The Snob Appeal Premium


I have learned that speakers are a typical victim of "Designer Label Syndrome".  Supposedly an $8 billion a year market (hard to believe) speakers are fairly simple beasts with little substantive improvements over the last 50 years. Ever since Paul Klipsch ( a character in his own right) read the Bell Labs 1934 papers and revolutionized speaker technology there have been few similar revolutionary improvements to the speaker. So- if you are an enterprising manufacturer of speakers (which are relatively cheap to build) how do you extract more and more money from the consumer ?  Answer: Synthetic demand driven by cachet' !  Like a pair of Louis Vuitton sneakers @ $650 a pair vs. New Balance runners @ 60/pr. It's snobby bragging rights stuff I'm describing here- perceived vs. actual value in a product. 

Here's an anecdotal example: 

I recently set out to build a high end mid-fi system (ARC preamp, power amp, Dac 9) for a large room "main house" (not a listening room) system. The goal was big, full, rich sound in a room full of furniture, chow dogs, kids and untreatable other things like 20 foot ceilings, multiple openings such as a balcony to the upstairs bedrooms, etc. Basically an audiophile's nightmare. 

I auditioned a number of speakers- Perlistens supported by JL Fathom subs, B&W Signatures, Bryston Model Ts, Vienna Acoustics Mahlers and Bethovens. IMO all of these are somewhat similar towers (except the Perlistens). The price point was not as important as the sound- given the limitations of the application. 

In the shopping for new or used I found a number of odd prices. The most unusual finding was a brand new set of Model Ts here in Audiogon advertised for $4K with a 20 year factory warranty. The dealer had one slide around of his hand truck and it put white paint smears on a corner of the Boston Cherry cabinet. Hmmm- 4 grand vs. 12 grand for a small fixable cosmetic flaw? I bought them. They sound fantastic. Some elbow grease and a furniture marker pen made the flaw vanish. 

I asked the dealer (Paul Kraft in Easton PA- great guy BTW) why the Audiogon Blue Book for a Model T was so low. His answer was "snob appeal". Apparently there is a big bragging rights  premium paid for having the UFO looking B&W Signatures vs what the snobs call the Bryston Model Ts "Axioms in a fancy suit".  I later learned that there are some prominent reviewers who refuse to listen to A/B speaker comparisons behind a silk curtain unless they know what brand is being scrutinized. To me that means "payola". 

Do the Model Ts sound better to me than the Mahlers, Bethovens, B&Ws? No. But they don't sound worse either (in my application). Do the above sound $8,000-$14,000 better than the Brystons in the listening rooms of the dealers? IMO NO WAY. To be fair price/value does color my perception much like a bottle of $40 Rumbauer Zin tastes better to me than $200 Silver Oak expense account wine. 

I'm guessing this post will anger brand snobs and garner snarky comments because their taste in sound is different than mine. Although this missive is really about personal perceptions of value v. sound I found my education on pricing fascinating and I feel great about finding amazing value in the brand new Model T's that needed 30 minutes of TLC to be at home in my family room. 

Moral of the story: Try em before you buy em, and look for value. It's fun and rewarding with no buyers remorse. 

128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xyesiam_a_pirate
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@grislybutter ....amazing how a lot of things are better in the dark.... ;)

The lights' coming on is when "Should I stay or should I go...." *L*

@mofojo, well...I've had the varied pleasure of running into a lot of bipeds in this existential bane, and imh, the 'well-heeled' can be just as warm or m-f'd as the average broke-ass sort....

It can hinge on ones' approach, and what follows it up.

If the chip on your shoulder is bigger than the block one calls their head, it goes downhill from there.... ;)

...just saying...not accusing...*elbow bump*

I am certain of one thing about this hobby: recognition from peers is the most important thing! Brand image. 

I'm just fascinated by these cheap class D mini-amps which get hyped to infinity due to excellent measurements but sound "meh" at best and the power ratings are overshot. 

And on the high end of midrange folks are spending a fortune on vintage Klipsch, JBL and LS3/5A speakers. Or Marantz/Pioneer amplifiers. 

This hobby is 99% marketing and hype. I'm sorry. But you can use that to your advantage and score a sweet vintage system for dirt cheap if nobody cares about the brand. I'm specifically hinting towards the 1990s or 2000s (the dark ages of HiFi LOL) and the UK brands outside of B&W, Naim, KEF or NAD. 

AMEN! CAN I GET AN AMEN! @kokakolia 

recognition from peers is the most important thing! Brand image. 

I'm just fascinated by these cheap class D mini-amps which get hyped to infinity due to excellent measurements but sound "meh" at best and the power ratings are overshot. 

And on the high end of midrange folks are spending a fortune on vintage Klipsch, JBL and LS3/5A speakers. Or Marantz/Pioneer amplifiers. 

This hobby is 99% marketing and hype. I'm sorry. But you can use that to your advantage and score a sweet vintage system for dirt cheap if nobody cares about the brand. I'm specifically hinting towards the 1990s or 2000s (the dark ages of HiFi LOL) and the UK brands outside of B&W, Naim, KEF or NAD.

The industry is exploiting the audio truth that ’you get what you pay for’ and delivering to the misguided expectations of deep-pocketed buyers who equate the highest prices with ‘better’ and ‘best’.

The owner of a hifi shop described how he would recommend a particular pair of Magnepans as his best sounding speakers on offer, but customers would judge by the price and they’d look onward to the more expensive sets, they’d say, ‘Those are nice, but tell me about these over here.’

As a result, for example, an amplifier brand and a speaker brand were both separately given the same business advice: ‘You’re selling that for $3000? Charge $10,000.’

We do indeed get what we pay for in the sense that audio equipment is about quality components in the signal path.

Every choice a manufacturer makes down to the choice to use a higher quality resistor affects the balance sheet and raises the price.

Steve McCormack’s description of his quest to build the best preamplifier is a revelation, and many others have talked about this.

But, while it’s true that quality audio equipment is expensive to produce, the ones with more money than they know what to do with have skewed the market, and the industry is happy to take their money.