[flymetothemoon]

Well, as said previously, warranty on digital devices with extended period per discussion (10 years) is of irrelevant as over time the device performance will be outperformed by newer and much lower level models as both digital (software & source) & amplification technologies progress.
 
At that time, your Tera will [likely] become a fringe player in your collections as over time you may revisit it for an audition to recapture those nostalgic memories ...at the end your current device will beat it hands down.
 
Having said that, I'm now working on putting back my "analogue system", to which I purchased between 1984-1987 and has been in the storage since 1993 since I returned to Asia to continue my career (now I'm back to Toronto for retirement LOL), and eagerly to recapture the analogue feel.  Same mentality in trying to fix my Sony Walkman DC2's transport mechanism as I can't put it back on play.
 
The fluctuation in Tera creator's mental consistency should not bother your choice of the player as I think it is robust enough to last for a sustained period of time before you start to looking for something new.  

 

[musicday]

Smial1966 ,

One thing i don't agree with :
Having the old Tera-Player threads locked for one person's fault.We put time,effort,dedication and lots of research to make those threads like this one as accurate as possible.
And in 10 years time i see myself using same player as it does suits my musical taste,and with it's simplicity is The Best for me.

 

[mboerma]

It's a certain kind of humor which not everybody gets. I didn't read any bad stuff. Just some things which told more about him than about the people he was acting against. People were also nitpicking and continuously going over and over the same point. It's about the music not the technical stuff as far as I'm concerned.

 

[fiascogarcia]

All the politics aside, in reality how many of the posters here are commenting on the Tera, having paid $10,000 for the unit?  It seems that it would be a wonderful unit to own in the under $2,000 price range.

 

[musicday]

You know what is strange?
People always criticised the price and the sound without even hearing one first.
If there's something to complain about is the AK380 and the Blue Note Edition.
They are expensive and don't deliver for the price.
I will take a Tera Player any day over any other music player out there !
Let's get back to listening, i meant to say it to those who own a Tera

 

[tgdinamo]

It's a certain kind of humor which not everybody gets. I didn't read any bad stuff. Just some things which told more about him than about the people he was acting against. People were also nitpicking and continuously going over and over the same point. It's about the music not the technical stuff as far as I'm concerned.

 
It was definitely not one sided fault on those old threads - a lot of people should appologize for how they behaved in those threads. Charles of course did not take the typical expected approach and say customer or potential customer is always right so he very aggressively defended Tera and belittled those who disagreed or attacked him personally. I actually felt back in those days he was right not only about defending his design (lot of attacks were about lack of screen, wav only, and no true pause button) - back then he was even right about defending pricing which at that time was EUR 840. I purchased my Tera at that price and now years later fully realize that it was for sure my all times best deal I got as far as high quality electronics purchases go.

 

[mboerma]

It was definitely not one sided fault on those old threads - a lot of people should appologize for how they behaved in those threads. Charles of course did not take the typical expected approach and say customer or potential customer is always right so he very aggressively defended Tera and belittled those who disagreed or attacked him personally. I actually felt back in those days he was right not only about defending his design (lot of attacks were about lack of screen, wav only, and no true pause button) - back then he was even right about defending pricing which at that time was EUR 840. I purchased my Tera at that price and now years later fully realize that it was for sure my all times best deal I got as far as high quality electronics purchases go.

Agree. I think Charles really make the stuff he makes for the fun of it. If he sold 100 Tera Players he is a happy man. And he is pricing them based on the fun he has making them. Or maybe he is also running out of components. If he sells one or two for 10k it is much less effort than having to build 20-25 for 840 euros. He doesn't have the same business model as the regular vendors. Good for him.

 

[smial1966]

Being an ex Tera Player (TP) owner and former staunch advocate of Charles and his design philosophy, I robustly defended the TP on Head-Fi when it was released at the reasonable price of 840 Euros. Having purchased my unit at the introductory price of 500 Euros (I believe that my TP was the second unit sold) I thought that 840 Euros was a decent price for Charles to make a profit and for this unique DAP to be relatively affordable. However, I found the subsequent price doubling then doubling again to be an unconscionable act of blatant profiteering and a morally bankrupt way to conduct business. Doubling the price of your product just because a perceived competitor (Astell&Kern) releases a more expensive DAP than the TP, and then repeating the process when new AK... models were released is at best questionable and at worst just plain greedy.

Agree. I think Charles really make the stuff he makes for the fun of it. If he sold 100 Tera Players he is a happy man. And he is pricing them based on the fun he has making them. Or maybe he is also running out of components. If he sells one or two for 10k it is much less effort than having to build 20-25 for 840 euros. He doesn't have the same business model as the regular vendors. Good for him.

 

[tgdinamo]

Being an ex Tera Player (TP) owner and former staunch advocate of Charles and his design philosophy, I robustly defended the TP on Head-Fi when it was released at the reasonable price of 840 Euros. Having purchased my unit at the introductory price of 500 Euros (I believe that my TP was the second unit sold) I thought that 840 Euros was a decent price for Charles to make a profit and for this unique DAP to be relatively affordable. However, I found the subsequent price doubling then doubling again to be an unconscionable act of blatant profiteering and a morally bankrupt way to conduct business. Doubling the price of your product just because a perceived competitor (Astell&Kern) releases a more expensive DAP than the TP, and then repeating the process when new AK... models were released is at best questionable and at worst just plain greedy.

 
I mostly agree  with the exception that I felt the very first doubling of price to around EUR 1600 was perhaps somewhat logical because the EUR 840 I paid for mine was such an amazing deal (so that the new price was just placing Tera closer in line with competition given AK prices, while I felt Tera was/is clearly superior to AK and all other players I tried). But I certainly agree that all subsequent doubling of prices made no sense and put the device completely out of reach for most reasonable enthusiasts. But then again it's up to Charles and he is free to do what he wants - maybe he makes plenty of money doing other things alreday and does not need the Tera for income so he is happy to just make a few here and there (probably only for Donald Trump's and hedge fund managers of the world going forward).

 

[smial1966]

Valid points well made. I do know that Charles also has/had an automotive offshoot that made a unique component for motorcycles, so it's probable that he has other income streams beside audio. With the continual interest in the Tera Player and lots of people expressing a desire to own one, it would have been a real service to enthusiasts if Charles had maintained the 840 Euros price, as this is a relatively affordable expenditure to most Head-Fiers. So whilst in retrospect the initial price doubling was probably inevitable as you've said, I agree wholeheartedly that the subsequent price hikes were utterly nonsensical.

I mostly agree  with the exception that I felt the very first doubling of price to around EUR 1600 was perhaps somewhat logical because the EUR 840 I paid for mine was such an amazing deal (so that the new price was just placing Tera closer in line with competition given AK prices, while I felt Tera was/is clearly superior to AK and all other players I tried). But I certainly agree that all subsequent doubling of prices made no sense and put the device completely out of reach for most reasonable enthusiasts. But then again it's up to Charles and he is free to do what he wants - maybe he makes plenty of money doing other things alreday and does not need the Tera for income so he is happy to just make a few here and there (probably only for Donald Trump's and hedge fund managers of the world going forward).

 

[clarkydaz]

I don't see anything morally bankrupt about how he chooses to price his product, if nobody is obliged to buy it and it isn't really in demand. The pricing suggests he isn't actually bothered about selling units and likely amused at the fact a small group of people are even debating it

 

[smial1966]

This is precisely my point, if you trawl through this thread you'll find numerous contributors expressing an interest in purchasing a Tera Player, but not at the current ridiculously expensive price. Most folks seems to have an arbitrary cutoff at around the 1,000 to 1,500 Euros range, so if Charles had maintained the 840 or even 1680 Euro price, he'd have made a lot of audio enthusiasts very happy and sold infinitely more units. Which would have garnered him great publicity/reviews and a stalwart following of truly appreciative owners. Instead he's priced the Tera Player beyond most ordinary (i.e. not filthy rich) audiophiles financial grasp and this is disingenuous to potential customers.

I don't see anything morally bankrupt about how he chooses to price his product, if nobody is obliged to buy it and it isn't really in demand. The pricing suggests he isn't actually bothered about selling units and likely amused at the fact a small group of people are even debating it

 

[mboerma]

This is precisely my point, if you trawl through this thread you'll find numerous contributors expressing an interest in purchasing a Tera Player, but not at the current ridiculously expensive price. Most folks seems to have an arbitrary cutoff at around the 1,000 to 1,500 Euros range, so if Charles had maintained the 840 or even 1680 Euro price, he'd have made a lot of audio enthusiasts very happy and sold infinitely more units. Which would have garnered him great publicity/reviews and a stalwart following of truly appreciative owners. Instead he's priced the Tera Player beyond most ordinary (i.e. not filthy rich) audiophiles financial grasp and this is disingenuous to potential customers.

But I think he doesn't care or even doesn't want to sell so many TPs. 

 

[smial1966]

Unfortunately mboerma I think that you are quite right. Which is regrettable, as Charles could have made a lot of audio enthusiasts very happy if he'd maintained a sensible price for his quirky DAP, instead of charging frankly ludicrous prices for a functionally limited but good sounding unit.

But I think he doesn't care or even doesn't want to sell so many TPs. 

 

[denis1976]

I sent a few days one email to Mr Charles saying this: "Hello the price 6720€ is for real?
Thanks" The answer : "
Hi Dinis,,

I think it will go up soon, fasten seat belts !

Charles " then i reply :"hello I think the belt has to be loosened is ) I respect this price, you are free to do so, but in my heart I hope that one day you wake up and think," I like music no money", and replace the sale by the original value before the fever )), you know here in Portugal there is a house called Imacustica that in the past when i was there i felt a passion for music and not for the numbers, now it seems the music instead to be in musical notes are in euro banknotes, I'm not a cheapskate, I have a gold paw and more Astell and Kerns 240 and questyle, but 6720 euros compared to 840 early, my God ... but i wish you very success, and give you congratulations for the excellent work, hug" the answer of him was :"
Hi Dinis,,

how many Tera's did you buy last month when there was the '15 Christmas special starting at 1999,- ?

How many Tera's did you buy when they were at 1680,- ?

How many Tera's did you buy when they were at 840,- ?

I know the answer: Zero !

Instead you bought piles of crap from ******** just to waste your lifetime, and you were kicking my passion for music with your filthy boots.

Know what ?

**** YOU !!!!" I think is no need to say anything more. ...