Good article in Stereophile magazine.

[3db]

Skin Deep | Stereophile.com

 

[GO-NAD!]

I had never considered today's situation the way he put it in the article. I had assumed that a depressed economy would serve to keep prices down. But, all it has done is to encourage manufacturers to cater to the rich? It certainly doesn't reflect well on the intelligence and strength of character of the wealthy, when they're willing to throw money away on such equipment.

 

[3db]

I had never considered today's situation the way he put it in the article. I had assumed that a depressed economy would serve to keep prices down. But, all it has done is to encourage manufacturers to cater to the rich? It certainly doesn't reflect well on the intelligence and strength of character of the wealthy, when they're willing to throw money away on such equipment.

I wanted to put a jpeg down of a bugs bunny toon of granny throwing rolls of 20 into the fireplace to keep warm. Can't find it.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

I wanted to put a jpeg down of a bugs bunny toon of granny throwing rolls of 20 into the fireplace to keep warm. Can't find it.

 

[cpp]

""But it's time to call bullshit on some of this stuff. It's time to call bullshit on five-figure interconnects and four-figure isolation cones. It's time to call bullshit on $30,000 amplifiers that would be priced to sell for $10,000, tops, if not for their massive, jewelry-like casework."" Wow the truth. ...

 

[sholling]

I had never considered today's situation the way he put it in the article. I had assumed that a depressed economy would serve to keep prices down. But, all it has done is to encourage manufacturers to cater to the rich? It certainly doesn't reflect well on the intelligence and strength of character of the wealthy, when they're willing to throw money away on such equipment.

The poor economy and economies of scale and advancing technology (simplified production) work to keep the prices for mass market products down. On the other hand rising commodity prices, inflation, higher 3rd world wages, and for the US a devalued dollar are starting to push costs higher.

At the high-end of the market you'll always find some "jewelry" and there will always be a market for it. But rather than pidgin-holing the "rich" as pidgins remember that the term includes the people that got there by being tight and working their butts off for for a lifetime - people that will demand as much bang for their bucks as the rest of us. And then there are the ostentatious wealthy - the movie star and/or star investment broker that drives a Ferrari because he/she needs to show that they are so wildly successful that they can just throw money around. They use that success window dressing to attract producers/investors looking to ride the coattails of that success. They buy and flaunt every geegaw and bobble they can afford as an investment in window dressing. Of course there are always a few that just have more money than brains (cough, Hollywood, cough) and are looking to show off or who get sold a bill of goods by an unscrupulous dealer/installer looking to milk a fat cash cow to death.

Even the middle class are subject to vanity purchases of designer/prestige brands which is why manufacturers of everything from jeans to receivers enforce minimum advertized pricing (MAP) at their dealers. Artificially high prices make for prestige brands and products. Look at how many $$$ status symbol designer purses and shoes are sold to the middle class and even the poor. Peer pressure is a powerful thing.

 

[ACsGreens]

Thank you for sharing this. I am not as seasoned as many of you (experience, not years....but probably both ) but the deeper I get into this hobby the more BS I see (and don't hear.) I loved this.

 

[ahblaza]

Skin Deep | Stereophile.com

I subsribe to Stereophile and must say Art Dudley is one of the few remaining men whom I've come to respect over the many years of my Stereophile reading, he is second only to J.Gordon Holt. May he RIP.