What makes a $20,000 cd player cost 20,000?


Hi,
Listened to a Linn Sondeck CD12 (sp?) a few years back and the thing amazed me.
Was expecting that digital player development would continue to progress and that this level of performance would become available in the 2-5,000 range. It appears to me that redbook cd player development has stagnated, so I wanted to run a couple questions by for a sanity check.
1. Is there anything in the design or manufacture of top notch cd players that neccessarily results in stratospheric production costs?
2. Has anything come out in the last two or three years that really struck you as raising the bar in the price to performace ratio?
Happy listening.
jeff_jones
Incredibly wealthy people who don't mind spending that much money on one component of their system!
the marketplace...when they don't sell enough they won't be made, or the same player will sell for far less. such is the consumer electronics industry. redbook cd software is still improving more dramatically than hardware.
More than perhaps anything else, willing buyers make a cd player cost $20K. I personally don't believe that material, production, design and marketing costs warrant such a price to the consumer.

Buy a Toshiba DVD-4960 for about $100, then have Ric Schultz at EVS (www.tweakaudio.com) modify it for $350. This may very well be the end of your upgrade path.
A cost no object design - typically meaning a grossly over-spec'ed power supply, herculean efforts at jitter reduction, and the best available parts regardless of price in the analog output stage. Throw in a really pompous audio jewelry facade, plus the lack of abaility to take advantage of economies of scale, and the pirce to manufacture these devices skyrockets. That being said, I can honestly say that my enjoyment of redbook cds has never been better than with my current Simaudio Moon Eclipse, which retails for about $6k, and employs all of the tactics I listed above - I'm glad it comes in well under $20k!

Regards,
Anyone engaged in this hobby has already overstepped the limits of the price/value relationship. Just ask any of your neighbors. They will shake their heads in disbelief when you tell them how much you spent on your system.

Flip the argument around, and suddenly I'm the one claiming they're nuts for spending $500K on a 1400 sq. ft. bungalow in need of work. Value has nothing to do with reality, regardless of the price. It's just a story that we repeat to ourselves until we buy it as the truth.
Enjoy the music!