Crazy US Prices

[MartinT]

Now, Hublot...........

...or Longines (because I'm wearing one)

[Macca]

A Longines is no good where I am from. No one has heard of it. They will think you paid five quid for it down the market Rolex, OTOH, has brand identity.

[Canetoad]

Rolex isn't a watch, it's jewellery. In a similar vane, Harley Davidson isn't a motorcycle, it's a lifestyle.

[MikeMusic]

In this month's Stereophile (Sep-12), Art Dudley in 'Skin Deep' highlights the hugely spiralling average prices of American hi-fi as seen in the recent Chester Group New York Audio and AV Show. If we ever needed further proof that the industry is selling smaller and smaller volumes and therefore pricing itself out of most people's minds, here it is. Hard to believe these prices, but easy to see why many people just don't consider buying a system any more, not when an iPod "will do".

Double the price of kit and you could find you sell more - as "you get what you pay for".
If there are just a few people prepared to pay silly prices then you don't have to worry about the hoi poloi - or everyone here !

Not neccesarily at the other end are those whose system/s "are good enough for me"

[MikeMusic]

I once had a cup of tea and a toasted sandwich in the cafe at Sachs 5th Avenue - the bill was almost £30 Now it was a bloody good toastie but that did sort of confirm to me that in NYC the price you pay for something has no connection to the true value of the item. They charge £30 for a toastie to keep out the riff-raff, although obviously that didn't work on me

Many years ago I had not a lot in a cafe in Geneva
Much the same pricing. Think I went dumb for a few minutes
Rest of Switzerland was fine. I liked Swiss food too

[Macca]

Rolex isn't a watch, it's jewellery. In a similar vane, Harley Davidson isn't a motorcycle, it's a lifestyle.

In that case any watch that is not a black plastic Casio digital is jewelry, is it not? Part of the problem is that if you work in business you are subject to the 'watch check' like it or not and people do make value judgements about you based on that.

This also presumably applies to the serious price tag hi-fi. You cannot have your multi-million dollar Manhatten loft apartment supplied with sounds by a set of Wharfedale diamonds and a Sony integrated. Your friends will get nervous - they will think there is something wrong with you. Show them $100k of exotic kit you hardly ever use and they will relax. It is sad but true.

[MikeMusic]

Recently I had an interesting conversation with an acquaintance of mine whom works in a very nice hifi shop. I inquired about the market for stereo (traditional 2-channel, not home theater or install) items in general, and the salient points of his reply are as follows:

The people who are buying are all baby boomers, and spending loads of money on their 'last' purchase.

To that end, the more expensive a product, the better chance it has to sell. Every time they take a risk on an expensive product or line, it pays off in spades.

Yup. I can see that. S'pose it correlates to cars.
Plenty of the older generation driving nice, or nice to them and their friends, motors. Do they *drive* no never.
Why spend all that money ?!
Being a cheapskate I bought a 2nd hand 1996 Saab a few years ago as my even older one was terminal. Goes like stink, but I can't *drive* it anyway with crowded roads, speed limits, cameras
Be interesting to see what these high spending on hifi guys drive, where they live, size of TV etc

[MikeMusic]

Of all the ludicrous prices, I fail to understand what $37,000 will bring that my already expensive £7,500 Chord power amp doesn't already deliver.

Much better profit for the seller !

[MikeMusic]

This is a very valid point. As for the cost in New Yorknyou need a bit of perspective. I often frequent one of the "top three" steakhouses in Manhattan when I am there. They are always packed and for 4/5 of us the bill is always around 1000 dollars without going crazy. (the one time we did it was a bottle of red costing 500 dollars )
I reckon to have half a lifestyle and live in Manhattan today you would need to earn 300k. Yes, there are people on a lot less and they live there, but would you really want to?
So I can see quite clearly where these "lifestyle manufacturers" are coming from. Not for me though, I think the people who DO buy into this sort of bullshit really ought to know better.

Strewth !
I bet that's worse than Geneva !

[MikeMusic]

Basically he said that this cartridge was at the perfect 'no-man's-land' in price. It was much too expensive for normal people to buy, but too cheap to be paid attention to by the really rich people who drive the buying in the industry.

Like it. Makes lots of sense