What makes a $20,000 cd player cost 20,000?

The cost of a $20,000 CD player is directly related to the $500 apple.

A man on a street corner has one apple, and a sign that says "Apple...$500". A passerby asks, "Do you really think you can sell an apple for $500?". To which the appleseller replies, "It only takes one!"

In the case of the $20,000 CD player, its high price being blamed on the cost of parts or R&D is nonsense, IMO. It only takes one...or twelve...

So the price is arbitrary, Grant?
Or are we presuming that no one who pays $20K for a CDP actually listens to it first?

Just how do we conclude that a $2000 CDP is worth the money? Or that a $5000 player is reasonable? More than 90% of the people in this world don't earn in a year what most of us have spent on a single component. Or cable! Value is entirely fictitious, and personal.

Some people will pay $400-600 to go see a concert, or an NBA game. And I cannot for the life of me figure out the value in that move. But there is no truth in this. Remember, not even money itself is absolute.

I had the opportunity to hear a 47 labs flatfish transport about $4k back to back against a pi tracer (maybe the most expensive transport made) $25k through the same 47labs system and yes there was a surprisingly meaningful improvement for someone with the $$$.

Howard, I believe the price of a $20,000 CD player is arbitrary to a large extent. Are there some esoteric electronic parts in the $20,000 player that are only available to the manufacturer and are not available to the manufacturer of a $5,000 player? Does it take more labor to assemble than a $4900 APL Denon 3910 that has nearly all its parts hand soldered? I don't think so.

Yes, the price of a $20,000 player is arbitrary...just like the retail price of some well-known power cords. :)

Tvad,

Your comment implies that high end companies are in the business of finding fools and getting them to part with their money. While some companies provide better value than others, you can't base selling price purely on the cost of the parts used to manufacture. The time it takes to do the R&d and marketing and administrative tasks must be accounted for.

Let's look at an extreme scenario. Assume that I am a 1 man shop and I only spend $1000 in parts for my $20k cd player. Assume that I sell 2 in a year and spend $10k/yr for marketing and rent and admin costs. Assume that I do R&D myself (say 20 hours per week). Am I really making a lot of money even if I sell my cd player for $20k each and pocket $19k for each one that sells?

What I can tell you from a buyer's perspective is that you would want killer R&D and extensive attention to the voicing of the cd player if you're going to pay $20k. Whether or not you get it depends on how fanatical the manufacturer is.

I like Boa2's point. A $2k cd player may just be a $500 model with a nice case and a few upgraded op amps and capacitors. Price alone tells you nothing.