”3,000 billionaires -- no, these products are made for high net-worth professionals and of course, the venerable trust-fund-babies...”
Like, whatever, dude. That doesn’t change the point that I’m making, which is that economic inequity has distorted the audio market.
There that old saying about the size of a guy’s stereo speakers are in inverse proportion to the size of his d - - -. With today’s .5%, the resources available to compensate for such insecurities are greater than ever.
+ 1. Folks have been whining about the exorbitant prices ever since the 60s and 70s. I complained rather vociferously myself on occasion. But not once did I try to emulate Fabio. A man’s got to know his limitations.
Huh, this is becoming a socio-economic aspect of sound quality.
Continuously raising prices does not seem to impact the major audio market that negatively. iPhones and similar machines have been selling quite well. On the other hand, I can see economic inequity impacting some segments of audio market as wireless Apple earphones remain expensive and they are what a large number of music-listeners are striving for.
I had to laugh at wesheadley's response. Not only does he "know" that cables plateau in the hundreds and not thousands, but he also has divine insight into the buying motives of others. Perhaps he would like to share with the rest of us a bit of his resume. I also think I can detect of bit of a shaming mentality so often present in discussions about the purchase of luxury items.
I guess everyone is different about money. And it is always easy to look into someone else's situation and criticize it because it doesn't fit our own outlook.
There is the idea that if you have tons and tons of money then blowing it on $10,000 or $40,000 speaker cables is the thing to do.
I don't think I would be that way....I wish someone would give me tons and tons of money to test my theory.
But I was reading a sickeningly pretentious magazine called Garden & Gun that my wife gets and there was a model on a boat wrapped in a beach towel. The list price of the beach towel was $400. I think I can safely say that even if I was uber-rich I would have no need or desire for a $400 beach towel.
When I'm searching for a $10 item I'll still try to find one for $9.
But I was reading a sickeningly pretentious magazine called Garden & Gun that my wife gets and there was a model on a boat wrapped in a beach towel. The list price of the beach towel was $400. I think I can safely say that even if I was uber-rich I would have no need or desire for a $400 beach towel.
I might not go for $10 000 speaker cables but good towel might be worth the asking price at some point. It may sell for less than list price, too.
$400 for a towel without a model must, in a long run, be much cheaper than $400 for the towel with a model. All of a sudden, those $10 000 cables do not seem so exorbitantly expensive.
@geoffkait Garden and Gun? Its a southern thing. If you'e not from here, don't try to understand it. I live it. But not like in the magazine.
uberwaltz, model not included. Can't say she was all that pretty anyway.
glupson, if I recall it was one of those restored wooden runabouts that cost the same as a Ferrari. Or maybe it was a sailboat. Or a dock. I threw the magazine down after seeing $400 towel.
geoffkait Absolutely! We must protect ourselves against the, ahem, liberal agenda. Yes, Garden and Gun, Field and Stream & AK, Home Design & Semi...etc. Happy Stocking!
Folks complain about pricing of everything, so it seems like we don’t need threads like this. But folks like complaining, so be it. Did we learn anything from this group cathartic event?
And how much is too much for any given aspect of an audio system? Some have no issue about spending $20k for a Rockna DAC, but complain about spending a given amount for a speaker cable. Everyone’s got priorities.
Arguably, the input power lines and the listening room acoustics are the areas one should spend their money, because those two areas dictate to a large extent how an audio system performs. But mostly crickets are expressed about those priorities.
Well, I spent $3000 on just duplex AC outlets. And that was on sale, Retail they would have been $5000. just for a small pile of AC outlets very similar to what you can buy for $5 each at Menards. But these were genuine audiophile outlets.... I must be a cricket?
I believe in high quality cables but not buying into the $10K+ price point some companies are marketing. Some people obviously have too much money and too little brains.
It is a fallacy to believe that buying ultra expensive speakers warrants ultra-expensive cables. Besides the difference between $10,000 and $200,000 speakers is likely only on the order of 5%
in sound quality
(law of diminishing returns). That would suggest that the very subtle "improvements" that ultra-expensive cables could (maybe) provide ultra-expensive speakers would be barely audible.
However, if you freeze those new cables, put wood blocks under them , attach batteries, put voo-doo goop on the terminals and ensure the the direction is correct...well then the differences could be mind-blowingly jaw-dropping!
You dont have to resort to quoting the most extreme claims of some cable manufacturers to make your point. Not all of us that spend a fair amount on cables believes the most extreme marketing hype nor do we necessarily buy from the manufacturers that spew this nonsense.
I do not get the notion that anyone else can whine about what I spend on ANYTHING. This is not a Socialist country. You do not get to report me to the authorities for having more than you! If you are envious, then go get a better job! If some rich person buys a $300,000 pair of speakers, or earrings, or speaker cables... I would say great! glad you like them. Not whine about it.
Just like this kind of Audiogon poster to become emotional and transition to political references and derogatory comments about someone else's financial status. I thought we were talking about the questionable efficacy of very expensive cables.
Seems the only "whining" is emanating from that source.
Anyway, its not really a matter of "having more than you" but whether spending a year's salary on speakers (plus cables) is smart. I'd bet the average Audiogon forum participant has less than $10K in their main speakers. And I bet they sound great.
What extreme claims of cable manufacturers? Give me a break! This is all made up stuff by sun crazed pseudo skeptics. Shut the cave door and back to pigmy country!
When a company doesn’t promote its product something terrible happens. Nothing.
Think he is referring to truth in advertising. Extreme claims for a product that contain no real, substantive performance justification...do just one thing: prey on the uninformed.
dynaquest4"he is referring to truth in advertising. Extreme claims for a product that contain no real, substantive performance justification"
What extreme claims are you mentioning, referencing, and objecting to hear and in addition after you have identified these claims, assurances, and representations why is it that you do not pursue, engage, and undertake remedial action?
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