Why so expensive??


I'm siting here Looking at amps,preamps,speakers,etc...and wondering why some of this stuff cost so much.Don't get me wrong i have some crazy expensive equipment,but $350,000 for amps' come on give me a break.$100,000 for a pre-amp'please.There is no way in h#%* it cost even close to that for parts and build time.So why???What NUT whould buy something like this?Ohh it's the same Nut that just traded in his '06 lamborgini for a '08.God bless you folks with that kinda of cash.And by the way when your ready to trade up let me know i will take your used equipment for FREE since you blowing your money anyway.
Thanks in advanced for your used equipment..
spaz
They are probably referring to the Wavac SH-833 monoblocks.

150 wpc. Monster SET's.

That'd be about $1167 per watt.

Reviewed by Michael Fremer in Stereophile 2004
Just read the Stereophile review of the Wavac.

Man, I gotta get me a pair of these babys!

Just not quite sure how!!!!!
I love the car analogies. The car and audio hobbies are usually very similar, but not in this case. There are no $350,000 superchargers or $100,000 turbochargers. Even the most cutting edge components are not even close to these costs. Why? Because the performance or benefit of said $350,000 supercharger will be put to the test on an engine dynomometer or the racetrack and measured. If it doesn't perform it simply will not sell. The word will get out very quickly that it doesn't work. Audio is not like this at all.

I may get flammed for this, but I think that one reason there's is a $350,000 amp is because most of us believe that you can't measure what the high dollar amp is doing... but it must be doing something, it costs $350,000!

Another reason some of this gear is so expensive is because it's so overbuilt. Do you think the amp needs that sweet curved piece of glass mounted to the front of it? What about the chrome plated transformers or the polished aluminum chassis? How about the elegant curved pieces of polished copper, meticulously cut by hand or on some very expensive machine, that tie all of the positive and negative capacitor leads together, conveniently on display under that plexiglass cover? Does it really have to be 1/2" thick CNC machined aluminum to sound the way it does? Doubt it.

I think beauty is when form follows function. That being said, I really do appreciate the machine work and craftsmanship that goes into some audio components, however, I can't afford most of it (although my amp does have a 1/2" thick aluminum faceplate!). If you can afford to buy this stuff, most likely you are buying it for the looks and the good sound is just a perk (IMHO, of course).
If you can afford to buy this stuff, most likely you are buying it for the looks and the good sound is just a perk (IMHO, of course).

Agreed. The big effort goes into industrial design. The other challenge is to market and sell perhaps only 50 models ever and to provide 10 years of support for parts. The advantage is that the cost is probably negligible compared to the price (perhaps 5% may be 10% max) - so the markup is huge when a sale occurs.

The end result is more akin to rare and high-end "art" than a purely functional instrument to reproduce music. Sound reproduction is clearly secondary, just as keeping time is not the primary objective of a Rolex (although they pretend it is) => primarily it is jewelery/fashion/image/life style apparel.