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108.34.158.106
Crickets.
My guess is that to move those, the seller will have to start at $2000 and hope a modest bidding war breaks out.
It's a shame, but, they are doing the seller no good right now, and $2000 is $2000.
jm
Follow Ups:
This should happen more often to humiliate these speaker manufacturers who produce over priced junk passing off as SOTA products.
What I see here is nice furniture with two drivers for 16 grand.
Your idea is spot on, lower the price to 2 grand and you get into the realm of the actual worth of this giant coat rack.
This is a good trend, along with John Atkinson's skewering of that $33,000 piece of garbage from NOLA.
Let's end arbitrary pricing in the high end. Let's bring back the notion of value. Let's shame those "pricing to market".
Hi-
I don't think that the people at Peak Consult are making over-priced junk. However, I do think that the business model they are following is (to say the least) no longer working.
If I had a solution, I would be using it to make a lot of money, would I not? So that I cannot, despite literally years of war-gaming the industry, shows that perhaps there is no solution.
By which I mean, the old business model that in theory meant that a brick-and-mortar retailer earned his markup (40 points) by providing a showroom facility and full service before and after the sale. Unfortunately, even in the salad days, a critical mass of B&M dealers competed on price rather than service and became "trunk slammers": "Good luck with the rest of your life!"
A domestic manufacturer would usually give 10% of retail to the rep firm covering the territory, and keep 50%, out of which he has to pay materials, labor, NRE, overhead, taxes, and profits.
A foreign manufacturer is squeezed even more, in that there is an importer who needs 20 points between the manufacturer and the dealer.
So, perhaps the speaker in question would have been a $13,000 or even a $11,000 a pair speaker had it been made in the US.
I have been mentioning in print for at least 10 years that a business plan that in reality reads "Have very few dealers, charge 20% more than the equivalent Wilson Audio speaker, but have 20% less bass impact" is not a recipe for success.
Even Vivid Audio--one of the finest loudspeakers I have ever heard--has had a long slow slog to get traction in North America. Note please, I have the impression that at each tier, Vivid's offering is at or below the price of the nearest in functionality Wilson Audio speaker, and the three Vivid speakers I have had at home were not weak in the bass by any means.
People in New England seem to prefer wood enclosures to painted enclosures, and Aerial Acoustics would appear at first blush to offer better value for money than many imports. Their Model 9 is a three-way with 4 x 7-inch woofers, at $12,500... . Hard cheese for the Peak Consult importer... .
I liked every Peak speaker I ever heard, and some of them were lovely to look at too. But perhaps Sonus Faber was already sitting at that seat at the table.
JM
Just to clarify, I don't believe all the Peak Consult products are overpriced junk. But obviously this model is..maybe junk is too strong a word..but the fact is they can't even give them away...literally.
Next time someone claims Harbeths are "overpriced", especially a fantastic speaker like the 30.1, they need to see this.
I still don't understand the notion of a two way floor stander....what is the point??? All that cabinetry for what?
The market is not always rational in this hobby but sometimes nonsensical designs get punished, as they should.
I have been impressed by Vivid at every show I have heard them. Really great sounding speakers.
Unlike most humans, Vivids never disappoint...
JM
Marketing 101.
First of all, $16k is a lot for a small two-way that is their entry-level model in the lineup, especially when there are alternatives like the Magico S1 selling for quite a bit less. It seems to take an audio press love affair to move a product like that in the US, e.g. Raidho. So I'm not surprised that Peak Consult hasn't done well here. Besides, wasn't Peak Consult imported by Stereovox/Chris Sommovigo before Bluebird? I don't think they are a newcomer to the US market.
Also, $5k would be a great value for new speakers of this quality, if there was some hope for service and support after the sale. But the dealer selling them doesn't carry the line and didn't previously carry the line and as far as I can tell isn't a dealer for any of the brands imported by Bluebird, who the ads say "does not deal with retail consumers". So if the buyer needs any kind of support, they have nobody but Peak Consult to turn to, who might consider this to be a grey market sale. I think this is riskier than you're average used speaker purchase, so this should only appeal to a buyer who has already heard and lusted after Peak Consult speakers but previously couldn't afford a pair.
Even at the "give away" price of $5K.
Given that the speakers contain less than $1000 in parts even $5k seems to be borderline overpriced.
One of my Trombones is currently on Ebay, it's got really tight bass, treble..., not so much.
At the request of the Moderators,
This space has been deleted
nt
Hi, Kal.
I have no doubt about the level of motivation and also the professionalism, and it is painful to watch a new, sealed product from very fine company (I have not heard that exact model, but I wrote about an earlier standmounted speakers of theirs in September 2003) not sell at 30% of its MSRP.
It's a shame, but the fact that (not to single them out) Sonus Faber seems to be doing well selling their Made-in-China Venere line, which do not feature cabinets clad in walnut more than an inch thick, is probably an indicator of where the market is, and where it is staying.
I don't think that there really is room in the collective consciousness (sorry, Dr. Jung) of the well-off of the world for more than six loudspeaker companies in the world making loudspeakers that cost more than $100,000, and I think that the membership rolls of that club closed some time ago. I think that there are 6 or so companies that can keep on keepin' on, and that the rest are on the outside looking in.
There's Wilson Audio and Sonus Faber and Egglestonworks (who get onto the list largely for the association with Bob Ludwig) and perhaps Dynaudio for the Evidence Master) and Focal and MBL and Magico and Tidal and T&A and Verity and YG--even McIntosh has a $100,000+ speaker.
So, I think there are too many companies making $100,000/pr. speakers because they think they can or they think they have to. Not because there is proven demand. Peak Consult has two models in their line in Stereophile's annual guide that are priced over $100,000, yet they can't sell a $16,300 speaker at 70% off list in this market.
NB, I left off the list companies with no real US footprint who are just publicizing bragging rights; if you don't have dealers in the US showing the speaker as far as I am concerned, it does not exist for the US market.
NB2, I left off Wilson Benesch because the US MSRP of their top of the line (pictured) is $99,500.
So, a perne in a gyre, a perne in a gyre... .
Or, if you prefer, a business model on the edge of a vortex... .
JM
$16,000 is not crazy these days though so perhaps the market heard it and said no way does that compete with other $16,300 loudspeakers.
Apparently it doesn't compete with $5,000 speakers either.
I also don't think the brand recognition is remotely there compared to the likes of a Sonus Faber so it is also arguable that people simply don;t know the product nearly as well and would be hesitant to buy it - deal or not great reviews or not. 80% of everything that gets a great review I don;t like. 10% of the remaining 20% is still stuff I wouldn't want.
Any speaker that can;t be driven off a SET amp is already in the X marks the junk pile.
And there's a web site that lists about 200 speakers(not 200 manufacturers) for $100,000 and more.
I was observing that the lack of interest, even at 70% discount, probably explains why the seller has not been able to move them at regular price and has been forced to so brutally discount his stock. In this case, it likely due to the lack of market presence for this line which is quite fine. I have been impressed with the models I have heard.
However, speakers selling for $100K/pair really do not interest me (partly because I would need 2.5 pairs) and I find it hard to care much about such a niche.
Yes, only a subset of Stereophile readers will remember a speaker maker whose product was in a 4-way tie for an award, about 10 years ago... .
But that in turn I think is related to the fact that as far as I can tell, at any given moment, only a small minority of Stereophile's readers are actively in the hunt for new loudspeakers. And when you are hunting for new loudspeakers, a brand (however fine, and Wes Phillips agreed with both of us, back in the day) that most people have not heard of and even fewer have heard, can die on the vine even with Draconian discounts.
The fact that Peak Consult makes $100,000+ loudspeakers did not save their bacon in this case, which is why I went on at length questioning the business model that making a $150,000 loudspeaker helps sell a $15,000 loudspeaker.
It would be interesting to hear these versus the KEF LS50... .
Ciao,
John
He is more likely selling them on consignment. Ebay will get 10% and Paypal 3% of total sale. I have bought from him in the past and he is a stand up guy.
... they are nothing more than horribly expensive 2-way speakers, without much of a bass extension, or any kind of "household name".
I wouldn't be surprised if, as you say, they would have to lower the starting bid. It is my opinion that listing such items on eBay is not really a great idea, despite the deceivingly greater exposure - it's the exposure to a wrong audience.
Is this a joke or a scam? The whole relationship between distributor and seller sounds bogus. The speaker description leave me with no feelings whatsoever they are worth more than maybe a grand. Virtually no specs, snake oil sounding wiring.
If this was legit and I were a dealer for the line, I would have the distributor on the carpet and before a firing squad quickly. It totally undercuts the "value" of a dealer's inventory. New, unopened, no disclaimer of warranty. If normal markups as with most speaker companies a dealer will pay more than the opening price. A legitimate distributor would just offer the pair to its dealer network.
If I were an owner,.especially having bought them recently, I would be blowing steam knowing the distributor may have just screwed the resale value.
Don Brian Levy, J.D.
Toronto ON Canada
The line has lost its distribution and the distributor does not have an eBay account, so he asked a trusted dealer to try to cut his losses.
Scroll down while looking for "Peak Consult."
A sad story, but as far as I know, not a crooked one.
I of course do not vouch for them, but I know the distributor, the dealer, and the loudspeaker manufacturer, at least to say hi to.
So, calm down, I say.
I put this up to illustrate my ongoing point about the ongoing Entropic Heat Death of High End Audio Retailing in an Age of Imbalance.
jm
16k for a pair of 5" 2 way? The ridiculous pricing is what is killing high end audio.
Yup. The larger Peak Consult model I heard sounded great until I saw the price!
It seems unlikely that gene rubin would be selling "illegitimate" speakers or that the listing is a joke or a scam. I have heard other peak consult speakers and they are all superb albeit pricey and very heavy. I don't think this is the first case of a dealer selling high end speakers on ebay. I think a serious buyer would and should contact gene to discuss any issues such as those you mentioned. Maybe someone will get a great deal but in the end value is in the ears of the beholder.
and has a well earned reputation.
However someone there REALLY needs to work on their math skills:
"Your shipping will total double of whatever the ebay calculator states. Example: If ebay says shipping to you is $150, your total will actually be $130."
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
'High End" audio, a sure fire way to loose 80% of your hard earned money.
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