Is HiFi becoming cheaper

[busb]

The B&W 800 series is a good example. Always aspired to have a pair of 805s in the small room. A few years back they were around JPY280,000 (metal tweeter). Then the diamond tweeter came along: JPY600,000. Now with the continuum driver the list price is about JPY930,000.

Plebs like me are finding it hard to keep up with hikes like that. Naturally there are going to be sound causes for it - R&D spending, diminshing scale economies etc. but it is disenchanting when you see your goals receding into the distance.

It's a bit like the VW Golf - every new version got heavier - they were effectively new models.

 

[MrReaper182]

Centainly is. Everyone one has a computer in this day so puting all your music in the Flac format and adding some great sounding speakers and a nice dac has never been cheaper.

 

[MajorFubar]

Yup. It's been getting cheaper since CD players came along, and the quality one can achieve with very little outlay has significantly increased. A £20 DVD player from Asda sounds better than the turntable most people in 1980 played their records on.

 

[matthewpiano]

You can achieve a great deal without massive spending power with the right choices. You can spend more and achieve more, again with the right choices, but it is startling what can be achieved on a real world budget. I'd love to be able to afford kit from a couple of rungs up but the sound I'm enjoying from my current kit is more than satisfying enough to keep me enjoying my music until a miracle happens.

I don't think that has changed much though. In the 90s I could have achieved similar with the same CD player, a Pioneer A400, and some Mission 751s.

 

[Native_bon]

I think we can get real Quality these days for not much money. You just have to look at the Q Acoustic range of speakers. I think anyone who says good Hifi can not be achieved on the cheap just wants to justify more expensive hifi.

 

[matthewpiano]

Yes, you can, and the Q Acoustics speakers do a good job for their price.

However, I've got QA 2020i, Rega RS1, and Dynaudio DM2/6. The Rega and Dynaudio speakers were around 3 times the price of the Qs, but worth every penny of the difference, so it can also still be worth paying more than entry-level prices to get something better.

 

[Native_bon]

Yes, you can, and the Q Acoustics speakers do a good job for their price.

However, I've got QA 2020i, Rega RS1, and Dynaudio DM2/6. The Rega and Dynaudio speakers were around 3 times the price of the Qs, but worth every penny of the difference, so it can also still be worth paying more than entry-level prices to get something better.

Am going to say something now that most may not agree with, but I think the Q Acoustics 3050 is more musical than most speakers costing up to £1000 & over. Incredible value. some may disagree but thats my opinion. I think you need to spend over £1500 to better them. I actually prefer them to the Q Concept 40's

 

[busb]

Yes, it's getting cheaper - just buy the whole company!

 

[Jota180]

Some of it is especially the stuff either made or assembled in China. On the other hand you get the stuff that is priced very highly in order to appeal to the rich who may think they're buying better quality because of the boutique pricing.