Paulsax
Good point.
If gear was priced according to time & materials rather than to performance the prices would plunge a goodly amount on many high end components
. with the possible exception of loudspeakers using handmade hard wood cabinets
. And very slow builders.
Tell me there's 4K worth of materials in an 8K cable... or production costs equate to 40 to 50% of the selling price.
Another member pointed out to me about the items in a mod someone was/is selling which amounted to a couple hundred or less... the mod costs >$1K. $700 - $900 labor?
Folks like Paul Barton and a few others haven't quite lost touch with reality yet... or have another perspective on doing business by lowering production costs perhaps.
I also get that time and energy required for R&D, which equates to the very first unit (s) actual cost being quite fantastic, especially if an entirely different direction was taken instead of massaging previous designs about.
Given the diminishing returns of performance vs. price as you step up the audio/video ladder, it's always seemed to me the bulk of the buying public and perhaps just above that should be the targeted audience. many do just that. Too many other's contend to appeal to upper air demographics only.... like Wilson, Magico, etc. I get the impression these artisans are simply out of touch. It follows though if you make it you name the price for it too.
At any length, congrats to those entities which continue to provide overachieving goods to the public that are stable, lasting, and affordable more often than not.
