It depends on what your appetite for struggling to resell the product is and how much of a financial hit you're willing to take. No name brands, even if well reviewed sure are harder to resell because now your audience is limited to appealing to only the few other people like you who want to save money and buy no name rather than buy from a known entitly. Look at Odyssey as an example. Good product, gets a few credible reviews here and there, made by one guy essentially and if you buy a new amp from them for $2k you're lucky if you can sell it a year later for $700.
??? Established Manufacturer or Take A Chance ???
With the proliferation of gear makers going belly up I got to thinking about this...
You are getting pretty long in the tooth & have an itch to build what will most likely be the system playing at your wake,hopefully not for another 15 years give or take...
Lets say you already chose your speakers & are now looking to get the amp to drive them..You've done the shortlist,spent some time running around to demo components accessible to you and narrowed your choices down to 3 or 4 pieces...
Here is your conundrum.. 1 or 2 of your choices are made by long established manufacturers & the others are fairly new in the industry,say 2-3 years and priced around 20% less than the well known models...
Remember,EVERYTHING else about them is equal...Do you pony up & buy from the well established makers or do you take a chance on a new to the industry maker & save some coin?Please expound on why you decided the way you did...
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@freediver wrote:
Except for my D/A-converter I now only buy products from the pro sector. Despite all of them being well established brands - be that (the previous) Electro-Voice, B&C, JBL, MC² Audio, Marian and Xilica/ACX - they can be had new and used at prices that, relative to the very high quality all around, are way below those asked for products in the hifi/high-end arena that are shooting at the same quality level. Those who don't have unbiased, firsthand experience with high quality pro gear in a home audio environment wouldn't know of course, but all the more reason - for whatever it's worth - to then share the experience from someone who has. So, I go for well established brands, but in my case it doesn't equate into ludicrous level prices. |
$ 700./ pr ??? A few credible reviews ?????
Well, maybe for a 20 + years old pair....in general, the Odyssey used pricing is between 60 - 75 % of new.....holding their value pretty much better than most. Also, there are used ones popping up that were built last century !!!! So, pricing has to be adjusted for age, obviously.
And keep in mind that the one guy has managed as a family business to put out over 11,000 total products, so the available used gear is a comically small percentage.
And as for the credible reviews, ( and thanks for mentioning them) the last 6 of them all resulted in product of the year awards. So yeah, credible I guess....... |
Not a Hypothetical but a strong possibility is able to be realised. Soulution Power Amp Current Seen Price £35K ( Current Seen Used Sale Item witnessed - New euro 43K - Sale Price euro 16.5K) _____________________________________________________________ The Following is a very recent used Item sale Ad for a high quality build of a Neurochrome Module 686 Power Amp, which is Typically about £3K to own as a Built Product. _________________________________________________________ **Details:** ___________________________________________________________ I have heard the Neurochrome Model not produced to this Spec' as an A/B comparison against a Soulution Power Amp' with both Amp' owners present and a group of about 20 in attendance. The Neurochrome for the duration of the comparisons was not noticeably bettered in any area of performance by the Soulution Amp'. The very expensive system in use was totally at home with either Amp in use. As a new Purchase there is easily remaining in a Coffer £32ishK is the N'chrome is selected as the purchase. As used Purchase a Vendor will be settling for depreciation of appox' £18K with a Soulution being sold on or £1.2K with the N'chrome being sold on. In another way of putting it, the Soulution either Newly Purchased or as Used Purchase is close to the N'chrome for the costings for the BOM for components used for the electronics and supporting the function of the electronics. Aesthetics and the Casing is a separate concern. The N'chrome as a used Item Purchase is now with a cost that is less than the BOM for the parts required to produce the finished working model. The N'chrome as one example of an alternative Amp' to the Well Exposed Brands operating in the Mainstream Markets, whose offerings are only able to be acquired at a substantial cost. Owning an N'chrome Model or alternative design from another producer whose designs come with similar appraisals, is not a sideways move or a wrong move. It is a very sensible way forward to Upgrade Sound and have a substantial amount of monies reserved while doing so. A friend has very very recently ventured into producing an Power Amp' at a very similar cost to the Built N'chrome 686, using a very high quality Power Supply, along with a selection of Boutique Parts, all internally wired with PC Triple C. When this Amp' was debuted at the UK Cranage Show recently, it was immediately taken to by a selection of show visitors and a lot of orders are already taken for customers. There were probably Amp's in use at very close proximity to the debuted Amp' that were costing up to 40x the asking price for this turn key model. I am invited to hear an early production of the debuted model in a Home System I am familiar with in late October. As I am investigating SS Amp's at the present vs my Valve Amp's this is timely. My own early experiences, have me knowing when it comes to commercial Amp's in either Valve or SS, the price range where I sense my Amp's are being discernibly competed with is in the region of purchases that are £60K+. |
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