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Modern Linestages

This is a general question about how complex and expensive some linestages have become. I'm looking to understand why? I can grasp that really good volume controls are complicated and that equally good switches are not inexpensive. I also have a general understanding of the importance of a high quality power supply, which again is not going to come cheap. I just don't comprehend how you get to a 50lbs. plus preamps that cost well over $20k. Is this level of complexity really needed or is it the equivalent of the spate of 500hp "sedans" for every day driving?
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pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Because some art is an investment grade asset driven by the psychologogy of scarcity creating "value", and a marketplace with enough buyers for whom having enough money is a small concern. Spending $1,000,000 to get $2,000,000 five years later for some dried paint doesn't seem irrational, though perhaps inexplicable. Though there does not seem to be a correlation between complexity and simplicity and the price of art, unlike some "modern" linestages.
knghifi
1,668 posts
 
08-30-11: Pubul57
Because some art is an investment grade asset driven by the psychologogy of scarcity creating "value", and a marketplace with enough buyers for whom having enough money is a small concern. Spending $1,000,000 to get $2,000,000 five years later for some dried paint doesn't seem irrational, though perhaps inexplicable. Though there does not seem to be a correlation between complexity and simplicity and the price of art, unlike some "modern" linestages.
Pubul57 (System | Threads | Answers | This Thread)
It's the same free market and capitalistic "COMMON SENSE" principles whether it's automobiles, line stage, paintings ... The price is ultimately driven by demand for purchases made for investment or personal enjoyment.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
In economics, "Veblen goods" are items for which buying preference increases as price increases -- as the higher the price, the greater the status -- instead of decreasing according to the law of demand. In other words, one is buying something other than the thing itself and the price untethered from the cost of production or necessarily the inherent quality or function of the goods - the essence of luxury goods (and in audio, having lots of parts and multiple boxes, the heavier the better, the more one can extend what the "market is willing to pay" ).
knghifi
1,668 posts
 
If price rises, demand will decrease. There are fewer buyers that can afford it no matter how much status it bring you. If you can't afford it, you can't afford it.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
True, it is not infinitely elastic, but it can stretch pretty far, why you often seen 10 different tiers of cables running from $3/ft to $3,000/ft - you just never know how much demand there might be to have the very, very, very, absolutely very best.
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