Crazy US Prices

[MartinT]

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".

Here's a link to the article (hope it works, I get it on digital subscription):

http://www.zinio.com/pages/Stereophi...416231030/pg-2

To summarise some of his calculations (remember, these are average prices):

• Digital source component $12,670
• Turntable $18,196
• Tonearm $6,184
• Cartridge $7,544
• Preamp $25,393
• Power amp $37,331
• Speakers $39,559

[hard1175]

It sounds like the kings new clothes.

Bernie

[sq225917]

The New York show is pretty high end though, for the Manhattan and Wall Street crowds.

[Macca]

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

[6L6]

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.

I have heard this same observation from another retailer in the area, as well as a US manufacturer whom I will not mention, but I am sure you have heard of. The people driving the market are spending insane amounts on gear, and at that level, price is as important, or possibly more important than sound. (I.E., the more expensive one must be better.)

Hence some very established manufacturers coming out with gear priced in the stratosphere.

Some other interesting points discussed -

He mentioned that there is a marked, rather severe disintrest in hifi amongst 'Generation X' (Roughy those born between the assassination of President Kennedy (1963) and the release of Star Wars (1977) give or take a few years)

In fact he said that the market basically has given up on them. He observed that from those people, the only ones who were interested had either a father or brother in the hobby when they grew up. (Incidentally, this is true for me.)

However, there seems to be a very big interest in hifi and especially vinyl playback from those who are in their twenties right now. Lots of $200-300 turntables sold to those people, and of course, some are getting the bug to upgrade. This is quite good.

-

Also, the resurgence in vinyl is also evident in the local record shops, there are a few good ones still in town, and the record shelves are as full as ever, stocked with more new vinyl then I have ever seen since I was a child in the '80s. One retailer has even stopped segregating new from used, as they need the space and it's more efficient to do it that way.

[Lodgesound]

Some interesting points however the prices of some of this equipment are actually so high that they have become a comedy act now.

If folk seriously think that they are getting the equivalent in quality against these laughable price tags then it is indeed very sad and can only be because they themselves earn far too much money to either know or care what it is they are actually buying.

There is an immense interest in any kind of "retro" equipment now which is great if you sell second hand audio gear of any kind. The most basic of domestic open reel machines now go for utterly silly prices - as an example the Technics RS-1500 series machines which in standard form new were around £900 and now command prices in excess of £1800 in standard unmodified form.

[MartinT]

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.

Thanks, Jim. It's enlightening to hear about it from the ground level over there.

[MartinT]

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. I hardly think it would be better technology (advanced switched-mode power supply, dynamic PSU rail coupling, arrayed MOSFET output devices) or build quality.

Is it really all down to tiny scale hand-built manufacturing with an expensive labour force? I doubt that they can even be making that much profit.

[synsei]

This is where clever outfits such as Pro-Ject will be successful. They may not make the very best turntables in the world but they perform competently and more importantly they are affordable, well made and quite stylish which should appeal to the 'Tweenies'.

[realysm42]

Dartzeel, $144,000 or summat:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/d...lock-amplifier

I'd love to give them a listen though. I remember they reviewed a dual monoblock valave amp on there for $340,000 a few years ago.