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Is Hi-fi getting more expensive?

When I first get into high end audio in 2003, $3000 can buy you a very good cd player. Now $3000 just get you started. All of sudden, most of the major high end cable companies all ask $10,000.00+ for their top of the line speaker cables. The economy is bad but you don’t see high end audio getting cheaper. The entry ticket to Hi-Fi is getting more expensive and Hi-fi is getting far away from average people.

I guess the reason is that if the economy is bad, less people buy high end audio. So companies have to charge more for each unit to cover their development cost, and even fewer people will buy their equipment. This will be a vicious cycle that never ends. I think some company should cut the price by 50% to break the cycle. I know there is lots of pressure for companies not to follow the price trend when one cable company list its cable for $10,000+. If you don’t follow it, people might think you cable is not as good as the high price tag cable. But if you cut unit price by half, your sale volume can go up to make up your lower price. Volume is important. Windows 7 is more complex and powerful than Sooloos, but why Windows 7 is $200 while Sooloos charge yoy $10,000? You can also look at computers, they are always getting faster and powerful while still keep at the same price point or cheaper. Once other companies see the benefits, they will join it too. Pioneer and Sony are not incapable of making great audio gear, they just choose not to because of the tiny market size. If big companies like Pioneer or Sony see there is a big market for high end audio, they will come and join the game.

I feel Hi-Fi almost double its price from 2003-2009.We really need some companies to take the first step(cutting the price) to break the vicious cycle. Now these days more people are listen to compressed music like MP3/ipod. We really need to find a way to attract more people to good quality audio to benefit all of us, otherwise we all lose in the end.

This might be my wishful/unrealistic thinking. People are welcome to share their thought.
yxlei
macrojack
1,303 posts
 
The reason that audio manufacturers all want to offer a Statement piece for a bazillion dollars is the same reason why people went to Sutter's Mill, buy lottery tickets or recorded anybody who had a band in the sixties. They all want to strike it rich. Maybe that $60,000 preamp will be the next Beatles or the lucky number or the "Eureka!!!" hole in the ground.
There is no justification for these prices other than the fact that people who work on Wall Street can afford and will buy them. In this age, where discrimination is frowned upon by the courts, these people are eager to feel discriminating, even if they are nothing but wealthy. Money, in and of itself, is not very rewarding so it is hoped that spending it might be. And if spending some feels good spending a lot more should feel a lot better. Right?
cdc
1,663 posts
 
Nope, you just have to outsmart them.
orpheus10
8,668 posts
 
"High End" is getting more expensive because so many companys have gone under that those remaining can charge more. Soon we will be left with a product that only the rich can afford.
samuel
266 posts
 

Well, the replies sure are certainly entertaining and vary almost a-z in extremes. However from my experience the truth-- and usually the best values lie in the middle.

Most manufacturers I know and talk to --numbering in the dozens, are fully focussed on creating products that get better performance into more affordable packages given the the way the market has shifted.

There is no better time to get tremendous value in any number of product categories. And yes, there are fantastic CD replay systems for $3k and under. I wont name any lest I be termed a shill but they are plentiful...

Yes, most manufacturers make uber products but often (not always) these are design progressions to explore what's possible rather than drooling, inflated pocket pullers of the wealthy. If any manufacturer makes their super product and it fails or sucks, the market will fall on it like a brick--typically.

Some cable company prices get inflated because manufacturers are trying to balance the pricing between their US and overseas markets --so customers in Asia don't try to buy for less from US dealers. They do this by artificially inflating US retail and giving larger discounts to their foreign distributors to cover VAT, ship etc--sometimes up to 80%-- so they can match the set US retail. These same companies then use the extra margin in the US to spiff dealers and reward better sales with deeper discounts. They can also make it hard for normal margin cable lines to compete on price--which is something that has occurred for years but is now showing its wig--imo.

There are a dwindling number of companies that still do this and they for the most part do not need to be named because they stick out like a sore thumb.... This sales paradigm will definitely fail in time I believe because the markets simply will not support that anymore. Performance and value--thankfully are back in a big way.

You want to talk about inflation and stupid pricing, lets go back to the mid nineties and early 2000's when dealers could name their price, guide purchasers to the Pink Elephant amp and laugh on their way to the bank. Those days are OVER and most of those slippery dealers are g-o-n-e. This business is ALL the better for it's demise. Now, many customers walk into a dealer and haggle over what free gifts and discounts they deserve for buying a $30 cartridge-- I am exaggerating of course but that is closer to the truth.

The smart manufacturers recognize the trends, respond with better products at lower prices and strive to offer top service and value at low prices. That is the only way to make it and from everywhere I look, I see it happening, Sometimes when you spend too much time on the Gon, you miss what is happening at the dealers. I think there are good trends emerging that should please everyone.

There is a big comb filter going through our business right now and to make it through that, companies are starting to make more value oriented and less stratospherically priced products.

Regards,

Grant--stranded in cold and windy Moscow
Shunyata
macrojack
1,303 posts
 
High end audio is getting more expensive with every breath you take. 30 years ago when many of us got involved, the ultimate speaker system might have been obscenely expensive at $2500. Today, after wages have crept up slightly, the dream equipment is beyond dreaming - it is unimagineable. Working people could dream about buying $2500 speakers when they made $400/week. Now they make $1000/wk. and the state of the art speaker is $150,000.
Do you see any change in those numbers?

The carrot is being dangled so far out in front of us that it no longer seems to be within reach - not even within dreaming reach.

Our economy has been propped up for years by cheap foreign goods and consumer credit. These factors have lost some of their corrective ability in the last couple of years and audio has felt the crunch. It's still a great hobby but new goods are not much of a value these days. There's just too much opportunity to get your fix from the used market.
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