They know we will pay anything they can think of

@czarivey ...can't say I've heard a cardboard bass, but a couple of cigar box basses, Yes.  In the proper hands, one can appreciate what a lack of cash but time to spend can yield...esp. when the blues is rendered upon....

Nuthin' like a slide show on the neck....

Oh, and for you and @mahgister....y'all better git up early to beat me to that 88 yr. old after the 'kack'....who lives (for now) where exactly....?  ;)

"....those mb'ell things?  Ain't worth nil of late.....y'all let me take them off your hands, Hans....them and those big boxes hooked up to 'em.  Where I'm from, they are cheaper than boat anchors... 

Ya' gotta boat?  Let's go dock racin'...." *engaging G*

...said the viper to the bunny.... ;)

@mike_in_nc ....Tax cuts for the rich, well....heels...? :(

'They' already have tax cuts that you, me, and all (...well, most...) can only dream and think 'that's it'....or is...

Since 'they/them/those' have all these well-suited charge accounted drones leaning upon and 'contributing to' the 'representatives' that 'clamor and claim' that they serve Us,,,,

,,,a certain NJ rep(rehesible) being an example....

Gold bars....wtf.....'for emergencies'.....Well, I guess this is a good time for one...*LOL*

I'm one of those nasty dem types....(oh, shut up....I've got an idea the NDC can run that'll scare the GOP into latte' froth....*evil snicker* ;)...)....

'Tax cuts'.....They could care less...

(OK....I'm ready for deletion....damage already rendered to the weak of mind....)

*boom*

@ghdprentice If I had been a man of the world, I wouldn't be as misinformed... however I do have someone like yourself to point me in the right direction. I should mention that I've lived in more countries than you can possibly imagine but I must have missed something when I was there. Thank you for your input.... you do understand that this is my opinion only and I understand that it is much different than yours.

@frankmc195

Good morning/afternoon.

I think we often overlook an element that is a critical element of the true "cost" of an item. The intellectual component. It seems we agonize over the price of "raw components" as the true "cost" of an item and dismiss the engineering, design and talent required to bring something from a sketch on a napkin to finished form -- ready for public consumption. This is flawed logic in my opinion. We are quite used to paying for "opinions" and "expertise" in purely intellectual fields such as medicine, financial planning, law, and others. There are zero material costs attached to the total price of those services in many cases. Yet, we expect similar (and, perhaps even rarer talent) in the field of high performance audio to be served to us at no (or, little) cost.

To be reasonable and pragmatic about this, let’s just set a number for the "financial burden" of a top audio engineer at $200k as a cost basis. (May be low, may be high?). If a manufacturer builds 1M of an item, that’s 20 cents per item for engineering. If they build 10, that’s $20k per unit for engineering. This is a REAL cost of production, not a massive eqo attached to the piece. IF we want to drill down a little deeper, this represents the COST to the manufacturer with no consideration for profit for the manfacturer OR the dealer. Doing the math and factoring in manufacturer wholesale "mark up" to dealer, and "standard" dealer gross profit, this may represent something closer to $38k addtitional price of the item at "retail" for engineering.

Successful manufacturers look at the market BEFORE they throw considerable resources (and money) at it to determine if there is a good chance of success before throwing a "dart" at the market to see if they get close to a bullseye. There is no "luck" attached here. Just smart business planning, with minimal risk. The point being, if we see "finished goods" out there at a price (even those well above our pay grades) it’s more likely than not that it represents "fair market value" and will appeal to the right (target) customer.. We may not agree with that value. But, it’s up to us to adopt or reject it.

you can get a great system for $5,000.   S. Stone reviews lots of low cost stuff...