$27,500 for whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat???


$27,500 is a nice chunk of change, even in the audiophile world.  I think we can all agree on this.  You can get a pretty kick ass system for that amount.  I think we can all agree on this, too.  I just read something at stereophile.com that almost...almost made me choke on my triscuit.   Luckily for me, I had water ready to go, knowing how dry those things are.  $27,500 is the price for a paint upgrade, a color called cranberry pearl finish on a pair of speakers made by Wilson, the Chronosonic XVX.   Now, when we hear the name Wilson, we all know what that means.   But come on man,  $27,500 for a paint upgrade. 
shtinkydog
@andy2 ,

"The point here is it’s the market that determines the value of something, not the manufacturer. I mean you can say your product will cost an x-amount, but it will only worth that much if the market decides to pay for that."

Yes, and working out just how the market will react has occupied some of the best minds (admittedly with only limited success) for the past century.

Brand image and marketing both go a very long way to establishing value and prestige. The manufacturer does has some control over these and will readily realise that neither are immune from the benefits of omission or misinformation.

Time will tell whether Daryl Wilson is able to keep all the wheels on the wagon his dad built.

In the meantime when people are willing to pay $27,000 for a loudspeaker paintjob - it tells you more about them than the company willing to provide it.

“Whatever the market will bear” is very different from “the market determines the price.” A box of cereal is $4. Give me a break! The market did not determine that price, trust me, 
So Wilson has figured out how to obtain some more profit for their efforts and people are scandalized... Uhm, take a look at your own system and tell me you've never had someone shake their head at how much you've spent. It's all a matter of degrees folks. Relax. Enjoy the music. :)
Yes, it's all relative.  When I just graduated from college, the only thing I could afford was a $200 dollar receiver, and I looked at some pre-amp combo within $2.5K range and I thought those were "unobtainable".