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Can someone please tell me why one would pay $18000 for a pair of Wilson 7s (a company that keeps introducing new models, apparently to distract their customers from the shortcomings of previous versions) when one can pay under $5000 for a pair of VMPS RM-40s or Osborn Monuments instead?
This is not a troll. Is spending $$ really all 'relative' meaning it's all a brand charade? I thought the free market was supposed to separate the good values from the poor values, why is the speaker market so all over the place and why is the audio press so bad at comparing value?
BTW I have heard the Wilsons sound good at NYC hi-fi show, just wondering whether either of the options mentioned, or any others, would have sounded just as good.
Follow Ups:
"I thought the free market was supposed to separate the good values from the poor values"Not free market, its free marketing.
Less expensive gear is more competitive within their price range.
I don't have an issue with people who buy ridiculously expensive speakers or companies willing to charge those kinds of prices. It's a free market which means the consumer and producer both have the right to be insane.Some people just have a LOT of money and they want "The best that money can buy". Because of marketing and hype, they are convinced that those Wilsons will suit their listening rooms just as well as those Bentleys suit their driveways.
I did some extended listening tests to a Theta/Rowland/Wilson setup. It was probably one of the most "accurate", revealing systems I've ever listened to. Every detail of a recording, good or bad, was ruthlessly etched out. Good recordings sounded good and bad recordings of music I loved were rendered unworthy and unlistenable. It was simultaneously one of the least musical, least involving systems I ever listened to.
Would I have paid umpteen thousand dollars for that system? Heck no!
Would I have paid one thousand dollars for that system? No, Thanks!
Some people just don't get it. They listen for the "sound". They want "accuracy". Maybe they are audiophiles in the truest sense of the word: the pursuit of perfect audio reproduction. The ones who get it simply want to connect more closely to the music they love and after enough searching, they realize that there are great values to be found out there, at almost any price point.
The only bad thing about the Uber-high-end is that people with a mild interest in this hobby are left with the impression that nothing under $10,000 is worth owning and are scared away.
-Mike...
Buyer psychology is a funny thing.The classic marketing story is the maker of an adult beverage (gin or vodka I think) who raised the price, and sales went up. You can price a product too low, surprisingly, as it creates the perception that maybe the desirable qualities aren't there. This especially applies with luxury, highly discretionary products.
"I have the money, I want the best, I'll spend what I need to." The key difference is that the audiophile has a different attitude towards best than a consumer with money.
By the way ... the lack of perfect markets is why you still have a chance against the big guys on Wall Street. The stock market has a psychology too. Maybe it comes down to spending money is ultimately about the need to express or fulfill a felt need.
about the expressing needs thing. i personally have spent thousands unecessarily in audio to express needs that had nothing to do with equipment...now to find what exactly they had to do with, that's the trick! Cheers
Tom
and thanks for the thoughtful replies all
And you know it!- The price performance ratio between $10 and $5000 is not the same as $5000 to $20,000.
Cut-Throat
good sound is free, just turn off the equipment and listen to someone singing in the streets (or do so yourself)
Experts have told us for years that aspirin is aspirin, yet we get bombarded daily with ads that claim aspirin superiority of certain brands.People believe things that aren't always true. Audiophiles are not exempt from this.
Cut-Throat
Well, the Wilson’s have a coated, vacuum sealed crossover that meshes the electronic signals, enhancing the sound and thereby is worth the money. The Krell’s have aluminum enclosures eliminating vibration and adding a sheen to the sound unlike any other. The Merlin’s have super duper automotive paint on the MDF. The B&W’s use bullet proof drivers. It’s all marketing – although the above products are very well made. If customers are willing to pay the price – God bless them.
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