High End Audio Equipment, Status Symbol?

Very well said CW. Bottled water and Bose systems are classic examples of marketing without a product of any substance to back it up.

Personally, it doesn't matter to me because I'm in this hobby because I love it. Listening to music and building systems is one of my passions and I it for me and me only. Just two people on this planet have ever heard my system.

Doesn't their have to be widespread recognition of the brands before they can be considered symbols? Unless you had audiophiles regularly visiting your house, it'd be hard to get any status recognition from the equipment you own. Regardless, like any other industry, I'm sure there are those who buy certain high-end audio brands based largely on their reputation for being high-end.

Jeff

It will never be a status symbol because unlike Mercedes, or Lexus, no one outside this small inbred community has ever heard of Halcro, Krell, Jolida, Conrad Johnson, or Soundlab. There has to be a level of recognition by the general public for something to be a status symbol.

This is just a race by a small group of people on AudiogoN and similar websites to put together the perfect system before anyone else does, but before we bankrupt ourselves in the process.

Could you imagine what the average consumer would say if the saw an ad for Wilson speakers in Readers Digest?

"$20,000 for speakers!?! Where's the nitroglycerine?" they would gasp, as they clutched their chests.

Ma and Pa Kettle would soil themselves at the very thought. People on AudiogoN respond with shock, the average person would suggest the death penalty for people like us!

Lexus markets Mark Levinson audio packages for their cars now. Interesting development. I wonder how many Lexus buyers know about Levinson. Levinson may be risking their reputation. Can you imagine those buying Lexus buy Levinson home equipment as a status symbol?

For the most part, when I mention the manufacuters names of the equipment I have/had owned, I do not get the shock and awe factor. Probably because the average Joe on the street has never heard of them. Bose has successfully marketed its' name as 'as good as it gets'. How sad.