Can I get a pair, along with a matching centre channel and surround speakers?
In a McDougall tartan plaid, of course.
Wilsons new flagship
Maybe I am getting old but Wilsons new flagship $780k and they feel it is justified,
lit gets better if you want custom paint $110,000 they said it takes 2 days to paint both speakers, Jays audio lab commented and I think it was way too much and
$110k for $300 in paint is nuts that is truly taking advantage of everyone with wealth, imo only an idiot would pay that. I guess nothing should surprise me any more !!
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I thought this was interesting… When you cross the $750,000 threshold for a pair of loudspeakers—putting you in the exact territory of ultra-flagships like the Magico M9, the Sonus faber Suprema, or the Wilson Audio WAMM Master Chronosonic—you leave the realm of traditional high-end audiophiles entirely. People buying at this level aren't just looking for "great sound"—they are buying cost-no-object engineering, physical scale, and a deep psychological statement. The Demographics: Who Has the Capital? To spend nearly a million dollars just on the speakers—not including the multiple six-figures required for matching amplification, reference digital sources, isolation, and custom cabling—the buyer's wealth profile mirrors that of a superyacht or hypercar buyer. The Net Worth Floor: Generally $100+ million. This is an acquisition reserved for centi-millionaires and billionaires. The Environment: They own homes with massive, purpose-built listening rooms or Great Rooms. These speakers routinely weigh between 500 to 1,200 lbs per side and stand six to seven feet tall; they physically cannot function in a standard living space. Core Professions: Captains of industry, real estate magnates, private equity founders, and international royal families. The Three Core Buyer Personas The market for a $750k speaker system is tiny—often limited to a few dozen pairs produced globally per year—and falls into three distinct psychological camps: 1. The "Cost-No-Object" Purist This is the ultimate evolution of the dedicated audiophile. They are deeply obsessed with micro-dynamics, holographic soundstaging, and absolute transparency. What they care about: They want the absolute pinnacle of materials science. They are buying diamond-coated beryllium tweeters, CNC-machined aerospace-grade aluminum monocoque enclosures (like Magico), or complex multilayered carbon fiber and solid wood architectures (like Sonus faber). The Motivation: They want to eliminate mechanical resonance entirely. They aren't looking for a piece of furniture; they want a flawless acoustic lens that perfectly reconstructs a live performance in their room. 2. The Haute-Couture Design Collector For this buyer, the speakers are acoustic sculpture. They view high-end audio through the exact same lens as a Hublot watch, a custom Pagani, or contemporary art. What they care about: Bespoke finishes, visual presence, and brand prestige. They gravitate toward brands like Sonus faber or Tidal Audio, where the cabinets feature flawless, hand-polished Italian violin-lacquer finishes, leather trim, and visible structural art. The Motivation: The system must dominate the room visually as a masterpiece of industrial design. It tells guests instantly that the owner accepts zero compromises in their lifestyle. 3. The Bespoke Architectural Client Often facilitated by elite interior designers and structural architects, this buyer is outfitting a mega-mansion, a private penthouse, or a superyacht. What they care about: Turnkey perfection and absolute scaling. They want a system that can effortlessly pressurize a 2,000-square-foot room with concert-level dynamics without a hint of distortion. The Motivation: They are paying for the manufacturer to fly a team of factory engineers out to hand-assemble, position, and laser-align the multi-cabinet arrays (and external active crossovers) specifically to the room's unique acoustic signature. |
People should not be offended if someone wants to pay $800K+ for a pair of speakers. I know people who place bets on sporting events of $750K. If you are making $1 million a day, do you really care about cost vs. state of the art? Don’t think so. It may not be what I would spend on a system, but I am no where near that league. As for Wilson’s pricing decisions . . . They are in business to make money, not to charge for assembling parts. There are numerous hidden costs, such as R&D, salaries, cost of manufacturing facilities, insurance, benefits, taxes . .. in other words, there are all sorts of costs that go into making a speaker besides adding up the cost of the parts and the mystery materials. I am not trying to justify Wilson’s or any other manufacturer’s pricing decisions, especially regarding the aforementioned $110K for a custom paint, which under any theory seems ridiculously excessive, but microeconomic theory says that if your pricing is not at the intersection of supply and demand, you will lose money, which in theory causes price correction. Isn’t that the ultimate issue? Don’t like the price, don’t buy it? |
@moto_man |
I was at the THE show in LA yesterday ( which BTW was a BIG let down). Anyhow, i had a very interesting conversation that relates to this thread with a knowledgable and nice manufacturer there. Essentially, he was telling me that pricing high end gear is a very tricky thing, because if he was to price his new top level gear at a number that most would consider as reasonable ( say below $10K) he would then create an impression with some ’cork sniffers’ that this gear was not that good! OTOH, if he prices the gear at a price that is in the stratosphere, he creates demand and an impression among the same cork sniffers that the gear is what he says it is..the best he can deliver. This sales psychology is unfortunately prevalent in the hobby for two reasons I believe, one is what he says, and two because there are some folk to whom the price can never be too high! These folks are simply buying by price...nothing more. ( many times it is their rep who does the buying, the actual buyer has nothing to do with buying anything). For the manufacturer it is simply easier to sell just a few at huge mark-up than many at small mark-ups. Particularly if one is a small endeavor with limited supply capacity, which almost all of these folks are.
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