Sabai,
My response to your comment:
"A lot of SR's customers are well-heeled folks to whom money comes easily. I mean, who can afford to shell out 5 or 10 grand with each product upgrade unless there is big money in the picture. Others, like me, have to make it the old fashioned way. We have to earn it slowwwwly. At some point new products become out of reach. One's desire for better sound has to be tempered with the realism that there are priorities in life and the musical buck has to stop somewhere."
I would respectfullybeg to differ. I don't want to speculate, but IMHO, SR is a only an "upper mid end" player with a core group of followers for the technology but likely going to feel the squeeze from both the "value players" like the Morrows and Anti-Cables, and the true luxury cables that the well heeled folk flock to (Nordost Odin, Jorma, Zensati, Siltech). I don't think SR has that kind of brand clout. It is not particularly attractive (by luxury cable standards) and the MPC hassle and mess makes it a challenge for the aethetically conscious. I am in the same boat as you are, saving my pennies the hard way. I will also say that if I were financially well heeled, I would be trying out the aforementioned brands. I would rather invest in truly EXPENSIVE cable products rather than continually throw away money on highly DEPRECIABLE cable products.
I am not speaking out of bitterness (although reading some of the comments on this thread, there is plenty of that to go around). I purchased most of my SR gear used and I don't need the latest and greatest. I have a Powercell 4 which more than suffices for my simple system setup. I'd like to see the company stick around but I simply cannot support a business that only markets their R&D "breakthrough" (are their really 4 Powercell 10 breakthroughs in 3 years that need to be formally named?). Some companies just save up the improvements over a 3 to 5 year R&D period for a product that significantly improves on the predecessor and worth investing full price into. Another better way to sustain brand loyalty is to offer factory upgrades at a reasonable charge (say $500 for a Powercell 10). But giving the owner no options but to eat a 50% loss every year is probably not the best way to retain customer loyalty.
Secretly, I'm hoping the high rollers are ready to ditch their Element cables at half price sooner rather than later...
My response to your comment:
"A lot of SR's customers are well-heeled folks to whom money comes easily. I mean, who can afford to shell out 5 or 10 grand with each product upgrade unless there is big money in the picture. Others, like me, have to make it the old fashioned way. We have to earn it slowwwwly. At some point new products become out of reach. One's desire for better sound has to be tempered with the realism that there are priorities in life and the musical buck has to stop somewhere."
I would respectfullybeg to differ. I don't want to speculate, but IMHO, SR is a only an "upper mid end" player with a core group of followers for the technology but likely going to feel the squeeze from both the "value players" like the Morrows and Anti-Cables, and the true luxury cables that the well heeled folk flock to (Nordost Odin, Jorma, Zensati, Siltech). I don't think SR has that kind of brand clout. It is not particularly attractive (by luxury cable standards) and the MPC hassle and mess makes it a challenge for the aethetically conscious. I am in the same boat as you are, saving my pennies the hard way. I will also say that if I were financially well heeled, I would be trying out the aforementioned brands. I would rather invest in truly EXPENSIVE cable products rather than continually throw away money on highly DEPRECIABLE cable products.
I am not speaking out of bitterness (although reading some of the comments on this thread, there is plenty of that to go around). I purchased most of my SR gear used and I don't need the latest and greatest. I have a Powercell 4 which more than suffices for my simple system setup. I'd like to see the company stick around but I simply cannot support a business that only markets their R&D "breakthrough" (are their really 4 Powercell 10 breakthroughs in 3 years that need to be formally named?). Some companies just save up the improvements over a 3 to 5 year R&D period for a product that significantly improves on the predecessor and worth investing full price into. Another better way to sustain brand loyalty is to offer factory upgrades at a reasonable charge (say $500 for a Powercell 10). But giving the owner no options but to eat a 50% loss every year is probably not the best way to retain customer loyalty.
Secretly, I'm hoping the high rollers are ready to ditch their Element cables at half price sooner rather than later...