That's another great reason to make them $20-$40K.
The exclusivity raises their resale value.
Quads are a great example of this.
Used Quads cost nearly as much as they did ten or twenty years ago.
And of course, there are some boutique horns from the 60s that cost more now than they did fifty years ago.
Another interesting thing about Quads is that you can't find 'em used at any price. I just checked on Craigslist and every single hit on the first page was 'sold':
https://www.google.com/search?q=site:craigslist.org+quad+esl
Basically it's a lot easier to sell someone a $50,000 speaker if you can convince them that it's an "investment".
The value of an investment depends on supply and demand.
You can't influence the demand side of the equation too much, but you CAN influence the supply side.
Lowering the supply via raising the price increases the net value of the asset.
This is true of anything, from cars to houses to gems. (Just ask DeBeers.)
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he just said You can't influence the demand side of the equation too much
This isn't really accurate- the change in distribution includes a shift of the hump to the left, keeping real dollars (inflation adjusted household income) on X axis and population on Y, and a ever lengthening tail to the right of the curve.
Insanity
The hyperbolae dog does not hunt well for the entire Audio industry, but its use continues unabated as if it were sufficient substitute for good product design.
If the product footprint is large, and carries with it an ugly, ascetic visual signature, it won’t sell, no matter how it is characterized. This is an, if it is heard, it must be beautiful if seen as well, market.
Until design and marketing practices undergo a significant change, the general public will continue to buy ‘Bose-Like’ products, hyperbolae or not.
Regards,
WHG
The hyperbolae dog does not hunt well for the entire Audio industry, but its use continues unabated as if it were sufficient substitute for good product design.
If the product footprint is large, and carries with it an ugly, ascetic visual signature, it won’t sell, no matter how it is characterized. This is an, if it is heard, it must be beautiful if seen as well, market.
Until design and marketing practices undergo a significant change, the general public will continue to buy ‘Bose-Like’ products, hyperbolae or not.
Regards,
WHG
It's actually quite easy:
-create another product and stop selling the current one.
NEVER compare the old product to the new one, always declare the new product in the most general term of "years of design evolution".
That new product must include substantial differences: Design/Engineering, Execution/Quality, and substantially improved Aesthetics.
All 3 are subject to the market's expectation, NOT actual improvements (substantial or other-wise). If you don't know what the market requires here, hire someone that does. It's not about "best" or "value" (or "elegant design") as *you* know it, but rather about what the market demands for a certain price segment.
Guys, there is a key point that you are ALL missing. I want to retire, you know, do less, not more.
John, do you not think that people will see through changing a $50 compression driver to a $100 one and charging $2000 more. I really don't want to do that.
There are a handful of people who want performance, performance, and performance, in that order. That's all the bigger my market is no matter how you want to twist it around.
I know that completely changing my approach and doing a ton more work could result in a great deal more sales - who cares. I don't.
Hey all you young energetic hotshots out there - wanna make some money? I can show you how. Just don't ask me to do it.
(Boy, everybody's a businessman, as long as its your business, your money and your risk.)
John, do you not think that people will see through changing a $50 compression driver to a $100 one and charging $2000 more. I really don't want to do that.
There are a handful of people who want performance, performance, and performance, in that order. That's all the bigger my market is no matter how you want to twist it around.
I know that completely changing my approach and doing a ton more work could result in a great deal more sales - who cares. I don't.
Hey all you young energetic hotshots out there - wanna make some money? I can show you how. Just don't ask me to do it.
(Boy, everybody's a businessman, as long as its your business, your money and your risk.)
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There is a superb video about income distribution in the US. What people think it should be, what they think it is now and what it actually is. None of those are even remotely close to one another. I linked this video on my Facebook page if you want to hunt it out.
Indeed- while we're going a little far off topic, the "It's okay" attitude in the USA is very harmful. Societies with distribution like ours tend to collapse or have MAJOR criminality issues. We're already the most incarcerated in the world, at great expense that would be better served going to education to push that normal distribution bump back to the middle of the income range, instead of far to the left.
Last place on earth I would ever go, if you think 1% of the US population could/would drop $50,000 on speakers alone (without thinking) you are interpreting the statistics poorly. Wow, 3 million customers for $100k plus systems.
Could/Would are two different things. Certainly in the USA, 50k is a more manageable expense for the 1% bracket than 1k would be for the 50% percentile. It's a question of capital mobility as much as income disparity- the 50%er lives paycheck to paycheck, and likely doesn't have a home to borrow against. While there are high income people with horrendously wasteful habits, they're not "stuck" with having a difficult time getting ahead, they're just hedonistic, which is fundamentally different. The Speaker cost/income ratio may be higher for that bracket when comparing 50k/1k speakers to 250k/50k incomes, but that doesn't mean it's less accessible. Numbers can lie, and fixed expenses are vastly higher for the 50k income, proportionally, unless the 250k is a fool.
If you can live one year selling one set, wouldn't it be great? Lots of systems like that can support expense of hiring one sales just selling one system a year.
Status quo of the 1% controlling the show is paradigm of endless resource, infinitely exploitable expendable population, and endless growth. Rome has never burned so brightly.
The old paradigm is broken, controlled implosion is not likely. Retirement of the masses will not be pretty, it never has.
True wealth is the living embodiment of knowledge. Stationary assets have no real value, and rot like fruit left on the vine.
The poor may not know how rich the rich really are; but too many of the rich have no sense of the stewardship they must command for continuity of humanity. American brand of conservatism has lost sight of this, blinding staring into unabated greed.
Earl,
Humanity needs better waveguides, with much better directivity.
Let the music play.
The old paradigm is broken, controlled implosion is not likely. Retirement of the masses will not be pretty, it never has.
True wealth is the living embodiment of knowledge. Stationary assets have no real value, and rot like fruit left on the vine.
The poor may not know how rich the rich really are; but too many of the rich have no sense of the stewardship they must command for continuity of humanity. American brand of conservatism has lost sight of this, blinding staring into unabated greed.
Earl,
Humanity needs better waveguides, with much better directivity.
Let the music play.