What is going on? No-one buys good stuff priced right.

Like many on this forum, I am approaching 60, and have been chasing the elusive perfect system for quite some time, limited by finances and the vicissitudes of real life, raising a family etc. We were discussing cars the other day-how that our parents often traded in theirs before the inevitable decline became apparent, often before 100k miles. Now, it’s not unheard of for people to still be driving vehicles from the early oughts, with several hundred thousand miles on them. Why? Perhaps coincident or not, once sticker prices got so high that leasing became a real option, quality seemed to rise almost exponentially, and those high prices also made buying new less of an option for many, so they held onto what they had, paying for the odd repair rather than having a regular loan payment.

I suggest, for different reasons, that the same thing has happened in our audiophilic universe-I recently replaced a pair of Spica TC-50s that have served me well for over 30 years with a pair of Magneplanar MG 1.5 QR’s that I purchased from the original owner. The quality of both sets of speakers, while scarcely new, is still apparent and I chose not to spend time researching every possible option. What was built and designed well has held up and still has value-and the cost of a fair amount of new equipment is stratospheric. But, people’s needs change, making some equipment, no matter how much of a bargain, unfeasible. Some of that is the result of people integrating what at one time was their main stereo system into their television’s audio system. Do you need a pair of monoblocks to reproduce a movie’s sound? For most, the answer is no. In other cases, downsizing one’s household leads to living back in a condominium or other facility that precludes a large system’s use in favor of headphone or bookshelf speakers.

Like the cars, the quality of many of the products used in our hobby has risen above what we would have found back in the 1970s. I still use my 30 year old Hafler DH-220 regularly - and it is perhaps the best $300 or so I ever spent in terms of value for cost when I consider the hundreds of hours it has served me. If and when it dies, I will explore the Brystons and other options available and will likely purchase used rather than new-again seeking brands I know and trust. In conclusion, there’s a surplus of good equipment available at very reasonable prices but for some of us, there are no pressing demands to buy right now.

Why die HIGH END? We have to sanction the ruble to the dollar was 22/1. I'm going to buy STEALTH SAKRA interconnect 1 meter - $ 12,000 for 264.000 rubles. In terms of sanctions, I could not buy, because now SAKRA cable is three times more expensive -768.000₽. This is for you to buy for $ 36,000 per 1 SAKRA, unreal.      https://youtu.be/6MVFU_NKwaE                                                          https://youtu.be/0SgytF9djBU                                                              https://youtu.be/J1UlN4eHIUE  -. The BEST SOUND

As others alluded, the issue may be price.....items are priced at unrealistic levels.   To that I would add size of audience.   There are other sales venues with larger audiences.    Several times in the past, I have listed identicle items at identicle prices on Agon, Audiomart, Audio Asylum and Ebay.    All items sold via Ebay, at my listing price (BIN).   Agon listings generated a lot of questions, several very low offers, and -0- consumated sales.  Very few inquiries etc from Audiomart, or Audio Asylum.   Items were mid 3 figure cables, vintage tube amps, and premium tubes.  

in monitoring Agon forums, I note that participants here seem to exhibit considerably more anxiety about equipment, buying, selling, tweeking etc..  People should relax.   This is a hobby.   Stop treating it like a pool of sharks trying to steal food from each other.   

tubegb...
Bravo!  I find it annoying that most of the equipment for sale here tacks on the PayPal fee in addition.  While I know that we're not retailers or business owners (for the most part), imagine using your credit card in a store and having the cashier say, "oh, a card?  We have to charge you another 3-4 percent."   

I've made offers here pretty much doing as you've done yourself, here's my offer all inclusive.  Most have refused, politely and nicely.  This is, IMHO, a "gentleman's" community in which respect and understanding go both ways.

The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer, while those in the middle are slowly being sucked into that vortex called poverty. In order to verify this, all you have to do is search "Poverty", or homelessness.

Recently there was a lively conversation about 20K tone arms. Can you imagine the wealth surrounding someone who would spend 20K for a tone arm? When I was in real estate I came into contact with wealthy people, and none of them would spend 20K for a tone arm; that's because they were all quite frugal. While I don't know if any of them were audiophiles, because the conversation never wandered off of business, I know that none of them were frivolous. My point is that 20K for a tone arm is not something they would do, unless recently they had come into so much money they could afford to be frivolous.

Now the "Upper middle class" is feeling pinched; that's because no longer can they buy very expensive gear without giving it much consideration. This group of audiophiles has been so focused on "Audiophilia" that they have not been to concerned with realities that are just beginning to affect them. Let me clue you in on some of them.

It takes "generations" to construct a "ghetto"; a generation is 70 years. 70 years ago St. Louis was a great city, and so was Detroit. In the last 20 years those cities have declined like nobody would believe; the only things that have increased are the sizes of the ghettos, and this goes for every major city in the United States of America.

In 66 I was in Detroit, and it seemed that everyone drove a new car, and lived in a swell home with a "rathskeller", and they dressed well; that also went for Pontiac and Flint, Michegan. What does all that have to do with you? I can't answer that question, you will have to answer it for yourself.

Since 2006 the wealth of this entire country has shifted "big time" from the middle class to the very rich, and the pace of that shift is only increasing.

When you put frogs in a kettle of water, and raise the temperature slowly, they will be boiled before they know it's too hot. The prices of all our necessities are constantly increasing, and it's not due to natural circumstances; the rich who rule all the politicians, Democrat and Republican, are making sure the prices of all necessities are increasing.



Enjoy the music while you still can.