Krell, MBL, Levinson, et al... What if 50% off?


Lot of talk about the death of high end audio, which is warranted.  But is it just about price? 

What if a Krell K-300i was $4000 with DAC and not $8000 - would you buy it? The i800 monblocks were $40,000 not $73,000? Would they sell 4x as many? 

What if an MBL 100 MkII speakers were $45,000 and not $95,000 and could be paired with their digital streamer for $6,000 not $11,000 and N15 mono amps for $7500 ea instead of $21,000...  that gives you a state of the art digital system for $66,000 instead of $150,000. 

Is that the answer, or is it something deeper (system is still big, requires a big room, space from the walls, looks odd, etc)?

msheldonsb

Young folks are consuming audio in a very different way than their parents, and grandparents, do. I do not see a broad acceptance of component audio coming back into vogue. It will remain a diminishing niche market.

And IMHO ARC is no longer a proxy for the high-end, they have been bounced around by owners, on again, off again. Many perceive them as damaged goods at this point, rightly or wrongly.

@jijoh123 - if you live in a city with good public transportation, cars are not a necessity. I've lived quite happily without one since 1973. 

@richardbrand 

Boy oh boy do I wish there was a dealer like that anywhere near me!

My Krell dealer used to let me buy Krell items at a decent discount, and return them a month or two later if I did not get value from them, no penalty.  When the amp blew some capacitors. the dealer's technicians fixed it in his workshop.  But that dealer is pretty special, rated in the top five worldwide.

@yesiam_a_pirate 

When prodded he added that most customers are buying the dealer experience and support and that's how he gets his markup. Interesting. 

Not that interesting at all. Or new. They are called Value Added Resellers (VARs).

The ones that add little to no value die.

The comments about necessity are misplaced. 

The OP’s question relates to the luxury goods market. 

Marketing 101 question: What category of goods does not adjust pricing in a recession?