[Rameish]

1) Price of components are not the same for every manufacturer. Eg; Rotel may buy 50,000 pieces of a single cap each month and have a contract with the cap manufacturer for 50,000 of the same for each month for the next 12 months.
Someone like Grado, Meier Audio or Headroom WILL buy only a fraction of that.
Probably less than DIY retail (not for all components). I do not think you'll get much of a discount is you bought 100 pieces of Alps volume pot for eg. Not as much as if you bought 20,000

2) Most are hand built in developed countries. Rotel, Marantz etc manufacture in China - labour cost are quite different.

3) Profit margin to make it worth their while after considering rent, labour, parts, excess inventory (money tied up and as such it is an opportunity cost).

All in all, yes they are expensive but you really can't compare an apple to an orange. This is true of any industry - watches, cars, hi-fi, furniture, hell even grass!! Do you know how much it would cost to have your own putting green

BTW If I has a Senn HD-580 I would stay away from the 3 volt or 4.5 volt versions of the Airhead. I have an older 3 volt version (2 AA batteries) and it simply can drive my Senn HD-530 MkII. It works okay with Grados however.
So I would suggest either shell out the money for a second hand Porta Corda, Total Airhead (9-Volt version), or Airhead (9 Volt version). Patience and caution are the key words if you wish to buy used.

 

[dokebi]

Another reason I can think of is because its a niche market. Out of everyone I asked only 2 people knew what it was and what the purposes of it were. 1 was a DJ and the other a rock guitarist. Imagine Sony started to mass product cheaply built meta42's, and whatever cravings the average headfier has. The prices will likely go down considerably after some market saturation. I went to 5 of the biggest electronics stores sans bestbuy types in my area and NONE of the salepeople had a clue what I was talking about. They actually thought I wanted a receiver and proceeded to show me their top models which were very overpriced.

 

[TimSchirmer]

they are expensive because there are little elves inside which listen to the CD, then play the music with little tiny guitars and drums, and sing with their little tiny voices. Elves don't come cheap these days either!

 

[Rameish]

absolutofft,

I hope we have not absolutely put you off with our replys

They are just teasing you a little - bad boys that they are. Well, I'm bad too.

Pick up a 2nd hand Airhead (9 volt) and I think you'll be happy (for a while

)

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally posted by TimSchirmer they are expensive because there are little elves inside which listen to the CD, then play the music with little tiny guitars and drums, and sing with their little tiny voices. Elves don't come cheap these days either!

ROFLMAO

Which color are these elves in your amp, the green are easy to find, but the red NOS with black antennas are another issue....!!!!

 

[erikzen]

Quote:

Originally posted by Rameish BTW If I has a Senn HD-580 I would stay away from the 3 volt or 4.5 volt versions of the Airhead. I have an older 3 volt version (2 AA batteries) and it simply can drive my Senn HD-530 MkII. It works okay with Grados however. So I would suggest either shell out the money for a second hand Porta Corda, Total Airhead (9-Volt version), or Airhead (9 Volt version). Patience and caution are the key words if you wish to buy used.

By the way, Fixup now has a booster available on the Supermini to drive high impedence headphones.

One other reason that headphone amps cost what they do (notice I did not say that they were expensive): we will pay for them. I'm not trying to be funny here but it's the most basic rule of economics.

Have you ever done business with someone and they raised prices citing higher costs? Well, their costs may have gone up but the real reason they raised prices is because they beleive you will pay for it.

I am not disparaging any of the small headphone amp manufacturers. I have bought products from them and will continue to buy products from them because they are good and I'm willing to pay. I'm just a student of economics and thought I would point this out.

 

[andrew3199]

You also have to remember these Little jewels are hand built, take the CHA47 for instance, crafted in to a Altoids mint tin, Works of art.....Sigh !!!!! I want one

 

[evilcthul]

It's all about supply and demand. Compared to the market for mini systems or 'lifestyle' stereoes, the headphone amp market is probably not even a drop in the ocean.

 

[Rameish]

Quote:

Originally posted by erikzen By the way, Fixup now has a booster available on the Supermini to drive high impedence headphones. One other reason that headphone amps cost what they do (notice I did not say that they were expensive): we will pay for them. I'm not trying to be funny here but it's the most basic rule of economics. Have you ever done business with someone and they raised prices citing higher costs? Well, their costs may have gone up but the real reason they raised prices is because they beleive you will pay for it. I am not disparaging any of the small headphone amp manufacturers. I have bought products from them and will continue to buy products from them because they are good and I'm willing to pay. I'm just a student of economics and thought I would point this out.

Thanks for the info on the booster. Yes, economies of scale, demand and supply and other econimic terms do come to mind. So we look for the best balance - a well built product that doesn't cost too much.

Imagine what a PCDP would cost if all the PCDP manufacturers together sold only 1 million units a year! Headphone amps? I do thinks they sell far fewer.

 

[Wmcmanus]

Where supply meets demand is what we call price. So many of the comments above are aimed at this basic economic reality. I'm not being a smart ass (well, maybe just a little bit) but out of all of the world's heads we have less than 5,000 head-fi members - which is not to suggest that we're the only ones buying head amps, but the demand in relatively slim. In general, the quality of the sound produced by head amps goes up with price - this is the force of the market mechanism and why we see so many "Best amp for $100, $200, $500 threads). The DIY crowd can build their amps for half of retail (i.e., the raw cost of parts), but of course that takes a fair bit of knowledge and effort.