Top of the heap..a century of research and advancements,the new Ortofon Century Cartridge.

That $12K Ortofon cartridge better come with a big ol' diamond on the front to justify that price!

@roberjerman, Indeed some of the pricing in Hi End has reached INSANE levels. Crazy thing is that many people are only too happy to pay those prices. That plus the huge devaluation these pieces take on the used market, and you may have a pretty bad scenario for the future of the hobby. IMHO
OTOH, luckily there are a few companies that are still out there that are trying to bring to market fair priced gear that can still compete at the highest level. Bryston comes to mind here. 

The number of rich people has increased to the point where whole industries cater to their needs and whims. I get a kick watching video where Fremer says to manufactures that their products are good value at insane prices. I guess he wants to sound like a rich guy.

I've mentioned this elsewhere in a post about the announcement of the SPU Century, another one of their 'celebration' pieces at €5k. More 'affordable', but still about twice the price of previous Anniversary SPU's.

Ortofon has always been one of the 'sane' audio manufacturers, who put value creation before value capture. This is I believe what kept them around for so long, but now they're spoiling their own party.  

Just like that other long standing cartridge manufacturer Grado, they have adopted the strategy of most other high end audio manufacturers: making 'trophies for the rich'. An absurd price tag is of course essential to its 'allure'.

It seems to me that this focus on short term profit is not a sustainable business model and might just turn out to be a dead end. High end audio has always been a market for 'enthousiasts', who generally seem to be disgusted by this trend. The audiophile community may be unusual in many ways, but extreme wealth is probably not its common denominator.

So it really comes down to a 'them or us' kind of situation. What direction will the high end 'industry' choose? Will they return to their senses? I've predicted elsewhere that the first >$20k cartridges will probably 'hit' the streets before the end of the year, so I'm not optimistic.

All audio companies try to push the envelope. My understanding is Ortofon is building only 100 century cartridges. If they turn out to be as good as described they could be a bargain. I owned the anna. It was a good cartridge. Low output cartridges is where the high end is headed. I prefer the sound of low out put. The idea that they are pricing them selves out of the market is just dumb. Every real high end co has it’s no cost restraints product to show off its ability. Eventually the tech trickles down to its other lower priced items. Cars, audio, phones, computers and yes even watches (Although I don’t know who wears a watch any more). You have to keep moving forward or you cease to exist!
Just my view anyway.
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