[George Hincapie]

Hi! Sent you a PM!

Send me the price too please.

 

[Lokust]

Send me the price too please.

Sent you a PM. Cheers!

 

[Lokust]

The LCD-4 is officially in the Classifieds... I'll never earn much money as a photographer, please excuse the poor-quality pics. Over and out...

 

[LetTheKidsTechno]

The LCD-4 is officially in the Classifieds... I'll never earn much money as a photographer, please excuse the poor-quality pics. Over and out...

What caught your eye at Munich that the 4's went straight to the classifieds?

 

[Lokust]

I tried out the Immanis from Raal 1995; was very impressive. I have a feeling I'll regret selling the 4's, but once you're bitten...

 

[LetTheKidsTechno]

I tried out the Immanis from Raal 1995; was very impressive. I have a feeling I'll regret selling the 4's, but once you're bitten...

Dam, that's called swinging for the fences..! Least its the LCD4 and not one of your kidneys haha. Hope it all works out for you! Immanis sounds like the next level of TOTL cans from the few reviews posted

 

[Lokust]

Dam, that's called swinging for the fences..! Least its the LCD4 and not one of your kidneys haha. Hope it all works out for you! Immanis sounds like the next level of TOTL cans from the few reviews posted

Thanks, sometimes you just kind of go with the haymaker and hope for the best

 

[Recursion]

Dam, that's called swinging for the fences..! Least its the LCD4 and not one of your kidneys haha. Hope it all works out for you! Immanis sounds like the next level of TOTL cans from the few reviews posted

It's price is insane indeed, no matter how good it may end up sounding. It's like $10000, the Susvara was already priced way too high when it launched, but this is the straw that'll break the camels back. We should not accept this at all, or it'll become the new reality for all TOTL headphones in a few years time. We're getting close to the pricing being more like theft this way! What good is TOTL HiFi equipment when it can only be afforded by the lucky few? The number of people able to buy this stuff becomes smaller and smaller this way, until almost nobody can even afford it. It's a sliding scale.

 

[jlbrach]

sadly isnt it that way in terms of TOTL in most every category...how bout cars or watches or wine etc?...in my case I do not own TOTL in anything other than audio

 

[LetTheKidsTechno]

It's price is insane indeed, no matter how good it may end up sounding. It's like $10000, the Susvara was already priced way too high when it launched, but this is the straw that'll break the camels back. We should not accept this at all, or it'll become the new reality for all TOTL headphones in a few years time. We're getting close to the pricing being more like theft this way!

I don't know the bill of materials or the cost to research and develop a headphone like the Immanis, but the "ceiling" for high end product prices is becoming insane. As we all know, diminishing returns hit hard in this hobby. But as long as there's people willing to chase that final 5-10% of performance and fork up the cash to do so, companies will continue to charge a premium. I'll enjoy my LCD4 for the time being, and cheer others on from the sidelines.

 

[Recursion]

I don't know the bill of materials or the cost to research and develop a headphone like the Immanis, but the "ceiling" for high end product prices is becoming insane. As we all know, diminishing returns hit hard in this hobby. But as long as there's people willing to chase that final 5-10% of performance and fork up the cash to do so, companies will continue to charge a premium. I'll enjoy my LCD4 for the time being, and cheer others on from the sidelines.

I realize that, but there's a point at which prices are no longer reasonable for like 99% of the market. Is a $3k profit on each headphone justifiable for example? I'd say absolutely not. While I know that is subjective and different for everyone, it is also just bad for the market as a whole, products can be improved further for lower costs as well, although they might improve at a slower pace. It can take alot of resources to improve already really good stuff, like a Ferrari for example, but it shouldn't break everyone's bank. If we want this hobby to have a long term future, we'd better make sure that the point of entry isn't insanely high and out of reach for most people. Entertainment shouldn't be for just the lucky few, but for all.

Obviously, I'm trying to get people to think about this, which is a good thing, that and discussions are what forums are for. Whether you agree or disagree isn't all that important.

 

[ansel1]

I wonder if those halo products are really bad for the lower end of the market or not though. The lower end stuff has all gotten much better too. And presumably, the crazy stuff they do in the TOTL headphones eventually trickles down.

 

[TheAbyss2022]

The prices of headphones has gotten absolutely insane in the past 15 years.

Sennheiser sort of started this trend with the HD800 which was like over £1,000 at the time of release and people thought that price was insane! I don't think there has ever been a headphone that cost more than one grand other than the Sennheiser Orpheus in the 90s since the HD800 was released.

EDIT: AKG released the K1000 and that was $1200 at the time of release and converted in today's money would be over $3,000!

 

[LetTheKidsTechno]

If we compare the headphone hobby to cars, IMO cans like Immanis, Aperio, HE-1 are like a Bugatti. It's the bleeding edge tech with only a handful made and only a select group of people that can really afford it. You need these companies to push the tech forward in hopes that it will eventually "trickle down", where the cost becomes feasible for a wider audience. The cost of entry a few years ago for TOTL was 3-6k now its pushing 10k for recent releases. I haven't heard the Immanis yet to say whether its "worth it", but the tech behind it is great for our hobby as a whole. It just sucks the barrier for entry to the TOTL market increases year by year.

 

[TheAbyss2022]

If we compare the headphone hobby to cars, IMO cans like Immanis, Aperio, HE-1 are like a Bugatti. It's the bleeding edge tech with only a handful made and only a select group of people that can really afford it. You need these companies to push the tech forward in hopes that it will eventually "trickle down", where the cost becomes feasible for a wider audience. The cost of entry a few years ago for TOTL was 3-6k now its pushing 10k for recent releases. I haven't heard the Immanis yet to say whether its "worth it", but the tech behind it is great for our hobby as a whole. It just sucks the barrier for entry to the TOTL market increases year by year.

Aren't we all to blame for buying these TOTL headphones? if a headphone like the Susvara was not selling well upon release they would have decreased their prices to recoup some money.

I think that in today's world there are a lot more opportunities to make money with the internet, social media, new technology etc. which has subsequently increased the market for these high end headphones, cars, electronics etc. Marketing is a lot easier to reach people today compared to 20-30 years ago and regular people sharing their impressions of products such as this site makes people want to spend money to get a taste/same experience.

I could be wrong but I doubt headphones like the AKG K1000 sold anywhere near to the level of headphones like the Susvara.