Value and luxury

[sweetsounds]

Over Christmas I had the pleasure to have a stroll through Paris. And by accident I had the pleasure to listen to the Magico M7 at Présence Audio. Enormous in size, sleek presentation exceeding 500k€ the pair. They have already 3 pairs on pre-order.

Many of you now mentally roll their eyes. "Useless", "same can be had for 1k€ with Genelecs", "rip-off".

But why is that? I walked on, Prada sells their new leather bags for 2k€, a glass of (not-fresh) orange juice cost me €9 in a department store café, a bracelet of 2nd class diamonds in the window of Tiffany was 40k€ and several Maybach/Bentley cars drove by on Champs Elysee well beyond the 300k€ mark. Apple sells a phone for €1500.

Luxury prices increased more than regular items in the last 2 years and sales went up (known as the inverse law of price-sales).

There is a tiny group of people who simply like to surround themselves with exclusivity. And there are many who would like to have at least one luxury item in their possession. Not a rational choice arguiably.

So why do we ridicule audio luxury only?
Why not giggle at the stupidity of ladies wearing Prada? Why not at the Ferrari (which needs frequent repairs anyway)?

 

[BDWoody]

So why do we ridicule audio luxury only?
Why not giggle at the stupidity of ladies wearing Prada?

Because no one sells Prada bags as if they hold more per cubic foot than WalMart Bags. Where is the misleading part?

I think there is a big difference between sales based on lies and deception and sales based on reputation or market position.

 

[JayGilb]

Over Christmas I had the pleasure to have a stroll through Paris. And by accident I had the pleasure to listen to the Magico M7 at Présence Audio. Enormous in size, sleek presentation exceeding 500k€ the pair. They have already 3 pairs on pre-order.

Many of you now mentally roll their eyes. "Useless", "same can be had for 1k€ with Genelecs", "rip-off".

But why is that? I walked on, Prada sells their new leather bags for 2k€, a glass of (not-fresh) orange juice cost me €9 in a department store café, a bracelet of 2nd class diamonds in the window of Tiffany was 40k€ and several Maybach/Bentley cars drove by on Champs Elysee well beyond the 300k€ mark. Apple sells a phone for €1500.

Luxury prices increased more than regular items in the last 2 years and sales went up (known as the inverse law of price-sales).

There is a tiny group of people who simply like to surround themselves with exclusivity. And there are many who would like to have at least one luxury item in their possession. Not a rational choice arguiably.

So why do we ridicule audio luxury only?
Why not giggle at the stupidity of ladies wearing Prada? Why not at the Ferrari (which needs frequent repairs anyway)?

Because this is a audio related site ?
Some of us do roll our eyes at expensive purses and luxury cars, but in many cases such as a Ferrari, there is actual engineering which is measurable in the handling and top speed.

When expensive audio products actually produce superior measurements, we may roll our eye at the prices, but we respect the performance.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

Because no one sells Prada bags as if they hold more per cubic foot than WalMart Bags. Where is the misleading part?

I think there is a big difference between sales based on lies and deception and sales based on reputation or market position.

Where and how does Magico lie and deceive?

I agree with you in general BTW but find Magico to be an outlier in this audiophoolery business.

 

[Keith_W]

Why not giggle at the stupidity of ladies wearing Prada? Why not at the Ferrari (which needs frequent repairs anyway)?

FERRARI = Frighteningly Expensive Repairs Required At Regular Intervals

 

[Music1969]

"same can be had for 1k€ with Genelecs"

this comment would be flat out wrong - objectively.

There are no 1k Genelecs that can reproduce the bass or even max SPL of the Magico M7.

 

[fpitas]

Perhaps Magico was a bad choice. Those actually work well.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

FERRARI = Frighteningly Expensive Repairs Required At Regular Intervals

Tell me which car brand you own and I will find something to critique.

Perhaps Magico was a bad choice. Those actually work well.

And damn well engineered as far as I'm concerned.
IMO the only thing you can critique Magico for is that YOU(I) won't spend the money they ask for their products.

 

[fpitas]

Here OP, browse this thread and educate yourself how bad a lot of high-end brands really are.

Worst measuring loudspeaker?

Do we have a thread already if we have my apologies, Is this the worst, https://www.stereophile.com/content/klipsch-klipschorn-ak6-loudspeaker-measurements I have only heard a Klipsch loudspeaker on two occasions, Keith

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Keith_W]

Tell me which car brand you own and I will find something to critique.

BMW. Yeah I know it stands for "Burn My Wallet".

 

[Deleted member 48726]

BMW. Yeah I know it stands for "Burn My Wallet".

^
^
What he said.

 

[BDWoody]

Where and how does Magico lie and deceive?

I agree with you in general BTW but find Magico to be an outlier in this audiophoolery business.

I can't argue with that.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

I can't argue with that.

One of the (very) few..

 

[Tryphon]

I agree with BDWoody. To have another example, Rolex doesn't not say it's watches are more accurate than a plastic Casio. But Rolex is capable of fine craftmanship and their watches are certainly sufficently accurate for their owner to have the time.
Years ago, when Nakamichi introduced the 1000ZXL Limited in gold trim, it was clearly a product aimed at the luxury market. But Nak was legitimate to do so as there cassette decks are top tier (on performance if not in reliability).
The problem is that in the present audio market, there are a lot of boutique brands that aim at the luxury market without the thiner slice of knowledge in mecanic, electronic or acoustic. Magico is probably not in that case btw

 

[Deleted member 21219]

And damn well engineered as far as I'm concerned.
IMO the only thing you can critique Magico for is that YOU(I) won't spend the money they ask for their products.

In the case of Magico, that is true.

We should be aware that there are two different factors at play here ... or anywhere else, for that matter.

The first is not ONLY that products exist at exorbitant prices. That situation has existed ever since humans mined gold and jewels. The factor that receives criticism here is that there are items that 1) are exorbitantly priced yet deliver sub-par performance, and 2) there are items that justify their high price based on an openly claimed higher level of performance ... which they do not deliver.

These items are considered rip-offs. This is a problem that has always been with the marketplace. Even in Roman times, cheating merchants with inaccurate scales were a problem. After all, caveat emptor is not a caution coined in modern times.

The other factor is simply that some people resent those who are better off. They're looking for excuses to vent. We have always had those sorts of people, but the internet has made them more obvious.

Jim

 

[Deleted member 48726]

In the case of Magico, that is true.

We should be aware that there are two different factors at play here ... or anywhere else, for that matter.

The first is not ONLY that products exist at exorbitant prices. That situation has existed ever since humans mined gold and jewels. The factor that receives criticism here is that there are items that 1) are exorbitantly priced and deliver sub-par performance, and 2) there are items that justify their high price based on an openly claimed higher level of performance ... which they do not deliver.

These items are considered rip-offs. This is a problem that has always been with the marketplace. Even in Roman times, cheating merchants with inaccurate scales were a problem. After all, caveat emptor.

The other factor is simply that some people resent those who are better off. They're looking for excuses to vent. We have always had those sorts of people, but the internet has made them more obvious.

Jim

Agree with everything you wrote. Problem is that Magico, which was mentioned in the OP and compared to Genelec in the OP doesn't fit in the "charlatan" role with the rest of the usual suspects.

 

[Deleted member 21219]

Agree with everything you wrote. Problem is that Magico, which was mentioned in the OP and compared to Genelec in the OP doesn't fit in the "charlatan" role with the rest of the usual suspects.

Hence the first sentence of my post.

Jim

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

BMW. Yeah I know it stands for "Burn My Wallet".

Oh! And I thought it stood for Bavarian Mega Wanker.

 

[Deleted member 48726]

Oh! And I thought it stood for Bavarian Mega Wanker.

Bavarian Mini Wiener

 

[renaudrenaud]

Well, don't have any car. Don't know what is luxury. Never will be in shop where Magico are for sell.

Surely the name is social class.

This website is where upper social class meet in comments the populus vulgaris simplex. Even my latin is wrong.