[Hifiearspeakers]

Why are they so expensive?

 

[seanwee]

Why are they so expensive?

Because they sound good ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

[seanwee]

Now that I think a little further about it, I think I got the gist of the meaning behind the statement.

Hifiman is positioning their headphones based on how competitive they are. Regardless of their technology and production cost.

So basically, if they are able to develop a headphone that is cheap to produce but sounds really really good. They get to reap the profits.

Businessman mentality

 

[seanwee]

why the hell only 700 pairs of the he6se?

So they can call it limited edition and price it higher.

 

[omniweltall]

Now that I think a little further about it, I think I got the gist of the meaning behind the statement.

Hifiman is positioning their headphones based on how competitive they are. Regardless of their technology and production cost.

So basically, if they are able to develop a headphone that is cheap to produce but sounds really really good. They get to reap the profits.

Businessman mentality

Sean, dont analyze too much. Not that difficult to understand Fang. He is just a sleazy businenessman.

Not all businessman are like that. They put quality and customer satisfsction on high order.

 

[omniweltall]

Double-post.

 

[Me x3]

I guess it's fair to say that Fang is not alone when it comes to pricing.
Despite some very valid arguments some might have against Hifiman/Fang, I've seen him critizised quite a lot for things most other headphone brands do as well.

I've seen:

- AKGs sold for 499usd and then the very same thing for 149usd.
- Sennheiser HD650 sold for 399usd and then 199usd.
- Sennheiser HD700 sold for 1000usd and then 450usd.
- Focal Utopia for 4000usd and a few months later 3000usd.

So what's the true price for these things?
Is the Sennheiser HD650 a 399usd product or a 199usd product?
Did some people pay 4000usd for a 3000usd product? (Utopia)
Why is the HD800S up to 70% more expensive than the HD800 which is pretty much the same thing?

So yeah, it's hard to justify the price increase for these new Hifimans vs their former variants, but this is not something exclusive to Hifiman.
That's the market trend and I think consumers are partially responsible. It's often interesting to see how many people avoid to compare differently priced products as if they weren't comparable objects.
Many people associate price with tier, and that's fuel for the raising prices.

In some ways, Fang has been just a tad more transparent when speaking about pricing products according to the market.
The fact that other brands say no word on this matter doesn't mean they don't do similar things. Proof can be found everywhere.

As a person who enjoys an AKG K701 almost as much as a Sennheiser HD800S, I think prices these days in the headphone realm are just what's between you and the object, nothing more.
There's little relation between the price and the enjoyment you'll get.

 

[franz12]

I guess it's fair to say that Fang is not alone when it comes to pricing.
Despite some very valid arguments some might have against Hifiman/Fang, I've seen him critizised quite a lot for things most other headphone brands do as well.

I've seen:

- AKGs sold for 499usd and then the very same thing for 149usd.
- Sennheiser HD650 sold for 399usd and then 199usd.
- Sennheiser HD700 sold for 1000usd and then 450usd.
- Focal Utopia for 4000usd and a few months later 3000usd.

So what's the true price for these things?
Is the Sennheiser HD650 a 399usd product or a 199usd product?
Did some people pay 4000usd for a 3000usd product? (Utopia)
Why is the HD800S up to 70% more expensive than the HD800 which is pretty much the same thing?

So yeah, it's hard to justify the price increase for these new Hifimans vs their former variants, but this is not something exclusive to Hifiman.
That's the market trend and I think consumers are partially responsible. It's often interesting to see how many people avoid to compare differently priced products as if they weren't comparable objects.
Many people associate price with tier, and that's fuel for the raising prices.

In some ways, Fang has been just a tad more transparent when speaking about pricing products according to the market.
The fact that other brands say no word on this matter doesn't mean they don't do similar things. Proof can be found everywhere.

As a person who enjoys an AKG K701 almost as much as a Sennheiser HD800S, I think prices these days in the headphone realm are just what's between you and the object, nothing more.
There's little relation between the price and the enjoyment you'll get.

There is no such thing like a 'true' price.

Prices are discovered only in a market by supply and demand each point in time.

 

[blackyangell]

So, let's stop buying any headphones above, let's say, $500, for several years - maybe we will see price recession?

 

[seanwee]

I guess it's fair to say that Fang is not alone when it comes to pricing.
Despite some very valid arguments some might have against Hifiman/Fang, I've seen him critizised quite a lot for things most other headphone brands do as well.

I've seen:

- AKGs sold for 499usd and then the very same thing for 149usd.
- Sennheiser HD650 sold for 399usd and then 199usd.
- Sennheiser HD700 sold for 1000usd and then 450usd.
- Focal Utopia for 4000usd and a few months later 3000usd.

So what's the true price for these things?
Is the Sennheiser HD650 a 399usd product or a 199usd product?
Did some people pay 4000usd for a 3000usd product? (Utopia)
Why is the HD800S up to 70% more expensive than the HD800 which is pretty much the same thing?

So yeah, it's hard to justify the price increase for these new Hifimans vs their former variants, but this is not something exclusive to Hifiman.
That's the market trend and I think consumers are partially responsible. It's often interesting to see how many people avoid to compare differently priced products as if they weren't comparable objects.
Many people associate price with tier, and that's fuel for the raising prices.

In some ways, Fang has been just a tad more transparent when speaking about pricing products according to the market.
The fact that other brands say no word on this matter doesn't mean they don't do similar things. Proof can be found everywhere.

As a person who enjoys an AKG K701 almost as much as a Sennheiser HD800S, I think prices these days in the headphone realm are just what's between you and the object, nothing more.
There's little relation between the price and the enjoyment you'll get.

It could be a good or bad thing depending on the situation.

For instance, I have a pair of echobox finders. They used to retail for more than 200 dollars but I got mine on massdrop for 69 dollars. Now, they are even cheaper and have dropped to a mere 49 dollars apiece on massdrop.

However, I find that it competes still competes very very well with 200 dollar products. Heck, I even prefer it to the Campfire Audio Andromedas.

It seems to me that Echobox has fully paid back their R&D costs, earned enough and has now decided to offer them at low profits.

This would be examplary behavior.

 

[wasupdog]

We can complain all we want about pricing but if the product is good people will realize it over time. Susvara is the prime example of this as you see more forum members start to buy them regardless of the ridiculous price and build quality. You see these as one of the main headphones at Canjam. I've always like the sound of the HEK series even compared to other TOTL phones.

I'm guessing China is probably Chifiman's primary target market too ahead of the USA.

 

[seanwee]

We can complain all we want about pricing but if the product is good people will realize it over time. Susvara is the prime example of this as you see more forum members start to buy them regardless of the ridiculous price and build quality. You see these as one of the main headphones at Canjam. I've always like the sound of the HEK series even compared to other TOTL phones.

I'm guessing China is probably Chifiman's primary target market too ahead of the USA.

The Susvara was really special sounding though. I loved how it sounded but at $6k it's asking for too much. I would pay $3k tops

 

[FastAndClean]

Why is the HD800S up to 70% more expensive than the HD800 which is pretty much the same thing?

Because it sound good

 

[seanwee]

Because it sound good

Bad Sennheiser!
No copying Hifiman

 

[forestitalia]

Why are they so expensive?

Price is part of SQ, forget that same model was half price 6 moths ago:
Don't settle for pale memories!
Don't fall for fake implants!
Experience space travel the old-fashioned way on a real-live holiday you can afford.