2. misc-audio
  3. 172619-159065

Where the heck are all these manufacturers coming from!

After being out of the HiFi hobby for about 15 years, covid lock down found me playing with some of my stored equipment. After being in the HiFi business for over 40 years, I though I knew who all the players were. A few forums, such as this, and a subscription to Stereoplile has me scratching my head over the plethora of super highend HiFi manufactures that I've never heard of and the unlimited number of inexpensive Chinese HiFi products. Near every day that I peruse these forums or YouTube channels I'm introduced to yet another amp, preamp, DAC, speaker manufacturer I never heard of.

And the prices.....Folks throw around recommendations for $10,000 and much more products with abandon. I just recently saw a 3.5" jumper cable for $39,000 and an 8' piece of speaker wire for $59,000.........I guess I should have stayed in the business instead of retiring!

rbertalotto
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 

It's crazy and maybe crazier than ever, but I remember picking up 10 year old mags in the 90's and 00's and seeing that probably more than half the ads were from companies no longer around. It makes you appreciate the longevity of folks like McIntosh, Audio Research and Linn.  Nothing sux more than investing your money in a company that folds up a couple of years later. Cheers,

Spencer

jerryg123's avatar
jerryg123
3,429 posts
 

What’s really crazy is people buying the stuff. 

dweller's avatar
dweller
3,735 posts
 

I recently heard there are 17 million millionaires in the U.S. alone. Plenty of people have money (just not everyone).

I think a lot of these "new manufacturers" are from other countries that haven't been distributed in the U.S. before. It's funny because 10 years ago the magazines were full of stories about the demise of the high-end. Looks healthy to me.

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