Tír Na HiFi

Rant mode on

Reading the magazines, it is amazing the prices charged for what (presumably) is good hi-fi kit. It is hard not to conclude that companies charge what people are prepared to pay! In the pro-audio world, much the same kit is sold for a lot less than we pay. And a top of the line guitar rig would come in for less than €3K and that includes the speaker cabinet. And cables. A guitar rig is mono so double for stereo [?] but €6K would not go anywhere near state of the art in the world of hi-fi. No sireee it wont. Frans/GerryD speakers, JKennys DAC and Andys cables are an exception but, to provide an example, the latest Russ Andrews catalogue. Crikey, hundreds of pounds for mains cables and so on.

I understand about demo facilities and someone has to pay for those. And the small production runs equals higher component cost but how many guitar players do you know who have a really top of the range rig? I know of none so these specialist kit items are small production runs but the cost is still reasonable. Or reasonable when compared to what is charged for hi-fi kit.

Rant mode off.

Now discuss....

I think in real terms hifi is cheaper than ever....

many moons ago I bought an opened box RicherSounds clearance mega bargain Maratnz pm44-se

it cost IR£250

I can go to Richer Sounds today and buy a Marantz PM6004 which gets rave revues, even in stereophile!

it will cost £249

It took me a lot longer to earn £250 in 1995 than it would today....

now cables....

Off topic I know but was it you Rocker that Brush Shiels name checked on the Late Late at the the weekend.

The high prices of a lot of kit are in no doubt down to the smaller production runs due to an ever smaller customer base and the marketing and bullshit surrounding a lot of hifi. A lot of great sounding kit out there of course but its shame the price commanded by some companies for their products.

A lot of it is market driven.

Everyone here likes a fancy chassis!

mick wrote:Off topic I know but was it you Rocker that Brush Shiels name checked on the Late Late at the the weekend.

Hello Mick, great to hear from you. In answer to your question, no, the Rocker that Brush Shields referred to is the late Phil Lynott.

I'm reading reports from the CES in Las Vegas at the moment, and some of the products have price tags that are absolutely eye-watering. I find it hard to believe that there are so many manufacturers out there producing state-of-the-art equipment justifying these 6-figure price tags. I haven't heard of most of them, for what that's worth.

It seems to me that at the very high end, the prices are absolutely nothing to do with the costs of underlying components in a large number of cases, and it's hard to imagine they reflect extensive R&D. I think you're right, Rocker, that things are just priced at what the market can bear. There are plenty of rich people out there who'll buy audio bling, but I'm not sure where it leaves the rest of us.

Of course, I'm not sure this has anything to do with the level I'm currently inhabiting. I still think there's value to be had at the lower end of the cost spectrum.

Actually, further to that, have a read of this:

http://www.soundstageglobal.com/index.p ... Itemid=246

I'd have said that almost every product in existence is priced at what the market can bear....

take a Bugatti Veyron.... state of the art... 2.77 million euro

VW make a loss on every one sold....

Well,, it depends really on what one is looking at.

Yep sure there is some kit out there which is commanding crazy prices, not just hi fi but watches, cars, houses, art work, wines the list is endless etc etc.

However if there was no expensive items to buy in the world then there would be no point in earning anything above the average industrial wage.

The reason why there are expensive items I.e a iPhone encrusted with diamonds or the wheels of a Ferrari encrusted with diamonds is because there are very rich people around, and they require items which are seriously expensive, well some of them do anyway, not all. If every watch was the same, every house the same, every artwork the same then why would one bother becoming a millionaire? I mean there would be no point at all.

It's very possible that a diamond encrusted tone arm on a very expensive turntable sounds no better than a RB300 on a Rega planar III.

However paying super high prices or paying WELL OVER THE ODDS does not just occur at the high end in hi fi, it occurs at almost every level in other things.

Take for example a family saloon car for about 41,000 in today's money. What does it mean?

Well does it mean the car is worth 41K? Is the car actually worth 41K? Well let's look at some rough figures....

The dealer has to get a cut... Lets say its 1.5K
Transportation costs, the car has to be shipped to Ireland.... Lets say 400 euro
Revenue duty costs again very variable, but in some cases the Revenue cut can be as high as 33%
VAT then has to be added to the duty levy, ie 23 %
The car manufacturer also has to make a profit... Lets say 2K

Then the car has to be manufactured,

So all in all....... To buy a car which is ACTUALLY ONLY WORTH 23K one has to pay 41K.

But is that it????????????

Well no..........

Because ................

To have 41K in your pocket to buy a car for 41K which is actually only worth 23 K one has to earn close to 65K pay your taxes, your PRSI, THE FRICKEN USC, and so on.

So hi fi may be a rip off at the very high end.... But it's not the only rip off... The example above of earning somewhere north of 65K to buy something actually only worth 23K is a good example of how upside down the world can be.

That's one of the reasons of why I WILL NEVER BUY A NEW CAR in this upside down country.

Unfortunately Ireland is not the worst, in Singapore just to have a permit to own a car one pays thousands of dollars a year, perhaps hundreds of thousands.

So while the figures I have given may not be exact to the nearest euro, they give an idea of just what it takes to engage with the system.

However I do believe in choice... We are not a communist state... & If one wants to pay hundreds of thousands on hi fi or a car, or art, or a house....well if one can afford it, and one wants to... At least one has that choice, even if it makes no logical sense!!

But I do feel sorry for those people who paid huge stamp duty on property recently... And now have to pay the annual property tax. Talk about blood boiling!!! And the greatest insult is that Revenue will tell you what your property is worth.... In their eyes... Regardless if the house next door sold for 100K less.

O.k de turntable is on,,,,,, EL 34's are pumping and only now am I starting to chill.....

Oh yea oh yea.......