[inthere]

I think a little too much is being laid at the feet of "R&D". I refuse to believe Stax is betting the farm on R&D because they basically haven't changed in years. Are they really worth a 4k markup from materials? At least Sennheiser keeps coming up with new headphones all the time, but 50k for one headphone that may not even be better than the Utopia?
 
I know we all jumped on Beats for a $300 markup but damn, it doesn't seem so big now in light of how the high end companies are coming at us now. Why should they get a pass?

 

[jibzilla]

  I think a little too much is being laid at the feet of "R&D". I refuse to believe Stax is betting the farm on R&D because they basically haven't changed in years. Are they really worth a 4k markup from materials? At least Sennheiser keeps coming up with new headphones all the time, but 50k for one headphone that may not even be better than the Utopia?
 
I know we all jumped on Beats for a $300 markup but damn, it doesn't seem so big now in light of how the high end companies are coming at us now. Why should they get a pass?

 
Stax prices have gone down at least in the 009's case. $5500 to $3500 now a days. Sennheiser is just releasing beats copycats all the time and has been a joke as far as totl since the hd800. A good 95% of beats owners think they sound great even if you break it down for them and show them with undeniable truth that their headphone cost all of $16 to make.
 
There are some gems out there and people that care about music but things changed allot with the beats bandwagon. You can't hardly blame totl makers for heavy marketing and bling. It is sadly what people care a whole lot more about now. The consumers deserve at least half the blame.

 

[MacedonianHero]

   
Stax prices have gone down at least in the 009's case. $5500 to $3500 now a days. Sennheiser is just releasing beats copycats all the time and has been a joke as far as totl since the hd800. A good 95% of beats owners think they sound great even if you break it down for them and show them with undeniable truth that their headphone cost all of $16 to make.
 
There are some gems out there and people that care about music but things changed allot with the beats bandwagon. You can't hardly blame totl makers for heavy marketing and bling. It is sadly what people care a whole lot more about now. The consumers deserve at least half the blame.

 
The Stax price reductions are more due to the declining value of the Japanese currency vs. the greenback. I think in terms of the Yen, their price has remained unchanged.

 

[Toolman]

  The Stax price reductions are more due to the declining value of the Japanese currency vs. the greenback. I think in terms of the Yen, their price has remained unchanged.

 
JP¥ have gone up by 25% vis-a-vis USD since Mar/2015 

 

[inthere]

Price is going down because nobody is buying Stax.
 
New exciting FOTM headphones like the Utopia are not only coming out with tons of hype but all are being directly compared with Stax and reviewed favorably. Having to buy an expensive electrostatic amp doesn't help either.

 

[astrostar59]

  Price is going down because nobody is buying Stax.
 

Statements like this make this forum a joke. Where do you get this information?

 

[inthere]

  Statements like this make this forum a joke. Where do you get this information?

 
It's an opinion, just like hundreds of others in this thread, including the declarations of euphoria that got me to buy the Utopia. Calm down.

 

[Aethelred]

  PS. Forgot to ask, anyone from Europe/NL here? Wondering if there's a dealer with a demo pair... (believe me, I've tried to find them)

I think in Maastricht there is a dealer. Just google it. Not sure if they have any demo pair. They are not the best as I've asked them for price quotation a week before Focal started to sale them and they never came back to me with reply. I do not like business models that do not respect the customer so I just gave up. Maybe at some point later.

 

[beowulf]

 
I think in Maastricht there is a dealer. Just google it. Not sure if they have any demo pair. They are not the best as I've asked them for price quotation a week before Focal started to sale them and they never came back to me with reply. I do not like business models that do not respect the customer so I just gave up. Maybe at some point later.

 
I tend to have the same approach. If shops ignore potential customers who are waving money at them and haven't even made the purchase, imagine how helpful they are once the dough is on their side and there is a problem. Good support starts even before you have anything.

 

[x RELIC x]

I tend to have the same approach. If shops ignore potential customers who are waving money at them and haven't even made the purchase, imagine how helpful they are once the dough is on their side and there is a problem. Good support starts even before you have anything.

Or, even before THEY have anything. :wink_face:

 

[astrostar59]

  Statements like this make this forum a joke. Where do you get this information?

So you are saying opions are now fact....

 

[arnaud]

   
It's an opinion, just like hundreds of others in this thread, including the declarations of euphoria that got me to buy the Utopia. Calm down.

It's not an opinion, it's someone stating some non-sense as if it was a fact, hoping people will just get along with the flow. To me that equals to white noise, something that, if not remedied, kills the value of a forum.
 
Having said that, I liked the Utopia.
 
arnaud

 

[astrostar59]

 
It's not an opinion, it's someone stating some non-sense as if it was a fact, hoping people will just get along with the flow. To me that equals to white noise, something that, if not remedied, kills the value of a forum.
 
Having said that, I liked the Utopia.
 
arnaud

Thanks Arnauld, some calming common sense. So, the Utopia, does it equal a well driven 009 I wonder?

 

[inthere]

 

 
It's not an opinion, it's someone stating some non-sense as if it was a fact, hoping people will just get along with the flow. To me that equals to white noise, something that, if not remedied, kills the value of a forum.
 
Having said that, I liked the Utopia.
 
arnaud

Yes, 2 Stax owners and obvious Stax fans agreeing with each other and defending their purchases by discounting a contrary observation in a Utopia thread is definitely NOT white noise.  

 

[Allanmarcus]

 


It's not an opinion, it's someone stating some non-sense as if it was a fact, hoping people will just get along with the flow. To me that equals to white noise, something that, if not remedied, kills the value of a forum.

Having said that, I liked the Utopia.

arnaud

Thanks Arnauld, some calming common sense. So, the Utopia, does it equal a well driven 009 I wonder?

Interesting question. On the flip side, what's the least expensive way to "well drive" a utopia?