rooted in unfounded assumption. I’m not giving a mediocre brand with mostly overpriced speakers that have show room sound and great cabinetry my business and thank God I didn’t after getting sucked in by the beauty of their exterior. Their sound DOES not match that woodwork for most of their line. Not bad speakers but nothing wowed me

Not the gotcha you think it is. I do not need to flaunt that I have bought a speaker here or there. I’m more than happy with my system and if I got these or any Sonus Faber, I’d have done my ears a disservice

@ghdprentice + 1  

Research and development. 

I was reading about the design of the Audio Research Reference 330m. The announcements was released about two years ago. When the new owner heard it, he said stop. He hired a team of seven engineers and they spent two years redesigning it and released it recently. Seven engineers for two years... retooling and all that goes with producing a new piece of electronics. Designing the workflow, test points, test routines, manufacturing process. 

The speakers in most of the Sonus Faber Amati are custom made and each speaker design achieves better sonics through research and development. 

I own Amati Traditional and seen Lilium and other Sonus Faber,  they are also the most beautiful made speakers I have ever seen. It takes some craftsmanship to create something this extraordinary.

Why a 20% increase in the price of the Amati. I know nothing for certain but... well, inflation has been going on since the pandemic, throw on tariffs and global uncertainty. I am not surprised. 

@kofibaffour So you are saying that Sf, has no zero experties in building high quality speaker systems ?? Clearly they do and you simply cannot afford them would be the reality. 

Charlatan behavior refers to the act of falsely claiming to have skills, knowledge, or abilities that one does not possess, often for personal gain or to deceive others. It's a type of fraud or deception where an individual pretends to be someone they are not, with the goal of manipulating situations or people to their advantage. 

The owner of an audio store once told me the price of speakers goes like this:

$5000 is the cost to manufacture.

$10,000 is the cost to the retailer, representing a 100% markup (50% margin)

$20,000 is the retail MSRP.  Again, a 100% markup (50% margin)

By this formula, the $36K speaker cost $9K to build.  The $43K speaker cost $10.75K.  Could the cost to build have gone up by $1700?  Sure.  

The 10% tariffs across the board have been in effect since early April.  The reciprocal tariffs haven’t taken effect yet.

the speaker itself isn't even worth half the cost. that's how ridiculous the pricing is. Just charlatan behaviour @curiousjim 

and when they end up being bankrupt, they throw their hands in the air and cry for a big company to buy them out

It's not that the speaker itself is actually worth that. You're paying for all the related fees involved such as commission, mark ups, shipping, advertizing etc... A lot of hands in the pie.

Sonus Farmer's getting greedier by the minute, it appears.

Just the other day, the G5’s were $36k and now they’re $43k!