Prices... am I out of touch?

[Mart68]

As a banker, I always get a kick out of looking at old prices. That $375 preamp would be 3.14 weeks (Pi!) of wages for a median household in’63. The equivalent would be $4,500 today. Mcintosh offers various preamps in that range, +/- $1000, currently.

So just as unaffordable for the median household back then as it is now?

In the 1980s my parents both had good jobs but still had to juggle overdrafts and credit cards to make ends meet. There was zero 'disposable income'.

The only people I knew then who had 'serious' hifi systems were doctors, dentists, lawyers, company directors and university professors. Everyone else had a budget all in one 'music centre', and even that was considered an expensive indulgence.

 

[Sal1950]

The only people I knew then who had 'serious' hifi systems were doctors, dentists, lawyers, company directors and university professors. Everyone else had a budget all in one 'music centre', and even that was considered an expensive indulgence.

In a way, not much different then as now.
TOTL audio gear is only owned by folks with TOTL wages and the passion to pursue them.
We are a rare breed who focus a larger share of our disposable income on HiFi than others.
My HiFi is worth at least twice what my 2006 Ram truck is.

 

[Mart68]

In a way, not much different then as now.
TOTL audio gear is only owned by folks with TOTL wages and the passion to pursue them.
We are a rare breed who focus a larger share of our disposable income on HiFi than others.
My HiFi is worth at least twice what my 2006 Ram truck is.

In the UK in late 1970s through to early 1990s we had 'Richer Sounds', whose strategy was to buy container loads of discontinued Japanese and Taiwanese equipment and sell it at big discounts in tiny shops situated in cheap locations, with the stock stacked (literally) to the ceiling.

That was the way into proper hi-fi for anyone without much disposable.

Sadly the Japanese eventually twigged this was costing them a lot of sales in the dedicated Panasonic and Sony retail outlets that existed back then, and cut off the supply.

 

[Steven Holt]

I don't blame ya, Mc stuff is mostly beautiful, to my eyes at least.
I always first look to published component spec's before buying.
After that, all being equal I'd get the most handsome one if I could afford it.
Not a damn thing wrong with gear looking good as look as it has performance to match.

Thanks Sal, you're spot-on with yr comment. What I can't figure out is why a smart guy like you, with good taste in gear, still likes that g*dd*mned D'Auginsto amp??

 

[Killingbeans]

What I can't figure out is why a smart guy like you, with good taste in gear, still likes that g*dd*mned D'Auginsto amp??

He grew up in a steampunk submarine?

 

[Palladium]

I've seen it claimed on a forum that if you want the best possible sound from digital you need to spend £10K just on the source components and associated foo.

Sadly some people believe this.

"I close with more new old news from the last country: as I was preparing this AES convention presentation, a leading US audio investigator emailed me that “directivity … was found, by the East Germans just before the fall of the wall, to be one of the two things that count: 45 loudpeakers, 40 listeners, three rooms, 32,000 A/Bs. Put results of semantic differentials like near/far into a statistical hopper and compare with physical measurements. Only two count: Listening window response and directivity vs frequency. Period. Full stop.”

-David Moran, Boston Audio Society Speaker, Volume 36 No. 2, published June 2014

He was also very impressed by the $400/pair Infinity P362 in the same paper.

 

[Sal1950]

Thanks Sal, you're spot-on with yr comment. What I can't figure out is why a smart guy like you, with good taste in gear, still likes that g*dd*mned D'Auginsto amp??

He grew up in a steampunk submarine?

Yea, that's the ticket. LOL

 

[Robin L]

He was also very impressed by the $400/pair Infinity P362 in the same paper.

I owned the predecessor, the Infinity Primus 360s. $400 a pair was the price if discounted. There was little difference between the 360s and the 362s. Very good for cheap floorstanding speakers. Got the surround set at a thrift store, 360s for the front, 250s (a smaller floorstanding speaker) for the back, a center speaker, C12 as I recall. Their primary virtue is an excellent midrange, very important as that's where most of the music lives. The bass for the 360s goes a little below 40hz, the treble is a little tipped up but easily controlled by positioning. The 250s go down to around 50 hz. I still use the 250s, usually playing classical music at a lower-than-average volume level. I'm using the 250s with a Sonus Son of Sub powered subwoofer, which doesn't go all that far into the bass but still fills in some of the bass missing from the 250s.

 

[JohnnyAudio]

Edit preamble - yes, I know, there is actually, genuinely cheap entry-level gear, and it is good, very very good even, as low as ~$200 and under per piece. Yes, that is a good price, that makes sense to me. The disconnect for me, explained further below, is when more expensive things get called cheap, because to me $500 for an amp for example or a single speaker or a pair of headphones is already getting excessive for what it is, in my opinion at least, whereas it seems like many in this hobby, especially reviewers, still call that "budget". For me, that doesn't parse, I'd even dare to say it seems deranged, in a "who is this even for? How much of a spendthrift do you have to be for this to be budget?" sense. I think this all comes off more aggressive or accusatory than I'd like but I mean no offense, I just don't know how else to put voice to my thoughts.

------------

The more I read around about hi-fi the more baffled and bewildered I become on the price tags of equipment... I see $3,000 speakers, $1,000 amplifiers and $500 headphones being hailed as "low price" "great value" "a steal" "budget" "affordable" etc... to me none of those are anywhere even close to being any of those things! Even $200 is already an awful lot for headphones by my reckoning. Just yesterday I saw a review in a magazine magazine calling itself "affordable audio" for a $680 amplifier, which dared to call it "affordable", and gave it their "best of the year" award... no, sir, that is not "affordable", that is half a month's rent! I'd feel like I got punked if I subscribed to that magazine and then got that nonsense in the mail for it!

Just crazy to me not only how high the price tags can reach (way higher than anything I've mentioned so far), but how expensive it goes before audiophiles stop calling it "cheap". There's a massive disconnect for me whenever I see someone (on a forum, in a review, in a video, in a magazine, whatever) talking about something that for me is unthinkably expensive as if it's some kind of great deal, usually touting something along the lines of "you get what you pay for" just to rub it in. I don't get it... and, I'll admit, it's frustrating. I don't see the value in any of it. Am I alone?

I bought a $200 car once.

 

[Duke]

I bought a $200 car once.

I sold a $100 car once.

 

[Chr1]

Did either of them run?

(Bought a £75 motorcycle many years ago myself. It ran and is now worth way more than that.
Incidentally.)

 

[-Matt-]

In the UK in late 1970s through to early 1990s we had 'Richer Sounds', whose strategy was to buy container loads of discontinued Japanese and Taiwanese equipment and sell it at big discounts in tiny shops situated in cheap locations, with the stock stacked (literally) to the ceiling.

That was the way into proper hi-fi for anyone without much disposable.

Sadly the Japanese eventually twigged this was costing them a lot of sales in the dedicated Panasonic and Sony retail outlets that existed back then, and cut off the supply.

Richer Sounds are still going.
(Both online and with physical stores).
https://www.richersounds.com/

I bought my Denon AVR from them and they gave me good service and were helpful when I had to make a warranty claim.

 

[Duke]

Did either of them run?

(Bought a £75 motorcycle many years ago myself. It ran and is now worth way more than that.
Incidentally.)

The $100 car ran, but... it got less than 40 miles per quart of oil. Every 80 miles I'd check the oil and usually put in two quarts, but sometimes it took three. Its only redeeming feature was that it had four wheel drive.

By the way, ignoring the oil expense, theoretically I made money when I sold the car: I had bought it from my dad for one dollar when I was seventeen, and drove off to college in it.

 

[Sal1950]

I bought a $200 car once.

Back in 1964 (I was 14 and a freshmen in highschool) I was pumping gas for a living when an older (60ish) gentleman rolled up in a 1952 Ford with a leaking radiator blowing steam like crazy. He was cursing like hell and fed up with the old car. I bought it from him on the spot for $35 and a friend drove him home for me to pick up the title. I pulled the radiator that night, got it solder-up up the next day, and drove that car (without a drivers license) back and forth to school for the next 2 semesters. I was lucky, never got busted, or had my parents find out. I was the koolest kid in class with my own ride to drive to school and on dates. LOL

 

[Doodski]

Back in 1964 (I was 14 and a freshmen in highschool) I was pumping gas for a living when an older (60ish) gentleman rolled up in a 1952 Ford with a leaking radiator blowing steam like crazy. He was cursing like hell and fed up with the old car. I bought it from him on the spot for $35 and a friend drove him home for me to pick up the title. I pulled the radiator that night, got it solder-up up the next day, and drove that car (without a drivers license) back and forth to school for the next 2 semesters. I was lucky, never got busted, or had my parents find out. I was the koolest kid in class with my own ride to drive to school and on dates. LOL

Sounds like a good outcome... In ~1985 I bought a 2 door Ford Cortina GT 2L for $20 with good pirelli tires on it, not burning oil, everything worked and I drove it 124 miles a day back and forth to my college technical drafting study for 10 months. I sold it for $300 and sold it fast at that price. It was bright red.

 

[Sal1950]

Sounds like a good outcome... In ~1985 I bought a 2 door Ford Cortina GT 2L for $20 with good pirelli tires on it, not burning oil, everything worked and I drove it 124 miles a day back and forth to my college technical drafting study for 10 months. I sold it for $300 and sold it fast at that price. It was bright red.
View attachment 386387

Now that was a steal of a deal. !!!

 

[Doodski]

Now that was a steal of a deal. !!!

It was a awesome deal... I was living on my own since 14 and I think word got around that I was working my butt off washing dishes and putting myself through school and college too so I got a extra special price from the guy that was a friend of a friend. I was ecstatic at the time and was very thankful for sure.

 

[Mart68]

Richer Sounds are still going.
(Both online and with physical stores).
https://www.richersounds.com/

I bought my Denon AVR from them and they gave me good service and were helpful when I had to make a warranty claim.

They are and they are still very good. I got my TV there a few years back. But they are 'proper' hi-fi shops now, selling current models, not the tiny discount warehouses they used to be.

The one by me even has a demo room.

 

[Snoopy]

Considering how expensive food is these days or renting a place in a bigger city .. or a 2 week vacation with airplane tickets… even 2000$ headphones are not crazy

 

[Steven Holt]

1985 I bought a 2 door Ford Cortina GT 2L for $20

Now Doodski, was that $20 US or $20 Canadian??