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In Reply to: RE: Sense Free Perception posted by jedrider on May 09, 2016 at 12:36:10
Of course, we are a WEALTHIER society.
Yes. Why the misery?
And the middle class is not "disappearing".
Means zilch when an Audio Research type of company has to reach for the top of the top tier of society only.
Reality continues to differ with your perception. The cost of really good sound continues to go down (yes, trickle down benefits are quite evident) so the benchmark for top tier companies like ARC continue to move upwards.
btw: Somehow I screwed up the original hyperlink to Pew Research in my previous post. Now it's functional if you have any interest in facts.
Follow Ups:
Nothing against Audio Research actually. I like the look of their equipment and it IS a lot more sophisticated that it use to be and, of course, has to cost more.
However, the trend to chase the 0.1%, I'm afraid, will have consequences.
ARC gear has never been inexpensive it has never really been entry level. ARC has always positioned itself to be SOTA performance and those kind of price tags. Their flagship Reference products are quite affordable compared to the competition about 1/2 the cost or less of competing designs.
Companies go where the market goes if they wish to survive. I was at ARC in Jan. 2012 shortly after they discontinued the VS-60 power amp their entry level amp around $4K. I asked why? There had always been an ARC basic 60-70watt amp at an affordable price at least by ARC standards. The reply? They weren't selling any of them. Stereophile component of the year great little amp but nobody was buying. Not much sense to build a budget amp if they aren't going to sell.
A few months later they introduce the REF75. Same basic circuit as the VS-60 I imagine but with a bigger power supply, fancier parts, fancier PCB, a little more output and two way cool power/bias meters on the front. $9K more than twice the price of the VS-60. They cannot build them fast enough.
Market forces. ARC would build more affordable gear and has in the past but the typical ARC buyer wants the flagship products. This is the situation many hi-end companies face these days.
However, the trend to chase the 0.1%, I'm afraid, will have consequences.
Hmmm. The income threshold for the top 0.1% in the US is $1.6M per year.
I think you'll find that there are many ARC customers whose earnings don't come close to that - like me!
The 0.1% IS pulling away from the rest of us.
Sort of confirmed my 'rentier' hypothesis in spades, doesn't it?
your envy.
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