Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share your ideas and experiences.
Return to Planar Speaker Asylum
174.96.74.162
In Reply to: RE: Capital Audio Fest Nov 10-12, 2023 posted by MarcL on November 11, 2023 at 03:49:21
.
Follow Ups:
LMAO!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously this is WAY too funny!I've listened to inmates on this board moan for YEARS asking Magnepan to make a premium version of their speakers. And I have mentioned more than once the reality of doing such a thing. It is going to be EXPENSIVE! Beyond material costs there are all kinds of other over head costs. Additional space for inventory, additional SKU numbers in their accounting systems, etc., etc.
Well now they have done it and yes just as I said it is expensive. This is a real company building real products not DIYer's, hobbyist that have hours, days, weeks to tinker around and modify their speakers.
And costs for materials have exploded. As an example Cardas binding posts costs have exploded since COVID. I am paying 4 times the price I paid 10 years ago. I can't beat up Cardas the price of Rhodium, as an example, has exploded it is more valuable than gold. I am sure all their other materials costs have gone up significantly as well. I could give you dozens of other examples for my material costs since COVID.
Those that moan about all of this show a lack of understanding about the realities of manufacturing and the huge increase in material, transportation costs.
Edits: 11/27/23
Inflation has been with us for a long time it is nothing new. Inflation only accounts for part of the picture.
In 1980 when I bought my first Magnepan inflation was a whopping 14%! And through out the 1980s it declined to levels that are about like today. While we saw a big short term jump in inflation, predictable given COVID, it just as quickly dropped and is still dropping.
Magnepan has done an incredible job over time staying ahead of inflation. 1980 SMG $395 retail would now be about $1295-$1395 retail and yet the LRS is $995.
I was at Rutgers and had to move out of the dorm because I couldn't afford it.
So I slept in my Volkswagen Van in the parking lot and took showers sneaking back into the dorms. It was extremely cold, but I survived. It sucked big time.
Now many people are experiencing Bidenomics. Consider yourself very fortunate not to have to experience anything like this, although it can also become worse. So far in the last year everyday has slowly gotten worse.
In all fairness, the inflation was worldwide. It's now coming under control.
People assume a president has more power over the economy than he has.
please note that I did not blame the President
Edits: 12/01/23
Funny, the reason we still have some residual inflation is because folks are still spending money enthusiastically. And most objective economic indicators are looking positive. Your statement doesn't hold water. We have nothing even resembling a disaster.
Best of all, for us savers, saving money is now very worthwhile.
Mark in NC
"The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains" -Paul Simon
in the lingo, my statement holds a shit load of water. I've gone from poor to lower class years ago to upper middle, then digressed to lower middle now.
Inflation can go to zero and the prices for most anything will not recede.
You don't know anything about my situation, or my neighbors, or my friends and what they say either. You can believe anything you want of course.
But you must live in a bubble, good for you
weird you are saying things are slowly getting worse this year when gas is at a yearly low right now and that means other things are trending down.
![]()
Cut to razor sounding violins
that's for me and others who are sharing the same thing. Middle class Boomer types.
The media is one thing, experience in certain places says another
So you lived in a van down by the river? :). Sorry. That must have been rough. Did you get thru it?
of course I did. It was the Livingston campus.
It was only for one semester but it was the winter. Damn it got cold at night but I survived and painted houses in the summer and got an apartment in Bound Brook afterward.
Wow. We were pretty resilient as kids. And yes ...- I knew you weren't still living in a van...- stupid question on my part. :).
Wow. We were pretty resilient as kids. And yes ...- I knew you weren't still living in a van...- stupid question on my part. :).
....like most folks who own a car for 7-8 years and then wander into a new car dealership only to see a newer version of their car going for double/triple their original cost.Not to give Magnepan any ideas but their 30x @ $55K seems like peanuts compared to the Wilson Chronosonic @ $300K
I had the opportunity to hear brand new MG 20.1 and Wilson Audio Alexandria's (both company's flagships at the time) side by side at my dealer back in 2002, the 20's were going for around (I think) $15K, the Alexandria's North of $100K. Not gonna say which one sounded better, both had their unique signature sound but if I had to pick one it would've easily taken the Maggies hands down and used the remaining $85K on gear.
I'm guessing almost 25 years later the margins for each company's flagships are still on par with today's flagships.
Edits: 11/27/23 11/28/23 11/29/23
Yes people need to keep up with the times. It was the notion that Magnepan's pricing was 'outrageous' that got me laughing. It is not.
I stumbled into my local hi-fi emporium around 1980 and discovered the Magnepan. I had never heard or seen anything like them before. After a few more visits I bought my first Magnepan the recently released SMG. As I recall they were $395/pair.
In 2023 dollars that makes them about $1,300. The LRS at $995? A bargain.
I kept the SMG for about a week and decided I wanted a pair of MGIIB instead. They retailed for $995 or about $3.3K in today's dollar.
Beyond exceptional performance Magnepan has always represented exceptional value. Even with ever increasing material, transportation and labor costs Magnepan continues to maintain an excellent price to performance ratio.
high end gear in general which was once mainstream has now become specialized, esoteric products.When I was 11 years old I remember drooling over hifi gear when seen in downtown department stores, catalogs and magazines.
Home theater systems once considered the evil step-child of high end audio has quietly exited stage left.
Fast fwd to today, it seems like today's kids are quite content with melting their eardrums with earbuds and blue tooth soundbars completing a perfect 180 reversion back to single speaker systems.
Edits: 12/01/23
I hear the next president is going to bring down the price of Magnepans...-.😀
Nt.
Mark in NC
"The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains" -Paul Simon
rationality and perspective to the issue. Yes, the "X" mod is not cheap, for the reasons mentioned, and this should be a good incentive for people to do these mods themselves. If you're unable to do so, then that's what you're paying for, to have these mods done for you.
Mark in NC
"The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains" -Paul Simon
Thanks!
And I haven't even gotten started on labor. You know actual people that do this stuff? I know, I know they should do this for nothing. I mean come on minimum wage is like $7.25 hour right?
Look at the spec's they are quoting for matching of components. Wow! This takes time a lot of time. I doubt the typical DIYer is matching this way. Nearly impossible. Do you know many caps, coils, etc. you have to buy to match to this level of tightness? Perhaps they can get the supplier to do this for them but again that will cost money someone has got do this stuff.
Magnepan is an amazing company always has been. Rather that complaining about all this everyone should be rejoicing!
(spoken in a old timer's voice:) I remember MMG's at $399, 1.6's at $1450, when I see the 1.7's at $5K I shudder.
Seems like everything has doubled post COVID, I"m sure raw materials are no exception.
![]()
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: