[pearljam50000]

If the Abyss costs 5000$, what prevents Hifiman from pricing the HE1000 the same?
The Abyss claims to be the best in the world, and I assume Hifiman claims the HE1000 is the best.

 

[reddog]

It makes you wonder why they don't do that. The average person thinks "Beats" are the best thing there is. I think it's time someone put them in their place.
Even at the current prices on high end headphones, a simple t.v. commercial could increase awareness and interest in the high end market.

I saw some beats headphones, at a yard sale, for cheap, considered getting them and executing them with my Ragnarok, but rather devote all monetary resources towards getting a Yggdrasil.

 

[richard51]

If the Abyss costs 5000$, what prevents Hifiman from pricing the HE1000 the same?
The Abyss claims to be the best in the world, and I assume Hifiman claims the HE1000 is the best.

in the next one or 2 or three years the nanotechnology of  the membrane will be in explosion with the new possiblities of the graphene materials..... to sell 5000 thousands a headphone is not an intelligent marketing practise.... Its better to crushed any competition with a low pricing and in the next 3 years  to develop the He 1001 with the new  graphene material.... The loyal customer will buy it.....its my two cents opinion

.....

 

[bfreedma]

you are right, a lower profit margin with higher bulk usually equals more overall profits for the company. 

It makes you wonder why they don't do that. The average person thinks "Beats" are the best thing there is. I think it's time someone put them in their place.
Even at the current prices on high end headphones, a simple t.v. commercial could increase awareness and interest in the high end market.

None of the high end vendors with the possible exception of Sennheiser can come close to affording a national TV commercial. Production costs would be typically $25k - $100k. To make the ad effective, it would need to run on a show with the right viewer financial demographics to reach potential customers. PGA golf is probably a decent demographic for summit-FI headphones - commercials on a non Major run approximately $100k for a 30 second national spot.

I can't imagine HFM or Audeze dropping that kind of cash, and it doesn't seem likely that Senn could sell enough product off of a single 30 second spot to make it viable for them.

As noted by others, there is a commercial currently running with Steve Wozniak wearing HD800s. It's for Cadillac though, not the Senns.

 

[ardilla]

Personally, I think high end producers of headphones should consider the fact that most of their customers are people who want to own several pairs of headphones.  And that the potential customer pool might be limited. If they price the stuff reasonably, people will not sell their present headphones for funding, but just build collections. This equals more high end headphones sold. I mean, that's one of the main reason for going headphones, you can have lots of them without needing a bigger house...

 

[coinmaster]

As noted by others, there is a commercial currently running with Steve Wozniak wearing HD800s. It's for Cadillac though, not the Senns.

I SAW THAT!

 

[bfreedma]

Recently seen being delivered to HFM HQ:

 

[korzena]

  sennheiser is not a company that drops its prices due to competition. hd800 price will not fall bc of a he1k.
 
sure, i think business-wise it makes sense to have lower profit margins and sell more bulk... you will make more total money that way. look at the beats pricing strategy. that is the consuner sweet spot at $300. anymore, they are asking why does headphones cost more than a laptop or smartphone or nice tv.
 
so the problem for the he1k will be demand. there really isnt that much demand for uber highend headphones in the $1.5+.
 
another problem is that their target audience tends to judge quality by msrp. if i was hifiman i wld definitely charge higher than the competition. my personal experience with the he1k showed me that they are a clear step up over current flagships, and shld be priced accordingly. now i do think that most flagships currently are severely overpriced atm, but hey... that has nothing to do with hifiman. they generally always price below their competitors and offer a better sound quality at a lower price.
 
however, their direct competitors such as Oppo & Audeze has clearly shown that consumers buy even at a significantly higher price point (for the similar or worse sound quality) if you just add some premium materials & luxurious design. I personally think all Audeze headphones are priced much higher than what I would guess based on sound quality only, but it works & Audeze has shown there is an interest for $2k headphones.
 
I have done a lot of direct blinded comparisons between $2k, $1.5k, $1k, and slightly sub-$1k headphones... besides the difference in sound signature, there really no real large sound quality differences between in in terms of technical performance. Yet people on the forums do generally proclaim the more expensive models being better and etc.
 
Now when you hear the HE1k, which actually does provide more performance & sound technically better than the current flagships... there is really only one way I personally think they should price it for it to match the current market. But really more the fault of consumers for feeding the market & purchasing all these pricier gear with minimal sonic improvements that leads to this state (imo). Companies get away with releasing things at higher price points or widely variable price points with minimal dramatic improvements, so now that something with actually a drastic noticeable improvement comes along... well, it is what it is.
 
*personal opinion of course from my personal experience*

Hifiman has now a chance, not just to adjust, but to start a little price war. My wishful thinking!

 

[paradoxper]

HifiMan isn't a very big company, similarly(was a small co) Stax spent quite a bit of money developing the SR-009 and while it didn't bring them under, it was a
significant cost. I'd imagine the R&D for the nano diaphragm among other things means $2k is completely wishful thinking. If you want a cheaper price
you'll have to wait for that tech to trickle down to more affordable offerings.

 

[ardilla]

  HifiMan isn't a very big company, similarly Stax spent quite a bit of money developing the SR-009 and while it didn't bring them under, it was a
significant cost. I'd imagine the R&D for the nano diaphragm among other things means $2k is completely wishful thinking. If you want a cheaper price
you'll have to wait for that tech to trickle down to more affordable offerings.

 
Imagine what the 009's production cost would have been if they scaled it up by 100 times... Hifiman seems to me (like Audeze) to have ambitions that stretch further than Stax - who seems satisfied with their niche. 
 
BTW - for the sake of the argument previously mentioned that "expensive is percieved as better" I do not think that is always the case: http://www.androidcentral.com/lamborghini-phone-will-cost-you-6000

 

[money4me247]

  People think beats are the best because they advertise them. As far as I know, they are the highest end headphone brand that is actually widely advertised. They are practically celebritized at this point.
If you go up and ask a random person what the HD800s are they would probably have no idea what you are talking about. Ask that same person what beats are and I'd be surprised if they didn't know.
I experience this phenomenon all the time. I've even been to a few high end stereo shops that had no idea what the HD800s were lol.

Yes. Advertising & style makes a huge difference when trying to sell products. That is why if you ask anyone off the street what the two best audio brands are, they will respond beats and bose.
 
If the high end stereo shop has no idea what the HD800 is, then they either only deal with speaker equipment or are not really a high end audio shop. Everyone in the audio industry knows about Sennheiser and the HD800 as it was the first mass-produced $1k+ flagship headphone.
 

  BTW - for the sake of the argument previously mentioned that "expensive is percieved as better" I do not think that is always the case: http://www.androidcentral.com/lamborghini-phone-will-cost-you-6000

obviously not the case, but we as human being experience unconscious bias from price tags & assume higher is better. being actually informed about the product & market helps fight the bias, but it is always there.

 

[rrahman]

   
Yelled at!?!?!? By whom?!!??! 

 
 
That's an interesting comparison, but it's hard to make that kind of  || $$$ in headphones || vs || $$$ in speakers || comparison so directly. It might be hard to find speakers as bright at the HD800 though 

. But resolving? Many high end studio monitors can match wits with the HD800 at a lower price. 

 
 
Lots of great speaker options but I haven't heard a system that's as resolving as the HD800 or as fast, especially in anything under 10k.  The speed, resolution, and practical implications of a headphone keeps me coming back to my HD800s time and time again.  What speakers are you referring to? I'd say the closest I've heard in the <10k range I've heard is a very well set up ML Montis. 

 

[Karllin]

In China, at least, a high price is not only about possibly being better, but about making it a "I am richer than you" statement. Flashy looks and a high price will sell, as long as the product is coming from a company with a good reputation. $2999 will be high for me, but not for the emerging rich of China. Just one small shop, less than 500 sq ft., sold 35 paw gold, 200 shure 846, 350 akg 3003 last year. They even sold a pair of Edition 5 Limited for $5500. They sold a lot more of many other $1000+ items! but I think my point is made.

I know three people in Shanghai with Orpheus sets, two with MDR-D10. Money is no object.

The price will not be low and there will be no price wars with anyone, because no one has anything to compare with the HE1000. So the $2999 will be. Anyone who dreams of a lower price is, well, dreaming.

 

[money4me247]

In China, at least, a high price is not only about possibly being better, but about making it a "I am richer than you" statement. Flashy looks and a high price will sell, as long as the product is coming from a company with a good reputation. $2999 will be high for me, but not for the emerging rich of China. Just one small shop, less than 500 sq ft., sold 35 paw gold, 200 shure 846, 350 akg 3003 last year. They even sold a pair of Edition 5 Limited for $5500. They sold a lot more of many other $1000+ items! but I think my point is made.

I know three people in Shanghai with Orpheus sets, two with MDR-D10. Money is no object.

The price will not be low and there will be no price wars with anyone, because no one has anything to compare with the HE1000. So the $2999 will be. Anyone who dreams of a lower price is, well, dreaming.

you know that is quite funny btw. my parents are currently residing in china & there is a wave of new money families coming in. they are quite knowledge about the trends happening in china.
 
The Chinese consumer greatly prefers to buy luxury foreign brands!!! to the point where they are more likely to buy bose over the he1000 even though they love to spend an exorbitant amount of money for luxury goods. just something for hifiman to consider.
 
in part is the status symbol element of course. people in china just don't view chinese brands as premium or luxury.

 

[Karllin]

That is changing very fast. Watches, handbags, and anything like vitamins, foods , and medicine, yes, they prefer foreign. Hifi not as much. The Bose preference is the same as with many rich in the USA, they just don't know better and buy based on an advertisement or due to the small size. But the hifi guys in China have no problem spending money on local brands, especially Hifiman that had established itself globally.