Will the head-fi hobby go the "Excess is Best" route?

like it hasn't already?

I hope no one's stupid enough to spend $100,000 on headphones.

 

Then again I think it's silly to spend $5000 on headphones when there are speakers out there, but people do that, so...

We've already got headphones and amps a little over $5,000 each. Stax SR-009 + Blue Hawaii SE and Sennheiser Orpheus HE90 + HEV90 come to mind. I don't think anything's going to stop the trend of increasingly expensive headphone equipment.

 

But who's to say that you can't enjoy lower-priced gear? It's all about what you're playing through them in the end, right?

The hobby will be ruined only for those people who can't enjoy what they have in the knowledge that there might be something better out there.  But after you've heard enough gear, you know price has very little to do with performance after a certain point.  I owned the ES1 + HE90, and am infintely happier now with the more modest rig I have.  In fact, having more high quality choices out there will only drive innovation as other companies try to create something better at a lower price point.  The presence of million dollar speakers hasn't ruined the hobby either.

 

Whether headphones are worth $5,000 or $10,000 or even $1,000 is a completely different topic.  I am now down to about 2% headphone listening because I enjoy listening to my speaker rigs so much than to any headphones.  I remember when I started here, people kept talking about how headphones provide a much better value, and I bought into that without testing that proposition.  It took me 7 years to realize how wrong it is (for me, my ears, etc.).  My bookshelf speakers cost me $1100 (Usher BE-718 bought locally on Audiogon) and sound infinitely better to me than any headphone I've ever heard, including the HE90, Sony Qualia, Omega II, etc., even when driven by a cheap integrated like a Musical Fidelity A1 ($800 on Audiogon).

Audiophilia as a hobby is an excess, even if you have a "budget" system.

I agree with Mr. Mickelson completely. 

 

I've been saying the same thing. This ridiculous quest for an extra 1% and plunking down $1000s of dollars for it is ridiculous and only encourages the boutique world to keep releasing more and more expensive headphones.

Agree completely.

 

People need to remember this -- headphone is just an "accessory", no matter how good it is. 
 

 

I think its actually going the other way , if STAX built BHSE  twenty years ago the price would be like $25K if not more.

In the end it all about economics as long as someone pay the price there always will be market for  $$$ gear.  I also think that folks who collect watches in dozens at $10k a piece are crazy but thats cuz I can't afford to do the same thats all.  If some one have money and crazy enough to pay $100K for a headphone then good for him.

Having said that I listen to my ATH- ES7 90% of the time.

Edited by vvs_75 - 10/26/11 at 4:40am

I thought it had already gone that way, and the sensationalists with deep pockets started throwing money at the equipment with the highest sampling rate and bit depth.

I'm quite new in this hobby and I'm already "dragged" to the $1000 mark (IEMs only) + ~$200 on speakers. I think I should take a break from Head-Fi. The motto "Welcome to Head-Fi and sorry about your wallet" isn't a myth at all. 

actually Dr Gilmore did design the BH with the Stax T2 in mind, can't quickly find a definitive price but may have been about the same as today's BHSE price depending on exchange rates, inflation assumptions

 

I see some suggesting a T2 today would be ~$8000

Edited by jcx - 10/26/11 at 3:31pm

Mikhail sold electrostatic amps for $20k++, and, it did not ruin the hobby. Maybe hopes are dashed, and dreams are crushed, but the hobby has grown exponentially over the last ten years, and shows absolutely no signs of retrenching. Technology is marching on all fronts, making endless options available now that did not exist just a few years ago.

 

As the technology expands, the trickle down makes the entire experience better... and, there is no Moore's Law that says the incremental performance should always be cheaper.

 

Moores law doesn't say anything about processors and other chips getting cheaper. All it says is that the number of transistors in a given area will double every 18 months. Price has fallen due to competition and performance based solely on objective benchmarks. Things the world of audiophiledom definitely lacks

Depending on who you ask, there are people who might think paying $50+ a month for a cellphone service is excessive. IMO, there's no excess spending, just excessive spending behavior.

Edited by jenneth - 10/26/11 at 3:04pm