Takedown of pricey servers, streamers OCD HiFi guy

@larryi Very interesting setup. An Italian friend of mine with some lovely Maggies and VTL mono blocks built a nice setup -- two computers he built (kits make it easy) that are as simple as possible -- one is a server and that’s connected to another, which is a streamer, and they’re connected by an optical cable. Both are fan-less and both have linear power supplies. The big cost was the power supply. 

I do believe there is “ some “ merit in what he says. If you breakdown associated costs, you also have to factor in the amount of time and research, parts selection design execution, beta testing, building, marketing, reviewing ,  etc. that goes into these products, and yes, you are paying for that in the price, which I believe may account for 60-80% of the finished retail pricing, yet, I do not have the expertise and knowledge to do this myself, therefore, I try and find something used within my budget that represents good overall value and has taken most of its depreciation already. I rarely, if ever post what’s in my system as bragging rights I am not really interested in much. No matter what I own, somebody will have something better. Bottom line, there is a cost to playing this game and each person must decide what that cost will be “ for them “

Points taken. He’s talking about units with $5k worth of parts that get fancy chassis that then charge $20-$30k.

If you think a $5k parts cost and a $20K retail don't add up I would caution you not to get into business. Parts cost plus labor plus profit margin plus dealer markup you can get there pretty quickly. And that doesn't take into account other costs such as rent, employee salaries and benefits, not to mention R&D costs.

I have 5 <$1K so absolutely.

Points taken. He’s talking about units with $5k worth of parts that get fancy chassis that then charge $20-$30k.

@jond Good point. I think the reason he’s making this argument is *not* because he doesn’t understand the factors you mention (he is in the business, so he’s aware) but he’s saying that there are some companies that do all that for a fraction of the others, and the others he’s calling to task are putting cheap boards in theirs. I think we’ve basically hit all the main points on this topic, and I’m not sure we’re pushing toward a point beyond those we’ve exhumed.

Another way of simply identifying what he’s talking about would be to leave him out of it and ask a simpler question -- e.g., "Are there any streamers or servers out there that are way overpriced for what you get?"

It would be hard to imagine the answer to that question could be "no." And as it was pointed out near the start of this thread (basically, calling out why I started the thread at all), if we answer the question "yes," then the response is, "So what? Just don’t buy from them if it offends you." His larger point, I think, was simply to say, there’s no quality/sonic reason things *have* to cost exorbitant amounts.