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Is it possible for a high end manufacturer to overprice their goods?

Having just read the interesting and hyperbole laden review by RH of the new Rockport Orion speakers in the latest issue of The Absolute Sound, one thing struck me..

is it possible in the high end for a manufacturer to overprice their product ( doesn’t have to be a speaker, but this example comes to mind)? I ask this, as the Orion is priced at $133k! Yes,a price that would probably make 99% of hobbyists squirm. Yet, the speaker now joins a number of competitors that are in the $100k realm. 
To that, this particular speaker stands just 50.3” tall and is just 14.3” wide…with one 13” woofer, one 7” midrange and a 1.25” beryllium dome ( which these days is nothing special at all…and could potentially lead to the nasties of beryllium bite).

The question is…given this speakers design and parts, which may or may not be SOTA, is it possible that this is just another overpriced product that will not sell, or is it like others, correctly priced for its target market? Thoughts…

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thyname's avatar
thyname
3,107 posts
 

Plenty of choices at any price range. I personally only look at stuff in price ranges I can afford. The cheaper the better. I also don’t protest on prices of the stuff I cannot afford. I just admire them, but I also ignore them when it comes to making a purchase decision for myself. Simple

ghdprentice
7,047 posts
 

Typically all out assaults at building the very best possible component of a category results in a product with an extreme price. It serves to show what the company is capable of and its value gets assessed mostly by professional reviewers. If favorably reviewed it builds the companies reputation and can cause folks to look at their lower priced models. Trickle down technology and techniques benefited the customers and company. It may not be the profit or volume of the highest price model that is important to the company. A few sales to well healed customers may be well worth it. look at Wilson, they have been selling speakers for over $500K for decades.

jl35
4,014 posts
 

This also is not Rockport’s most expensive speaker. The Lyra is $190,000

labguy's avatar
labguy
82 posts
 

Yes. It's definitely possible. A fool and his money are soon parted, and there is no denying corporate greed. Think about it... Product parts may equal three thousand dollars max. Product sells for a hundred and thirty three thousand dollars. That's a net profit of a hundred and thirty thousand dollars. Well over my annual income if they sell just one pair to somebody rich and wanting an elitest speaker.

mitch2
4,007 posts
 

No - free market so they can price things however they want to.

Whether they make enough profit or not is another question that depends on many factors other than price alone.

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