2. speakers
  3. 1339263716

Thoughts from THE Show, is $29k the new $10k?

Had another enjoyabe brief one day visit to THE Show, Newport Beach last weekend. Great to see so many fellow hobbiests, and great gear. Went in search of speakers; here is a brief and disjointed summary of my impressions:
Many vendors were focusing on the $25-32k range; with most for sale around $29k as an entry point to 'quality'.
Rockport showed their new entry, $29k speaker in the Atrium. Had great balance; was warm, detailed, and engaging. First show presence for dealer; nice guy. My first experience with Rockport; was very impressed.
Eficion: at the Hilton; wow; for $16k I think it gives Wilson a run for its money with the Sophia; its AMT ribbon tweeter had great crystal highs, and its large woofer filled the room with satisfying bass, I enjoyed it.
BMC: nice gear; their $32k speakers had dipole arrangement; with both front and rear firing speakers; very engaging, huge sound stage, and great low end response. Paired up nicely with their amp/dac
YG: brought my own CD; so I was familiar with what was possible; initialy liked their sound;but in the end found it a bit 'dry', and brittle; and not totally enjoyable, this was at at least three different rooms showing their speakers.
Wilson Shasha's in the Brooks-Barden room; always a treat; enjoyed their room treatments, and professionalism, nice analog set up. Warm, detailed, lovely, and engaging.
Ventures: wow, very expensive; and very large...but totally engaging; great integration, warm, detailed, expansive sound stage, great bass, huge open subtle nuance on female voices...
Ayon: liked their Lumen White's better last year, than their own speaker line this year, but great amps and dac.
Found the KEF blades a bit disappointing, surprised at how large they are in person.
Enjoyed the TAD speakers again this year, well balanced, integrated very well.
There was a 'curved' line array speaker; I forget its name that also was quite good, interesting design, but filled the room with great sound; no glare.
The Veloce gear, with its battery source was extremely 'quiet' and detailed, and enjoyable.
Surprised how many room utilized the Synergistic Research ART treatments...hard to tell how it improved things; but can't argue with the results.
Too much to see and listen to in one brief day. Curious to hear from other members their take....I know you don't need to spend so much to get quality sound, but so many vendors showing off their $29k speakers made me want to chuckle; and take out a home loan...also thought the digital and computer audio was getting very close now to the analog rigs.
Love having this showcase in our backyard on the west coast; and will contiue to support and attend. Kudos to Bob Levi; and his team at LA/OC audio society; another great job; and Tierney Sutton singing on Friday night was an extra special treat.
mribob
smortega
51 posts
 
I'm so happy to be enough of a prole that I could not tell that much of a difference b/w what I have and what I heard at last year's show to even THINK about paying that kind of money. I want the equipment to do justice to the music- but $30K for speakers??!!!
polk432
1,116 posts
 
You still have to feed the best speakers made with good upstream to get the most out of them. I have an all tube system, and just hooked up a Linn Classik using the same wires to the same speakers and they sound different. Why? If speakers were the be all end all of the system there would be no difference in sound using different amps and preamps. Garbage in equals garbage out. 30K for speakers? Fine...But not my money...No way No how.
david12
1,398 posts
 
"I wonder how many of these companies with rediculously priced components will be around next year".

Quite a few I would think. I am not trying to write an apologia for high end manufacturers, but we live in a world where true high end kit may only be sold to a handful of people. So all the development costs, fixed costs in premises, utilities, have te born by a few sales.

That is only the beginning. Next you have marketting, distributors and retailers %, all this has to be born by the poor buyer. No wonder high end kit, be it speakers, amplifiers, whatever, only a tiny percentage of the cost, is in the material content.

I know none of this is new and has been discussed ad nauseam on this and other sites. What may be more interesting, is how every part of the"industry", is adapting. Retailers seem to be lowering fixed costs by abandoning shop fronts, to work at home. Small manufacturers, use word of mouth and shows, to avoid the need for advertising and direct sales, to reduce distributor, retailers cut.

What underlies this thread is the rapidly changing customer base for HiFi ie rapidly declining and how the industry is adapting. Adapt it must, or die.
whart's avatar
whart
1,930 posts
 
What we are seeing in the hi-fi business is a microcosm of the retail business at large- luxury goods makers are directing their products to big ticket items, and that sector has the ability to buy stuff at the stratosphere of price. As a business model it may be hard to fault, given the alternative. I understand that China was a viable market for equipment of a size and price that would otherwise be unmarketable elsewhere in the world. Of course that may change as the world economy slows or remains in turmoil, but hi fi is not unique in this respect. If you had the choice between making a $10,000 product and selling 100 units or a $100,000 unit and selling ten of them, I have little doubt what choice would be made. Not defending the industry, but like any business, they will go where the market is. Of course, there is still real world entry level, but much of it is designed in one place (Europe or America) and built where the labor is cheap, to get to a price point. And, while I have no first hand experience with, for example, relatively inexpensive tube electronics coming out of China, for example, my impression is that it is pretty good stuff, at least competitive, even if it doesn't have the panache, or the 'overbuilt' quality of say, an ARC faceplate on the front.
wolf_garcia
4,650 posts
 
My system is a "panache free zone" and sounds great, including my Chinese tube amp. My beef with the hifi scene is the utter lack of any interest in engaging the general public. Stage a concert? HA! Put out publicity anywhere but in the magazines catering to the choir? No no no. Really...maybe bring back an audio writer to the New York Times who isn't focused on iPads and large screen video. Multi millionaire Neil Young gets 5 minutes of publicity for his anti Red Box stance while selling millions of Red Box CDs and downloads, and the local "audio salons" can't even manage an email newsletter. A strange world.
More to discover