In the U.S., the share of our population that fit the demographic for being in the middle class has been shrinking for decades and is now below 50%. Poor people do not buy expensive audio systems and America is a country loaded with poverty and near-poverty. Kids today are not doing as well as their parents, economically speaking. Not even close. So manufacturers have been more and more targeting the wealthy. When prices for components hit the mid 5 to 6 figure range, price has little to do with cost for most of those items-- like a $100,000 amp. They are accepting the sad reality that there will be fewer and fewer customers for the high end-- so they raise prices WAY UP to pad margins and live with fewer and fewer sales. A race to the bottom that feels like up!
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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@henry53 while the example you use is unfamiliar to me, I would not want to be the guy who buys this clock and then needs to re-sell it. Here’s the thing, I don’t think we are actually discussing the value of something to someone, particularly when it comes to some high end gear, more about what is a price that even the most well heeled say… “enough is enough”. Some folks may believe that there is no price that will bring about this reaction, the question in my OP was dealing with that. Certainly, if we are to believe Dan D’Agostino, he has not gotten push back from his customers…yet. But my point is more along the lines of where does that become a problem for these manufacturers…like Rockport and D’Ag, or is it that they can push the prices up to multiples of what they currently are..and still see healthy interest and sales! |
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