2. misc-audio
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Hey, we don't get no respect

...to paraphrase the late and great Rodney Dangerfield!

When it comes to quality, luxury, or status items, people seem to know brand names of very expensive cars, private jets, jewelry, watches, clothing, upscale communities, etc. Yet, when it comes to audio, Bose is considered to be an expensive and luxurious audio brand [their marketing model is exceptionally successful]. Just the other day, CNBC reporters doing a piece about luxury gifts were shocked that a pair of B&W speakers had a $12,000 list price. I am not "bad-mouthing" B&W. Point being that a $12,000 list price for a pair of speakers, while unaffordable for many audiophiles, is much less expensive than many other speakers, and certainly does not carry an "only in my dreams" stratospheric price.

What's your opinion about this?
fatparrot
sdcampbell
2,136 posts
 
As a long-time audiophile, my personal experience has been that most people think we are part of the "lunatic fringe", and find the prices for most high-end audio gear absolutely insane (well, they are right about some of it...). I haven't decided if the majority of music listeners simply aren't very particular about audio quality, or if they just don't care.
danlib1
819 posts
 
Truth is, very few people sit down and listen to music for pleasure. Fewer still strive to buy equipment that better ables them to "connect" emotionally with the music.

Hate to sound like an old fart, but consider this: just today I read that Mariah Carey has now tied Elvis' record of 17 number one US Singles. That woman can peel paint with her inane vocal antics.

We are deceiving ourselves if we think we AREN'T the lunatic fringe!
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,235 posts
 
$12,000 is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a speaker. In any field the state of the art will always be expensive, but I've gotten sick and tire of hearing how components costing $10,000+ are described as "a bargain" just because they don't cost $50,000. The majority of music lovers I've met do want high quality audio reproduction, they just don't obsess about it and they won't pay the equivalent of a nice new car to have it.
warnerwh
539 posts
 
Just like anything in life it depends on what it's worth to you. Unfortunately when it comes to alot of our market there are alot of products that are way over priced like th pair of speaker cables the guy is claiming he's almost giving away at 5,500 bucks. That's about what my speakers cost. I think the cable industry is the worst but there's alot of people who think the price makes the product and actually get sales.

To me I feel my enjoyment of music is worth investing the several grand I have into it. It's a pretty safe hobby. Many of our children will appreciate music more than the next person which in my mind is a nice gift.
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