[scootermafia]

And the battle begins.

 

[Uncle Erik]

*readies popcorn*

Scootermafia, there's a school of thought that believes the power supply is the most important part of an amp. I agree, since it's been my experience that the better power supplies deliver the best sound. Some people look for tube rolling opportunities, but I look for chokes and tube rectification.

 

[scootermafia]

Yeah, I'm starting to believe and I'll know for sure when my sigma-11 arrives, although it goes without saying.

 

[bakercj93]

There seems to be a lot of outrage here with little regard for economics. In determining the value of a final product, the sum cost of the parts matters about as much as the color of the box it's shipped in. If someone produced a cure for cancer in pill form with $0.25 worth of ingredients, would that pill be worth $0.25? I'm guessing a bit more, as some people would be willing to pay more.

The Grado RA1 is worth exactly as much as people are willing to pay for it. There's nothing unethical about that. If they were the type of company that sold it for less than that simply because of the sum of its parts, then they probably wouldn't still be in business after all this time.

 

[gp_hebert]

Is the Grado RA-1 a good value? Probably not, but it's their right to sell the product for the price they want and there's nothing unethical in that, it's just the way our economy works.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik Not all amps are original works of art. Many on the market are either blatantly copied or slightly reworked versions of designs long in the public domain. There are a few companies that put out original designs but it's mostly the DIY crowd and a handful of amp fiends who know the difference. The irony is those who recycle designs tend to be the biggest self-promoters while demanding top dollar for their products. Those who design often put their designs into the public domain - look at how many designs Kevin Gilmore has given us. Or Pete Millett, or several other talented designers. There is value in running a company, putting your capital out to build a product, honoring warranties, and so on. I'm not criticizing that, it takes time, money, effort, and talent to run a business. But don't give the businessmen credit for something they didn't do. If they're just recycling, then it's simply a commodity and should be priced as such.

Best post so far in this thread. Some people here find it outrageous that the RA-1 is nothing more than a recycled Cmoy, but in reality 99% of the "state of the art" amps are nothing but recycled designs that sometimes have been created more than 40 years ago.

 

[goorackerelite]

"Good artists borrow, great artists steal" - picasso

I guess once the idea is out there, you can really only take it and refine it and hope for the best.

I had no idea that the RA-1 can solicit great amounts of controversy like it's doing here. But I guess in the end it's the people who ultimately decide if the amp is worth it or not, the common consensus here is that it's not worth the sum of it's parts.

 

[mape00]

I wouldn't care if Grado charged $1,000,000 for the RA1. I'm not a commie - they're free to charge whatever they want. I just think $600 for one of the cheapest cmoy designs possible is a bad deal and that it's fascinating that people actually buy it. I'd really like to meet the genius at Grado who came up with the idea to put the cheapest, simplest amp they could think of in a nice wooden box and sell it for $600. They have got to be laughing hard for every RA1 sale. Sure, people fall for stupid deals all the time, but this is almost bordering on performance art.

 

[cegras]

They're piggybacking off their name, that's all.

 

[Benaiir]

Keep in mind you're paying for their hard work (In the RA1's case that's bullsiht). For example; Photoshop CS4 is several hundreds of dollars, along with several others pieces of software. Also, do you seriously think it cost Beyerdynamics over a hundred dollars to make their finest headphone? No. They're plastic, drivers, velour pads, and several other small components.

 

[scootermafia]

Well yeah, as I said, it's a trick...if the seller of your beloved headphones has a "matching" product that looks just like it and is allegedly intended for it, and has a high cost that indicates a high value...then you are coerced into thinking it is the right one if you are not shown alternatives.

 

[gp_hebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scootermafia /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well yeah, as I said, it's a trick...if the seller of your beloved headphones has a "matching" product that looks just like it and is allegedly intended for it, and has a high cost that indicates a high value...then you are coerced into thinking it is the right one if you are not shown alternatives.

If the buyer doesn't do his homework in looking for alternatives, then it's his problem if he pays 500$ for a glorified Cmoy.

 

[atbglenn]

LOL I can't believe we're still on the RA-1 argument. Look, we all have our opinions, and they're all valid. To me, the RA-1 is a bad joke of an amplifier made with crap parts at a ridiculously high price . But that's just my opinion.

 

[Juaquin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atbglenn /img/forum/go_quote.gif Would you pay $450 for this??

That's horrific. My piddly Cmoy probably outperforms it and is better built.

 

[MaZa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benaiir /img/forum/go_quote.gif Keep in mind you're paying for their hard work (In the RA1's case that's bullsiht). For example; Photoshop CS4 is several hundreds of dollars, along with several others pieces of software. Also, do you seriously think it cost Beyerdynamics over a hundred dollars to make their finest headphone? No. They're plastic, drivers, velour pads, and several other small components.

Yeah, but designing a headphone and making it sound GOOD is not an easy task. Otherwise all those chinafakeheadphones would also sound good because of the parts used. No, amps and headphones cannot be compared that way really...