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Yesterday, I left a $750 item out at the curb,...

Posted by Bambi B on July 7, 2006 at 11:29:22:
EdM,
There's no question that audio seems disproportionately expensive- I just can't conceive why a power cord plug should cost $175- Rhodium, gold or not, and the power cord therefore $800- but the materials and labour does not seem to be justified. For some reason I find power cords seem the most "unreasonably" costly audio items.
However, the more I look into the cost of design and refinement of audio stuff- and I spoke to Ray Kimber about the wire business and the $XXX,XXX a wire braiding machine costs- plus the years of experiment, etc. I begin to have glimmer of what costs are like. Ray Kimber demonstrated his IsoMike recording techinique- which I don;lt think has produced significant finanacial return, and I know that just one set of four microphones he uses (Neumann M150)- among several- must have cost him over $20,000 and the playback system for demonstration is listed on the show flyer as "$198,730.00" I think it costs Ford a Billion or two before they ever sell one of a new model. This is true in the kind of manufactured items like your kitchen stuff, but they sell thousands and are done on assembly lines. I remember a comment that the milspec main board on the ARC SP10 cost over $500 without any compnents on it- just board and tracings. And tubes require huge investment and control of metallurgy, chemistry, and glass blowing, making extreme vacuums etc. Again, we sceam when Western Electric plans to charge $350 for one KT88- but there's ten years and probably Millions+ into that project.
But audio can be extremely good value if a person is careful. I balked at spending $3600 for a preamp in 1987 (ARC SP10) but 20 years I still have it but they sell today for up to $3200. There's maintenance and so on but $400 for 20 years use of such an amazing piece of gear that's $20 per year !
Other things are not such good value of course and especially digital technology that changes so often. Yesterday, I put my previous computer monitor- a 19" Viewsonic that cost $750 in 1999 out at the curb. I tried to sell it for $25 on Craig's list and even my old radio station wouldn't take it as a gift- a big CRT is too desk hogging.
Buying the best and sticking with it, careful shopping- and avoidance of anything digital- seems to make high end aceeptable !
Cheers,
Bambi B