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Inflated prices in audio

Not being funny but I put a post into the thread about SME no longer selling tone-arms on their own saying they are not silly priced - I then had to row it back a bit when I saw that the SME V retails at £5500. 110 years ago it was half that price. My salary ain't doubled.

Likewise there are some real silly price audio equipment. If you index link top end audio from the 80's they would still come out significantly cheaper than now.

I'm not convinced that the best high-end from now is necessarily better than the stuff back then - different perhaps.

Is there any logical explanation for this? I think magazines like hi-fi world and what hifi are fairly responsible and do review a lot of real world products, but other publications are fixated with the utterly un-affordable.

What do you 'goners think?
lohanimal
erik_squires
16,353 posts
 
1 - Shift from a hobbyists pastime to consumer's pastime.
2 - Lack of cognoscenti3 - Belief that sales price determines quality.

This is why the true audiophile can be happy spending less. He/She is guided by their own ear and pleasure and is not lured by bigger and more expensive gear which may have no merit for them. 
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
I wish I was unscrupulous enough to start a business selling fuses and power cords! As the old prospectors said: "There's GOLD in dem dar hills!"
mike_in_nc
1,159 posts
 
Why have prices gone up? Simple, there are fewer middle-class people buying and more ultra-rich. Manufacturers therefore aim at the latter.
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
It is easier to sell one item for $1M than a million for $1 each!
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Inflated prices in audio
Especially in the snake oil products, like >$150 for a 50c fuse would have to be the worst, just gouging the gullible for all they’re worth, with ridiculous profits for the manufacture that has no shame or conscience .

I wish I was unscrupulous enough to start a business selling fuses
You have to have no conscience or shame, and a handful of shillers, so you do get your hand dirty by posting here.

Cheers George
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