Audeze LCD3 Initial Impression

[cavedave]

That is not for me to say. As someone else said what ever the market will bear. It is to bad that this is the way most people sell their producs. They sell them for what they think you or others are willing to pay. I am old enough to remenber a time when you bought something it was worth what you paid for it. Sadly that time is past never to be seen again. Now it is all about mkae me happy and make me rich no matter what it cost. Dog eat dog and many of us our the dogs lunch. I paid the price for the LCD2 and am very content with them. Are they worth a 1000$ ? No. so may have no conception of what work and money is any more. I guess because most have it given to them by Dad or the state. Any way I like my headphones but would never spend 2000$ on something that is just not worth it in the first place. I guess for those who spend more time listening to the equipment and not the music go for it. You might as well spend the money now in a year from now things will be very diffrent and all this high priced stuff will be bargin basement stuff.
 
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Cf. "asking price is way out of line": What should the MSRP have been?

 

 

[cavedave]

I do not need the thoughts someone else has on a product to say if I believe the price is fair or not. Someone reviewing a product does not make fairness right or wrong. Many who review others products have a stake in the out come and slant the review in such a way. If you think the LCD3 is worth 2000$ then to you that is a good deal. No problem. Someone else may think that most of the stuff people are selling now a days is way over priced. I tend to agree. I have a set of LCD2 and there is nothing short of gold plated drivers and diamond studs in the grills that would cause me to buy a pair that is 1000$ more then what I have already spent. But if you have the cash and nothing better to do with it go for it. Some people have to buy food and stuff like that also.
 
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With the greatest respect, it is surely premature to state this as "fact". It hasn't even been released yet, and nor do we have a full scale, in-home review. Once we have a few reviews and in-home impressions from early adopters (not me!!!), we can make a fairer call on this...

 

 

 

[106099]

that's true, many hi end speaker cables or even interconnects can cost easily more than a pair of SR-009.  And this is for one cable.  LOL
 

 
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These are all relative. I know a Hi-fi friend - every cable in his system is at the same price or much more expensive than the SR009. He never listened to headphones. I suggested him get himself a set of SR009 with Stax amp and after he did, he was very happy. He thanked me and told me it was a "great bargain".

 
 

 

[Argo Duck]

Completely true. But, the way I interpret the reviews is not "you should buy this 'phone" but "this is how this 'phone compares to x, y or z". From the latter, one might decide a price is "fair" or not, in relation to other products in the market.
 
Of course, whether it is "fair" per se is another matter. This is your point I think, and - well, I think you are probably right. But we're a crazy lot anyway. As pointed out on one of the other threads, 99.99% of people would think $995 is a crazy price...
 
Cheers
 
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I do not need the thoughts someone else has on a product to say if I believe the price is fair or not. Someone reviewing a product does not make fairness right or wrong. Many who review others products have a stake in the out come and slant the review in such a way.<snip>

 

 

[AudioDwebe]

I really don't understand the complaints about the price/performance being tossed about this thread. 
 
Anyone who's been into high end audio for more than a minute knows that one pays HUGE chunks of change for that last, minute, subtle increase in performance.  And if you're new to high end audio, "Welcome to the realities of the high end."
 
No amount of whining about it will change it.  There will ALWAYS be people willing to pay the price of admission.  If that person isn't you (for whatever the reason), be happy with what you've got and the realization that you're more than likely already 90-95% of the way there, regardless of your "modest" equipment.
 
People in high end audio routinely make a mountain out of a molehill.  So take all the fabulous reviews (I'm sure) you'll read in the future with a grain of salt.  A very large grain of salt!
 
Cheers.

 

[cavedave]

Yes I also agree with you statment here and in looking at reviews my self tend to use them the way you do. And yes 995$ price is really out there for most. Hey what part of New Zeland are you from?
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Completely true. But, the way I interpret the reviews is not "you should buy this 'phone" but "this is how this 'phone compares to x, y or z". From the latter, one might decide a price is "fair" or not, in relation to other products in the market.
 
Of course, whether it is "fair" per se is another matter. This is your point I think, and - well, I think you are probably right. But we're a crazy lot anyway. As pointed out on one of the other threads, 99.99% of people would think $995 is a crazy price...
 
Cheers 
 

 

 

[Loevhagen]

The "problem" is not the manufacturers, but audio forums. It gets people craving for new equipment. If people log off and do not read audio forums for, lets say, just a month, they will experience that the craving fades away and that they appreciate what they already have. 

 

[EddieE]

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The "problem" is not the manufacturers, but audio forums. It gets people craving for new equipment. If people log off and do not read audio forums for, lets say, just a month, they will experience that the craving fades away and that they appreciate what they already have. 

100% Agree. Headphones are about music, but headphone forums are about material possessions.
 

 

[Maxvla]

People really need to stop complaining about pricing. If you can't afford it just don't talk about it.

Put things into perspective and you'll realize just how much of a bargain you can get with dozens of headphone combinations. I auditioned a pair of speakers at RMAF that were $80k just for the speakers that were heavenly. I auditioned the LCD3 which is 1/40th the price and also found them heavenly. I'm sure the source and amps on the speakers were much more expensive than the source and amp on the headphones.

I can get a similar result from a $2000 headphone as I did an $80,000 pair of speakers and you guys dare to complain about being ripped off? And don't come back with 'well speakers can be heard by multiple people' because while that is technically true, you don't get the sweet spot perfection for more than 1 person. For all considerations, high end 2 channel speakers are a single person setup just as headphones are.

When I auditioned all that gear the LAST thought in my mind was price. I didn't care if it was a $100 phone or a $15,000 phone. I gave everything the same starting point and found some surprising results. Some real bargains and some really high dollar items that I really really didn't like.

If you find an item you like but can't afford because the vendor set the price higher than your budget, that doesn't mean you are entitled to the item just because you want it. If you want it badly enough you will work to pay for it. If you don't think it's a good deal even though you like it, you aren't being forced to buy it. It's fine to state your opinion, but it doesn't need to be repeated or rehashed a multitude of times. Just because you could afford the LCD2, doesn't mean you are entitled to the LCD3 because it's 'similar'. The sense of entitlement these days is just sickening.

 

[arnaud]

This idea that people should settle with what they can afford will take some time sink in for the headphone community. Reason: many more people could afford to get the best a few years back when it was Senn's HD6xx and other Grado RS . Of course there's always been stuff unaffordable to most (HE90 for example) but basically pricing did seems to based on traditional (true cost + sufficient profit margin to sustain a business).
 
More recently companies are investing more heavily and we're seing the results with generally large improvements in sound quality across the board. However it's coming with also a better understanding of what the market will bare hence the increasing distortion between true cost and sell price.
 
It is particularly difficult to accept in case of Audeze because of the short timing between releases, deceptively similar looking designs and technology, confusion in product positioning (extension of the line vs replacement of the product in the past lcd1>lcd2>lcd2), and most of all huge increase in retail price (usd600>1000>2000). 
 
Obviously the lcd1 and 2 were not sold at a loss and the company seems to be doing well ( large number of product releases this year). The lesson may be that they need to be a bit more cautious with justifying their sale price evolution...

 

[sridhar3]

This is the worst impressions thread ever. Just sayin'.

 

[arnaud]

@Mavla: you're like comparing a sick patient to a desparate case and saying "what you're complaining about?". Indeed it helps, but he'd just like to be  healthy again. Heaphone price escalation is sick, there's no question about it. Speaker audio market is already matured (or lost case should I say ? )

 

[Girls Generation]

-takes out e-binoculars to look for Currawong-

 

[Maxvla]

@Mavla: you're like comparing a sick patient to a desparate case and saying "what you're complaining about?". Indeed it helps, but he'd just like to be  healthy again. Heaphone price escalation is sick, there's no question about it. Speaker audio market is already matured (or lost case should I say ? )

Don't like the price, don't buy them. Simple as that. If they price themselves out of their market they will learn their lesson the hard way. Also I really don't appreciate you once again completely rehashing the same arguments right after I asked for people to stop doing so. It is beaten to death and serves no purpose anymore in this 'impressions' thread.

 

[arnaud]

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Don't like the price, don't buy them. Simple as that. If they price themselves out of their market they will learn their lesson the hard way. Also I really don't appreciate you once again completely rehashing the same arguments right after I asked for people to stop doing so. It is beaten to death and serves no purpose anymore in this 'impressions' thread.

Sorry for the huge offense, I actually did not read your post until sending mine (another of this iPhone issues...). Having said that, I don't appreciate your dogmatic attitude toward the don't like the price / don't buy at it's got nothing to do with the argument (which is pricing vs. true cost)