Quote:
Originally Posted by tarquineous /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I agree too that the asking price is simply price gouging.
Many of the high priced cables are very good. The crooks know it, and that's when they raise the price. Then another catches on.... then another. Then they wonder why business is bad.
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Let me start by saying that I'm jumping into this thread late. And I dont have the time or inclination to read 41 pages of people arguing in circles.
But, I do have the inclination to throw my own 0.02 in!
The premise of the thread is nonsense to begin with. Boycotting a company based on price? Seriously? Thats just a mental trick to allow one's self to justify not buying something they wouldnt have baught in the first place.
Like it or not, we live in a free market society. (though,for how much longer, nobody knows.) And in a free market society people who manufacture goods are free to set the price anywhere they want. And if some one were inclined to pay that price then, between the two, it was a fair price. Nobody elses opinion matters. It doesnt need have anything to do with parts cost, or R&D, or anything that would seem "fair" to a scientist or engineer. So long as there are people willing to pay the price then the price is "fair" to someone. If no one wants to pay the price then either the price must come down or the nitwhit goes out of business.
This is why the quote I reference above caught my attention. Nobody producing extravagently priced cables are wondering why business is bad because its not bad. And if it were, they're not going to be around long anyway. But look at the ones selling the 5 figure cables for example (Nordost, Tara Labs, MIT, Transparent, Sunny, Audioquest, etc etc.) None of those companies are hurting for sales. I dont know about all of them, but I know that Nordost's silly priced Odin cable is still backordered a year after introduction. For those not up to speed on economics, backordered status equates with high demand. Good luck boycotting that.
Extravagent pricing is nothing exclusive to cables. I personally think Lamm electronics is way overpriced. You look at their ML2 tube amp sitting next to a B.A.T. Vk-150SE and you dont even have to be an electrical engineer to see that based on parts alone the B.A.T. is "worth" far more. And yet the Lamm is more than twice as expensive AND it sells. Dont even get me started on that Shindo crap out of Japan. And I'm sorry if anyone reading this owns or loves Shindo, but there is no way on earth its worth the price tag, especially not based on sound quality. Not to my ear. But it is to my neighbor. And he swears by it. So, Shindo continues to sell to people like him and others. And good for them.
Outside of audio things get even wackier. Heck, my grandparents love antiquing. That's one that really boggles my mind. There isnt even the pretense of new technology or performance. To me, its someone else's old crap and once you have it all its going to do is sit on a shelf and look "pretty". That is, so long as you keep dusting the thing. You dont like the price of cables? Go watch Antiques Roadshow sometime. You may feel better.
Like it or not, the extreme high end of audio has become a hobby of the rich. People who buy Nordost Odin interconnects are the same people who buy a Philippe Dufour watch. It tells time worse than a digital watch from Wallmart, but there is exclusivity to it. This isnt to say that the Nordost sounds worse than Blue Jeans cable. I happen to think it is definitely superior. But not enough for me to spend the $$$ on it. Thought the cables I do own are not cheap in any sense of the word.
I worked in high end retail in my latter college days. And in my estimation fully half of the high end community purchase based solely on bragging rights. To me, these people wouldnt know the sound of true live music if it bit them on the arse. But, like it or not, they help to sustain the drive for better sound. That way those of us who are seeking the absolute sound can continue our quest. I hated to deal with those people because I had to set up their silly priced systems that hurt my ears to listen to. And I had to do it often because they were never saitisfied. (no wonder) Not so long as their neighbor found something newer and cooler. But it kept the doors open. And it led me to products that did sound good to me. And some of that stuff IS very expensive. But, to me, its worth the asking price. I didnt complain about pricing in my poor college days. I found ways to make and save for the stuff I really wanted.
Anyway, back to the premise of the thread. Boycotting is a stupid thing to begin with. Appearantly some 60's leftovers never figured that out. But I think it laughable to even suggest boycotting anything in high end audio. What are you going to do after that, boycott Lamborghini? Good luck.
Bottom line, if you dont first believe that cables make a difference then all you are doing by actively dogging the prices is playing games. And if you are seriously upset that you cant afford the ultra expensive cables that you lust after you actually have greater problems because the cables are the icing on the cake in the audio chain. Your time would be better spent boycotting the electronics that you also cant afford. Thats where the larger differences are anyway.
OR, you can do what I did, and save up for them. Trust me, having to save money for such expensive stuff will weed out the posers. When it really comes down to it, you arent going to spend that hard earned dough on something that doesnt cut it.
