WILSON AUDIO/ cost vs. value

Now discussing his advertising. I bet there is a firm
involved.

Of course he has an ad agency. I'm sure most
high end companies doing remotely near his volume of sales have ad agencies.
If not, they end up with ineffective, ugly crap.

I really don't understand the point of the ad at all. Why advertise something that cannot be proven nor verified by any means, and something that you will not even provide your own details to back up your claim? To me this is just irresponsible advertising period. My opinion on this has nothing to do with the speakers themeselves...

Furthermore, the profit margin is really misleading. On a cost basis let's say they were right. But the more speakers or revenue you generate via market share etc, you achieve economies of scale and bring down the fixed cost burden such as depreciation etc as well some share variable costs such as ads, back office etc. B&W can do this. On the other hand one of the key reasons some smaller or new equip makers have a large cost plus margin but low overall margin, indeed many are likely to be loss making.

At the end of the day none of this matters. Why does profit magins matter to us consumers? We only are concerned with quality of the product and affordability in the end. No one would purchase a product on the basis of an guess on the mfr's profit margin.

Overall I find the ad, quite insulting.

IMHO, the ad probably targets a segment of potential customers who like Wilson's sonics but believe they're overpriced or are being gorged. I'm not saying the ad alleviates the issue, but lots of people believe everything they read anyway ;)

Wow, a lot of strong feelings towards a "harmless" ad.

I think it's a great ad. Wilson products are expensive, and it is easy for someone to feel "wow, $28k Wp8s, i'll bet they cost $1k to make, what a ripoff," etc... But the ad serves to remind that person that there's a WHOLE LOT more you are buying than the raw parts... You are buying the knowledge, experience, operating costs, and everything else that goes into running a large, successful operation.

The X-2's take many weeks to build. Lots of man hours and overhead are required for that one pair of speakers. they use the best drivers, their own developed cabinet materials, and the best finish quality of any speaker availible. plus, when you buy the speakers, there is professional setup included. their dealers go to provo for training. it is a speciality speaker, only the wealthiest can afford it and most that do buy them may not be audiophiles. like wilson said, they are buying into the culture not neccisarily the product. wish i had that kinda money.