Is it me or is Hi-Fi getting even more over priced ?

[swampy]

I think this might be the engineer in me but these days when I walk past Audio-T and look at the prices of some Hi-Fi kit I do a double take. If the price is 'reasonable' the quality and finish seems very lacking compared to hi-fi of past generations on closer examination.

Example... I have been looking at this bit of electronics

https://goo.gl/images/kT6Y25

which is a shear monster of a build in terms of materials, finish and electronics both analogue and digital if you see it in the flesh, cost £1800 at the most from a high street music store. Then I compare to stuff like the Chord Dave dac at £8500 from audio-t high street which looks pretty but I would find hard to believe it has had more technical design input and certainly has less materials and construction effort. Ok the Chord is an extreme example maybe but then look at most Hi-Fi in the same price range to other markets and its usually the same.

This trend kind of reminds me of apple and the latest iPhone nonsense. Some might find this funny.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75gwlQlMLbk


Is it really me ? Sign of getting old ?

[struth]

Quite a few good products from the Chinese market although many are poor. People have probs with it but they used to have probs with Skoda

[swampy]

Quite a few good products from the Chinese market although many are poor. People have probs with it but they used to have probs with Skoda

Yes, there are a few gems on ebay even in kit form which seems great prices. Also some of the hi-end amp like BADA etc look good value until you factor in the shipping and duty costs.

[Spectral Morn]

I do struggle at times to see how some items cost what they cost.

[Sherwood]

I do struggle at times to see how some items cost what they cost.

It's not about costing what they cost: it's about market segmentation by vendors by differentiating products to extract the maximum amount from a distinct demographic! In other words, it's possible to charge prices unrelated to production costs or performance because some people are willing to pay a premium for goods that differentiate themselves as consumers. Vanity purchases or conspicuous consumption!

Check out the work of Thorstein Veblen; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorstein_Veblen

Geoff

[Spectral Morn]

It's not about costing what they cost: it's about market segmentation by vendors by differentiating products to extract the maximum amount from a distinct demographic! In other words, it's possible to charge prices unrelated to production costs or performance because some people are willing to pay a premium for goods that differentiate themselves as consumers. Vanity purchases or conspicuous consumption!

Check out the work of Thorstein Veblen; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorstein_Veblen

Geoff

I am aware of that.

[JohnJo]

I do struggle at times to see how some items cost what they cost.

I have to agree. This has been awarded a "Best Buy" at £4995. Personally, looking at the internal photo etc I can't see anything like that value in this product, although I do like the looks and feature count.

http://www.the-ear.net/review-hardwa...ated-amplifier

[Sherwood]

I have to agree. This has been awarded a "Best Buy" at £4995. Personally, looking at the internal photo etc I can't see anything like that value in this product, although I do like the looks and feature count.

http://www.the-ear.net/review-hardwa...ated-amplifier

Seems a bargain compared to the £13,600 needed for the speakers it was designed to work with!

Geoff

[Macca]

I have to agree. This has been awarded a "Best Buy" at £4995. Personally, looking at the internal photo etc I can't see anything like that value in this product, although I do like the looks and feature count.

http://www.the-ear.net/review-hardwa...ated-amplifier

Of your £5K 20% is VAT, that's a grand right away, of the remaining £4K about £2K is dealer and distributor margin, and assuming a standard 10-1 ratio of cost to sale, the parts to build it cost the maker £200 tops.

[swampy]

I have to agree. This has been awarded a "Best Buy" at £4995.

http://www.the-ear.net/review-hardwa...ated-amplifier

Best Buy at 5K !!! Best buy should be at the few 100 pounds end imho. Case in point of my original post. For 5k I could have a budget car which has far more materials and construction labour all be it machine made mostly.