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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…

128x128daveyf
czarivey
5,946 posts
 

that’s the industry where the largest profits made, what are you talking about?? Drug cartels can only dream about such levels of profit!!!

the reason of largest profits is the advertisement and diminished IQ level of consumer falling onto these advertisements. Manufacturers see that and price their stuff accordingly. One of the ways to alleviate that is stop posting foolish posts here about bag of rocks making differences or praises on $20k internet wire as Audiogon is being somewhat an "execution ground"

thyname's avatar
thyname
3,107 posts
 

@czarivey :

One of the ways to alleviate that is stop posting foolish posts here about bag of rocks making differences or praises on $20k internet wire as Audiogon is being somewhat an "execution ground"

Please indicate the maximum price we should post anything here about for each category.

Speakers

Amps

DACs

Preamps

Analog stuff

etc.

P.S. I was going to list "cables" above ,but I figured your upper limit price on cables would be zero, so why waste "internet space"

 

thyname's avatar
thyname
3,107 posts
 
czarivey

5,121 posts

 

that’s the industry where the largest profits made, what are you talking about?? Drug cartels can only dream about such levels of profit!!!

Any objective proof to back this statement? How do you know? You cannot possibly be the CPA for both a drug cartel and a speaker manufacturer. By I may be wrong, who knows.....

 

prof
3,474 posts
 

Answer:  Of course.

I've often wondered how satisfying it actually would be for those manufacturers engaging in this race-to-the-moon-who-can-price-higher model.

Where you sell just a few a year.  Is that really satisfying?

Do you really want to spend all that time engineering great sound, only so that it can be experienced by a few rich guys?  And not only that: often enough Rich guys who may be buying "to have the expensive thing" vs those who have to strive for what they buy, and truly appreciate your work?

I'm sure it works as a business model.  Everyone is doing it now.  But in terms of personal satisfaction?   I'd want my work to be enjoyed by as many as possible

skinzy's avatar
skinzy
180 posts
 

What I find interesting is how dealers and equipment manufactures tend to complain how difficult of a business high end audio is. Tough to stay a float. Yet at the same time there are hundreds of manufacturers entering the market and constantly introducing new products. With dealer and manufacturers margins at 40-50% it’s hard to find truth or empathy.

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