Very interesting and thought provoking article on the audiophile industry compared to former years. I found this quote very applicable: "The days are long gone when the average, determined audiophile could keep up with the cutting edge." It's amazing how fast companies are changing over their products to keep up with the newest and latest of other manufacturers. It is a wicked and vicious cycle, often feeling that a customer's product is now "outdated" since it is a previous model. I feel the digital and rapidly changing product life cycles of all electronics has done a disservice to the audiophile community. Stick a "mk 2" on a product and now a a previous model is obsolete - slashed prices and then flooded on the used market. I hate to say I bought into the "newer" is always better, leaving one to have to change their gear every two years to keep up. In today's economy, especially among millennials, this will be a big deterrent and obstacle for the audio community. I do think that high-end reference systems can be attainable, but is not easy based on the marketing tactics of the industry, limited quality and ethical dealers, the huge used market that will only continue to grow, and growth of social media where it becomes increasingly harder to have an honest conversation with others in the industry. There are exceptions, but for someone trying to get into this hobby, I think it is a challenge.
I even thought about giving up the hobby at one point this past year. It wore me out and became less enjoyable when I first got into this hobby. I don't have a local audio dealer, which makes it even harder. For example, I bought a high end brand product brand new, which retailed for close to $7k, which was an import. It went to the US distributor to my dealer and then to me. The remote control only worked a few feet away. I had to pay the shipping back to the dealer, close to $100, and he tried to make the distance better but couldn't. The company ended up stating that that's how far the remote works. To me, that it is completely unacceptable. But what am I to do? Buying a $7000 unit, I expect the remote to work more than a few feet. I wouldn't have bought the unit if I knew that going in. Even $200 electronics have better remote range than that. Situations like this drive me crazy in the industry, when customers save and save for a product and incidences like this happen. Any thoughts? Here is the link to the above article.
Read more at http://www.stereophile.com/content/r...iofTkI1g9fZ.99
I even thought about giving up the hobby at one point this past year. It wore me out and became less enjoyable when I first got into this hobby. I don't have a local audio dealer, which makes it even harder. For example, I bought a high end brand product brand new, which retailed for close to $7k, which was an import. It went to the US distributor to my dealer and then to me. The remote control only worked a few feet away. I had to pay the shipping back to the dealer, close to $100, and he tried to make the distance better but couldn't. The company ended up stating that that's how far the remote works. To me, that it is completely unacceptable. But what am I to do? Buying a $7000 unit, I expect the remote to work more than a few feet. I wouldn't have bought the unit if I knew that going in. Even $200 electronics have better remote range than that. Situations like this drive me crazy in the industry, when customers save and save for a product and incidences like this happen. Any thoughts? Here is the link to the above article.
Read more at http://www.stereophile.com/content/r...iofTkI1g9fZ.99
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