Has the World gone mad ? !

[Geoff P.]

I'll admit I'm no spring chicken, but current pricing policies have lost me a bit. I've never been wealthy, so my early speaker choices reflect that - Wharfedale Teesdale SP2 ( chunky, bassy, not particularly accurate ) and Mission 750LE ( compact, refined ).
So when I see new Missions selling for £3000, and Wharfedales at over £5000, it would seem that they are trying to reposition themselves as mid-range or higher.
I do wonder, however, whether such companies risk alienating their 'budget' fanbase ? ( or perhaps they don't care ! ).
At least I still have my 750LEs, and they still sound the biz ( to my tinnitus-compromised hearing ! )

 

[plastic penguin]

They're pricing the ordinary guy out of the market. The world hasn't gone mad it's audio companies putting greed before need.

 

[Florestander]

They're pricing the ordinary guy out of the market. The world hasn't gone mad it's audio companies putting greed before need.

Agreed, a lot of manufacturers are factory based volume producers, but pricing at 'hand built' or artisan producer price points.

 

[abacus]

They still do entry level ranges for those stating out, so they have not abandoned the entry level user, however as there is little profit in entry level speakers, they have branched out to the high end where greater profits can be made. (Which will also help subsidise the entry level models)

Bill

 

[Edbostan]

I'll admit I'm no spring chicken, but current pricing policies have lost me a bit. I've never been wealthy, so my early speaker choices reflect that - Wharfedale Teesdale SP2 ( chunky, bassy, not particularly accurate ) and Mission 750LE ( compact, refined ).
So when I see new Missions selling for £3000, and Wharfedales at over £5000, it would seem that they are trying to reposition themselves as mid-range or higher.
I do wonder, however, whether such companies risk alienating their 'budget' fanbase ? ( or perhaps they don't care ! ).
At least I still have my 750LEs, and they still sound the biz ( to my tinnitus-compromised hearing ! )

I owned a pair of Wharfedale SP2s from new and I bought them from Comet (remember them) for around £130 which was about twice my weekly salary. I thought the original Lintons were a lot cheaper than the SP2s so in today's terms the latest reincarnation should be cheaper than current offerings

 

[plastic penguin]

I owned a pair of Wharfedale SP2s from new and I bought them from Comet (remember them) for around £130 which was about twice my weekly salary. I thought the original Lintons were a lot cheaper than the SP2s so in today's terms the latest reincarnation should be cheaper than current offerings

I purchased stuff from Comet, incl Wharfedale E20s. It was the place to go for budget/midrange hi-fi.

 

[Al ears]

I don't think repositioning comes into it. You assume these brands are bargain basement producers. They aren't. They have spread themselves to include the middle to higher end of the market. What's wrong with that?
You can still buy a cheap standmount from these people.

 

[plastic penguin]

I don't think repositioning comes into it. You assume these brands are bargain basement producers. They aren't. They have spread themselves to include the middle to higher end of the market. What's wrong with that?
You can still buy a cheap standmount from these people.

Most budget hi-fi companies dabble in the high end market at some point.

It's a little annoying though that Creek are selling their entry-level amp for over 4k. When you consider the Evo2 sold for £700, similar price for the newer Evo50 for around £800, it makes you wonder what is going on.

 

[Al ears]

Most budget hi-fi companies dabble in the high end market at some point.

It's a little annoying though that Creek are selling their entry-level amp for over 4k. When you consider the Evo2 sold for £700, similar price for the newer Evo50 for around £800, it makes you wonder what is going on.

The Creek 4040a entry level model is £800...., Nuff said.

 

[plastic penguin]

The Creek 4040a entry level model is £800...., Nuff said.

If you can find a stockists. I had a quick butchers on the internet they all stock i20 but not the 4040.

 

[Al ears]

If you can find a stockists. I had a quick butchers on the internet they all stock i20 but not the 4040.

That perhaps, is the age old problem where lack of distribution or indeed availability kills a company. Unfortunately.

 

[plastic penguin]

That perhaps, is the age old problem where lack of distribution or indeed availability kills a company. Unfortunately.

Yeah, certainly seems the case.

 

[twinkletoes]

You could buy a lot of speaker 20-30 years ago, we were kind of spoilt, gone are the days were you could buy a top draw system for a little over 500 quid. NADc320 540/41i cd player mission m74's that would put a smile on most faces it did me for many years. If you spent 3-4k back then you had something really special! When i came to "upgrade" i had to spend a vast amount more to get what i considered the same level of sound and even more to better it. To the tune of thousands not hundreds.

The hifi world isn't just outpricing the budget sphere there also pricing out the mid-tier.

Look at naim's new offering of the nap250 (6th gen) the outgoing was 3.5k this new 6th gen is a little under 6k! 6k!

Though not as bad Sugden have raised their prices on the a21sig i bought mine 2k on the dot now 2.5k

chord qutest has had a price bump from 1100 to 1500 the huie also has was 995 now 1200 or so.

but naim takes the biscuit but people will pay it.

Bad time to buy but you could actually make money in this climate. I did with my nap200dr i bought before there first real price hike in 2018/19 for 1599 it went up to 2.1k or some such i sold it for 1900 quid.

 

[matthewpianist]

I think the most important thing is that it's still perfectly possible to put together a very good affordable system for around £1,000. Given that small cars that once would have been around £10k are now selling around £18k, I don't think that's out of line.

Mission LX Mk2 series and Wharfedale Diamond models still offer fantastic value for money and perform well beyond expectation, similar with the Audiolab 6000 series electronics, so IAG are still offering quality product to those who don't have huge wallets.

It's also important to remember that a lot of the higher costs come with the 'heritage' products, which sell as much for their nostalgic appeal as their performance.

 

[Edbostan]

They still do entry level ranges for those stating out, so they have not abandoned the entry level user, however as there is little profit in entry level speakers, they have branched out to the high end where greater profits can be made. (Which will also help subsidise the entry level models)

Bill

You could buy a lot of speaker 20-30 years ago, we were kind of spoilt, gone are the days were you could buy a top draw system for a little over 500 quid. NADc320 540/41i cd player mission m74's that would put a smile on most faces it did me for many years. If you spent 3-4k back then you had something really special! When i came to "upgrade" i had to spend a vast amount more to get what i considered the same level of sound and even more to better it. To the tune of thousands not hundreds.

The hifi world isn't just outpricing the budget sphere there also pricing out the mid-tier.

Look at naim's new offering of the nap250 (6th gen) the outgoing was 3.5k this new 6th gen is a little under 6k! 6k!

Though not as bad Sugden have raised their prices on the a21sig i bought mine 2k on the dot now 2.5k

chord qutest has had a price bump from 1100 to 1500 the huie also has was 995 now 1200 or so.

but naim takes the biscuit but people will pay it.

Bad time to buy but you could actually make money in this climate. I did with my nap200dr i bought before there first real price hike in 2018/19 for 1599 it went up to 2.1k or some such i sold it for 1900 quid.

I also fear its a declining market if my adult children are to go by. They listen to music on their phones and smart speakers.

 

[Friesiansam]

Has the World gone mad ? !​

I think you need to change that to; The World has gone mad...

Added to which, despite the problems many people have, just affording to eat, an awful lot of people have been making an awful lot of money in recent years. HiFi manufacturers are chasing profits, rather than volume.

 

[Winter]

Could be ! Does appear alot of recent kit reviewed in what hi fi is in the £ 1000 s .

 

[njprrogers]

Generally speaking, we have had 3 years of 8-10% inflation. So we are seeing that in the hi-fi world as well... it's not a false perception or an element of old men shaking their fists at clouds .

I have been looking to buy an SVS subwoofer for the last six months and have been keeping an eye out for a bargain after reading all the those "great value for 500 dollars" reviews. It's now nearly 800 euro new (Ireland) for an SB1000 pro! D'oh!

 

[Hawkwind16]

There's still a good choice of entry level kit.
Check out Richer Sounds, or ebay for used stuff