Nope speakers are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars obviously! As well as amps, 20k + power and speaker cables etc.
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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in luxury goods, price is one component of the value. The manufacturer is not selling a function, they are selling the brand. Add limited production- reduce the supply for the same demand and price may be increase even more. The best part is: they don't need to sell any. They can keep selling the midrange stuff and claim trickle-down buzzwords and increase its price by 10% |
@markalarsen The assumption of a fair market is the root of most problems in our world. There is no such thing as a fair market. The values are rigged or influenced by actors in that market. A direct example would be a monopoly, or oligopoly. These things inherently exist in any market, it's just a matter of time. Furthermore, the line between non-experts, experts and salesmen is very very thin and blurry. The value of Hermes handbags is 90% the brand and the assumption that its value will rise over time (due to limited production run and high demand). The physical object is worthless in comparison. The NAD 3050 LE is making a farce out of us. NAD will no doubt release a dozen similar amplifiers with slightly different features and specs. The NAD 3050 LE is selling like hotcakes because it's "limited edition" and it looks different. It also helps that the amp is predictably good in an NAD fashion. "You can't go wrong". So if you view Hi-fi like Hermes handbags, you'll be buying gear based on re-sale value. Not performance. That's probably the smartest way to go about it. I mean these vintage Pioneer and Marantz amps from the 1970s are shooting up in value because of "Hi-Fi influencers" (which are typically vintage shops trying to move products). You may as well buy them and sell them later for a profit. Lastly, there's no such thing as a reasonable buyer. You either have cheapskates, gear flippers or fools. |
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