The Snob Appeal Premium
I have learned that speakers are a typical victim of "Designer Label Syndrome". Supposedly an $8 billion a year market (hard to believe) speakers are fairly simple beasts with little substantive improvements over the last 50 years. Ever since Paul Klipsch ( a character in his own right) read the Bell Labs 1934 papers and revolutionized speaker technology there have been few similar revolutionary improvements to the speaker. So- if you are an enterprising manufacturer of speakers (which are relatively cheap to build) how do you extract more and more money from the consumer ? Answer: Synthetic demand driven by cachet' ! Like a pair of Louis Vuitton sneakers @ $650 a pair vs. New Balance runners @ 60/pr. It's snobby bragging rights stuff I'm describing here- perceived vs. actual value in a product.
Here's an anecdotal example:
I recently set out to build a high end mid-fi system (ARC preamp, power amp, Dac 9) for a large room "main house" (not a listening room) system. The goal was big, full, rich sound in a room full of furniture, chow dogs, kids and untreatable other things like 20 foot ceilings, multiple openings such as a balcony to the upstairs bedrooms, etc. Basically an audiophile's nightmare.
I auditioned a number of speakers- Perlistens supported by JL Fathom subs, B&W Signatures, Bryston Model Ts, Vienna Acoustics Mahlers and Bethovens. IMO all of these are somewhat similar towers (except the Perlistens). The price point was not as important as the sound- given the limitations of the application.
In the shopping for new or used I found a number of odd prices. The most unusual finding was a brand new set of Model Ts here in Audiogon advertised for $4K with a 20 year factory warranty. The dealer had one slide around of his hand truck and it put white paint smears on a corner of the Boston Cherry cabinet. Hmmm- 4 grand vs. 12 grand for a small fixable cosmetic flaw? I bought them. They sound fantastic. Some elbow grease and a furniture marker pen made the flaw vanish.
I asked the dealer (Paul Kraft in Easton PA- great guy BTW) why the Audiogon Blue Book for a Model T was so low. His answer was "snob appeal". Apparently there is a big bragging rights premium paid for having the UFO looking B&W Signatures vs what the snobs call the Bryston Model Ts "Axioms in a fancy suit". I later learned that there are some prominent reviewers who refuse to listen to A/B speaker comparisons behind a silk curtain unless they know what brand is being scrutinized. To me that means "payola".
Do the Model Ts sound better to me than the Mahlers, Bethovens, B&Ws? No. But they don't sound worse either (in my application). Do the above sound $8,000-$14,000 better than the Brystons in the listening rooms of the dealers? IMO NO WAY. To be fair price/value does color my perception much like a bottle of $40 Rumbauer Zin tastes better to me than $200 Silver Oak expense account wine.
I'm guessing this post will anger brand snobs and garner snarky comments because their taste in sound is different than mine. Although this missive is really about personal perceptions of value v. sound I found my education on pricing fascinating and I feel great about finding amazing value in the brand new Model T's that needed 30 minutes of TLC to be at home in my family room.
Moral of the story: Try em before you buy em, and look for value. It's fun and rewarding with no buyers remorse.
@roxy54 To read, have a good laugh and learn. Thanks for the laugh. It is my opinion and that of many other people. Should read a few of these, https://www.google.com/search?q=why+are+audiophiles+snobs&rlz=1C1GCEB_enUS960US960&oq=Why+are+audiphiles&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCQgBEAAYDRiABDIGCAAQRRg5MgkIARAAGA0YgAQyCQgCEAAYDRiABDIICAMQABgWGB4yCggEEAAYhgMYigUyCggFEAAYhgMYigUyCggGEAAYhgMYigUyCggHEAAYhgMYigXSAQg4MzkxajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#ip=1
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Sorry to lump those afflicted with audiophilia into one bucket but it is safe to say it is a high percentage, 80%. Most of the guys at my local Porsche club are elitist snobs too.
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I understand your point... I will only correct you a bit, i am here for a long time, and the distribution of snobs and idiots or geniuses obey the same Bell-Gauss curves...I estimated the number of snobs to be under 50%...but it is a subjective impression... I then will evaluate the number of snobs in any set as probalitistically less than half... But Porsche club being very different than hot dog eater club, or slightly different than audio forums, i will give you some right to say so...And i will only correct you for 15 to 25 % under your first estimate of 80%...Because audio club are not hot dog eater club nor Porsche club... The number of snobs is higher in Porsche club...Here the population varieties spread is more well mixed...
I am retired and i like to discuss... Dont take it personal ... Welcome here with or without Porsche... Anyway i only own Bugatti aerolithe 1934 models by the way...Porsche are too much trivial... 😊 We dont plan to create a club, we are a way too exclusive club to be named "club"... ...
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@mahgister wrote/quoted:
"Great post! you are right on the spot for me..." Indeed, and skewing the segment of products (from hi-fi to pro) brings with it yet another, big advantage in going "below radar" to acquire some true bargains. |
The biggest bargain in my audio life are not my 20 bucks miraculous good dac, nor my two Sansui Amplifiers nor my 50 bucks Mission Cyrus speakers... It is the AKG k340 a mythical headphone that most people are unable to figure out and drive well... It takes me 6 months to do it and optimize them... I dont know if they are the best headphone ever designed but i think so for evident reason... Because they are old they were discarded as TOP headphone now, i paid 100 bucks for this misunderstood complex design compared to most headphones on the market ... Incredible... Top high end for peanuts when optimized... They beat anything i ever listen to ( speakers included) ... But beware they cannot reveal their potential right out of the box sorry... I even read the patent to understand how they work... Each evening i entered in sonic paradise...thanks to Dr. Gorike who beat even the Stax omega with this gem...Seismic bass and celestial highs with natural voices and " out of the head" soundstage especially with well recorded classical music.. With them i listen to the recording as if i was there not to my head cinema... I disliked any other headphone i ever listen to for too much many reasons to enumerate them ... Most speakers in a living room cannot beat them ...
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