Or,when you have an entire corporate structure to support, allocated costs, etc., you end up with a price that is much higher than with a Chinese product of comparable quality.
Sure, you will (or should) never have to worry about shoddy worksmanship, but with a little diligence you can figure out which companies are good, and which are not, and the market itself will take care of the ones that are bad. I don't think I should severely overpay to avoid having to think for myself.
As for models surviving for many years, I think that's because when you look up the word "agile" in the dictionary, you find an arrow pointing at the Chinese. They pump out newer models, better models, so fast that an IEM from 2 years ago is already most likely far behind the curve. Whereas lumbering corporate structures....How many years/decades is the SE535 been around?
How bad does an IEM need to sound in order not to spend $1,300 on it?
We live in a world where both premium brands and upstarts are co-existing. And they always have. This is nothing new. 70+ years in the audio game means that despite all the noise and fads and competitors, Sennheiser is creating great product—and not by accident. One thing is for certain, nobody else offers an IE 900, and nothing else does what the IE 900 currently does. It's not so much a $1,300 thing as it is an experience. A lot of folks here like that. We hope you get to spend some time with an IE 900. Cheers!
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