There is such a thing as a 1" fine extra large brushed brass faceplate in front of a mediocre piece of electronics.
Is it possible for a high end manufacturer to overprice their goods?
Having just read the interesting and hyperbole laden review by RH of the new Rockport Orion speakers in the latest issue of The Absolute Sound, one thing struck me..
is it possible in the high end for a manufacturer to overprice their product ( doesn’t have to be a speaker, but this example comes to mind)? I ask this, as the Orion is priced at $133k! Yes,a price that would probably make 99% of hobbyists squirm. Yet, the speaker now joins a number of competitors that are in the $100k realm.
To that, this particular speaker stands just 50.3” tall and is just 14.3” wide…with one 13” woofer, one 7” midrange and a 1.25” beryllium dome ( which these days is nothing special at all…and could potentially lead to the nasties of beryllium bite).
The question is…given this speakers design and parts, which may or may not be SOTA, is it possible that this is just another overpriced product that will not sell, or is it like others, correctly priced for its target market? Thoughts…
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Get what you can afford...or can stretch for. Visit a handful of dealers or at least get into communication with a few. Explain your situation and how many bucks you can part with. Tell 'em what you listen to, i.e., what you like. Only play Led Zep? Only hip-hop? Only Miles Davis? Only Maria Callas mono recordings? Tell 'em how much space you got for your high-fi set-up, and how many dB's you like to bathe in. To be sure, you don't need to ignore magazine rave reviews. But a good dealer is a wonderful thing. |
@steakster +1! |
One definition of 'overpricing' is that in the revenue (quantity x price) drops. This is the case in an 'efficient' market with full 'price elasticity' (the cheaper you make it the more you sell) with full working supply and demand balance. None of these 'laws' apply to the nutty 'high end audio' market. It may actually be the opposite. In this case: they may sell MORE at $133k than at $20k (the full manufacturing cost (including overhead, development, material, labor, etc may be $5k for such a speaker) since 'nutty price' is actually a sales attribute that buyers crave and desire in the realm where a negative cost/benefit ratio starts.
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It's like asking is there any greed in man. Answer yes!
I have the 22K Aurender W22SE, I can imagine the markup is less than jewelry on high end audio, but I expect Aurender took 10K profit from the 22k. Worth it? Absolutely yes! Greedy? a little. But also good business, it's a fine line between greed and good business, few walk it. |
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