Pricing in High End: a little about the "sheepskin" and "dressing"
It is known that High End audio equipment is “widely” popular, only in narrow circles, and mainly due to its cost. In this article, I analyzed the facts about the nature and history of pricing for this equipment. While writing the material, I discovered several reasons for the relative vitality of the trend. In the article I tried to answer such questions as:
When choosing sound equipment, I am guided by common sense, technical characteristics, my own ears and naturally economic pragmatism. Directly with the prices for all sorts of high-end, I ran into while working with PULT and was stunned by the number of zeros in the price tags.
')
I expected her to be expensive, but could not imagine that so much. Noticing the ambiguity of the approach to the question of the value of the readers of our blog, I decided to analyze the trends in this segment of the audio market and understand where the “legs” are growing from.
The term “ high end ” itself is still not clearly defined and is understood differently by both consumers and manufacturers. In contrast to the high-end, HI-FI equipment is created in accordance with a number of standards that are defined by the standards DIN4550, GOST 24388-88, DIN 45500, IEC 60581 and several others. At the same time, the overwhelming majority of companies in the Hi-Fi segment keep the quality bar above accepted standards. The standard cannot be called perfection, but it is built on objectively measurable parameters: the minimum value of the non-uniformity of the amplitude-frequency characteristic (HFR / dB), the nonlinear distortion coefficient (SOI,%), the noise level (dB).
As a term for unique equipment for audiophiles, High End appeared in the 60s, thanks to the sound engineer and founder of the magazine “Stereophile” Justin Gordon Holt. After some time, the term got accustomed and began to denote low-volume or unique equipment created in accordance with the so-called concept. "Subjective audio."
It is also worth noting that before the widespread use of the term, all high-end equipment was labeled as HI-FI . The separation began closer to the end of the seventies, when the development of the term “High End” in marketing, as a stigma for unique products, required a rigid separation from mass audio technology.
In 2007, Holt, as a sincere and not too “politically correct” person, said that the principles of High End, both technically and ideologically, begin to profane, and Holt refused to give an interview to Audio Magazine, responding as follows:
Having entered into circulation, the ideological term very quickly became marketing, defining product positioning. High end was never tied to a technical standard, but appeared as a synthesis of technology and art. In fairness, it should be noted that for some manufacturers, the starting ideological paradigm still matters. Meanwhile, the realities of the market and greed have done their dirty deed, the equipment, which was positioned as a high-end, began to cost at times, and sometimes even orders of magnitude more expensive than any other.
If you do not take into account reputational risks, today, any audio equipment can be “called” high end and set the appropriate price tag. A very rough hypothetical example: I, armed with a soldering iron, glue, a manual from a DIY forum, rivet dynamic headphones from a coil, magnet, paper, wires, a pair of aluminum frames and wooden bowls. I will announce the high-end product on the same basis as the vast majority of manufacturers (there is no standard - there is a concept). And my product, from the point of view of the concept of a unique “subjective audio”, will be a very hard high end. Paying $ 1000 for the exhibition area, I will present the “project” in some “Crocus Expo” or the Exhibition of Economic Achievements and maybe even sell 10 times more expensive than the exhibition area and 1000 times more expensive than the cost. The buyer, on the basis of objective criteria, will never be able to prove that he was deceived and soldshit not high end.
On the other hand, a number of manufacturers deliberately take the highest possible quality bar, using high technology, efficient engineering approaches, high-quality expensive components (it’s not about gold wires and Jurassic capacitors) to create unique, in a good sense of the word, products. It is quite natural that such manufacturers will be guided by market conditions and the price will be outside the scope of mass equipment. As an example, manufacturers of electrostatic loudspeakers and headphones, for which even minimal distortion is critical, can be cited. However, most people can not assess the quality of such systems due to the exorbitant price.
If you do not take into account metaphysics and marketing myths, then the modern ideology of high-end audio can be described as a desire to "disappear" the influence of equipment on sound, which is essentially utopian, but sometimes leads to good results. The latest trend is far from being true for all manufacturers, many simply prefer to row money for mediocre devices with an elaborate design, resistors costing $ 200, a couple of lamps and gold contacts (I will not write about cables and TLZ, for the ugly themes beaten).
In a sense, you can call the high-end industry a hostage of marketing, the costs of which also affect the price. The profanation of the values embodied in the original ideology (art and technology in one bottle) is also largely due to inadequately aggressive marketing. The ritualization of listening to music, the transformation of High End supporters into a kind of sect, pseudoscientific justifications for the astronomical cost of devices and accessories, and other obscurantism are largely due to the PR departments of some companies. The contribution of these unprincipled people to the “skewed” pricing is one of the most impressive.
From the side, even with aggressive “religious” marketing, high end does not look too viable in the conditions of the modern market. At the same time, sales of a number of companies, especially for owners of old and well-known brands, remain stable. It is reasonable to ask who buys it and why?
According to my observations, I can distinguish 5 categories of fans of such technology.
1. Very rich people who are obsessed with status perfectionism. These are the clients on which marketers have created a prestigious pricing strategy. Often, they don’t care how it sounds, sometimes they don’t even attend a showroom, but choose a technique looking solely at the price, believing that the most expensive, probably the best. In the technique, designed for such a buyer can be used expensive wood, a fair amount of parts made of precious metals, etc., which automatically increases the already indecent cost of the device.
2. Audiophiles who are in an uncompromising search for the perfect sound. Constant device change and device search with the most clear, rich, “airy”, “warm”, “cold”, “bright”, “dull”, “honest”, “highly spiritual” or any other sound (the number of subjective criteria may be infinite). Without exaggeration, the search for them lasts the entire adult life or until the resource is exhausted. In a number of difficult cases, a hobby from a hobby develops into a mental pathology with subsequent accusations against manufacturers, sellers, as well as people who criticize their biased attitude to quality. They are firmly convinced that there can be no high-quality products below a certain price threshold, which makes them related to the first category and often feeds small but ambitious manufacturers.
3. Audiophiles with a religious-metaphysical approach to sound. A typical example is Mr ... (however, about the departed, or good or not). They believe in the entities inhabiting the equipment, pray telefunken lamps (or others, depending on the denomination), develop the concept of historical authenticity of the equipment. Extremely hostile to scientific approaches in determining the quality of sound, believing that a person is able to hear what the equipment will never be able to record. Often they criticize all modern technology and are ready to give their souls to the devil for some rare model of the DENON turntable.
4. People who admire vintage or opposite futuristic design are not rare women who buy equipment as expensive toys and attract attention of interior items. As a rule, these are wives or children of representatives of the first category. They are characterized by love for hand-made devices, various kinds of expensive materials in the design of cases and original structures (stone columns, glass amplifiers, etc.).
5. Wealthy people who are critical to the reliability of music playback and can afford to spend an impressive amount to compare the technique and change it like cars. They cannot be called “real” adherents of the high end, since: they do not have “holy” faith in the brand, they do not “warm up” the speakers and wires, in the selection process they are extremely pretentious to the quality, but not to the price of the device. They have the term "high end" does not cause the effect of burning eyes, they are trying to achieve maximum objectivity in the approach. There are few such people, but they are pleased that they are.
One of the prominent representatives of the High End movement of the first wave, the iconic audio journalist Ken Kesler, in an interview with stereopravda.ru partially confirmed my findings regarding the current target audience of High End brands. In response to a journalist's question about modern High End lovers, he stated:
The conclusion about the adequacy of pricing in the high-end, everyone does on their own, and I will not teach anyone life. I recommend only to compare the factors influencing the cost of this equipment and to pay attention to brief information about the reasons for its purchase and the target audience.
Subjective:
Objective:
Why buy : to search for "perfect" sound, for high-quality music playback, for status show off, for expensive interior, to perform rites and rituals.
Target audience : “looking for” audiophiles with different income levels, music lovers with big money, perfectionists with big money and family members, mentally ill.
And yet, in our catalog there is a lot of equipment that manufacturers position as high end. We have created a catalog in accordance with the needs of customers, their feedback and preferences. In no case do I condemn anyone’s choice or rejection of it, I just describe the facts and share the conclusions I made.
I sincerely hope for a lively discussion in a positive way.
The position of PULT, in respect of high-end equipment, may differ from the opinion of the author of the material.
What standards define a device to high end audio?
On the basis of what manufacturers of such equipment build a pricing policy?
What people buy this technique?
When choosing sound equipment, I am guided by common sense, technical characteristics, my own ears and naturally economic pragmatism. Directly with the prices for all sorts of high-end, I ran into while working with PULT and was stunned by the number of zeros in the price tags.
')
I expected her to be expensive, but could not imagine that so much. Noticing the ambiguity of the approach to the question of the value of the readers of our blog, I decided to analyze the trends in this segment of the audio market and understand where the “legs” are growing from.
Standards vs uniqueness
The term “ high end ” itself is still not clearly defined and is understood differently by both consumers and manufacturers. In contrast to the high-end, HI-FI equipment is created in accordance with a number of standards that are defined by the standards DIN4550, GOST 24388-88, DIN 45500, IEC 60581 and several others. At the same time, the overwhelming majority of companies in the Hi-Fi segment keep the quality bar above accepted standards. The standard cannot be called perfection, but it is built on objectively measurable parameters: the minimum value of the non-uniformity of the amplitude-frequency characteristic (HFR / dB), the nonlinear distortion coefficient (SOI,%), the noise level (dB).
As a term for unique equipment for audiophiles, High End appeared in the 60s, thanks to the sound engineer and founder of the magazine “Stereophile” Justin Gordon Holt. After some time, the term got accustomed and began to denote low-volume or unique equipment created in accordance with the so-called concept. "Subjective audio."
It is also worth noting that before the widespread use of the term, all high-end equipment was labeled as HI-FI . The separation began closer to the end of the seventies, when the development of the term “High End” in marketing, as a stigma for unique products, required a rigid separation from mass audio technology.
Ideology vs Marketing: Salvage Wins Philosophy
In 2007, Holt, as a sincere and not too “politically correct” person, said that the principles of High End, both technically and ideologically, begin to profane, and Holt refused to give an interview to Audio Magazine, responding as follows:
“Over the years, the high-end has turned into a“ mechanism of divorcing rich simpletons “thinner”, I hate to even remember this. ”
Having entered into circulation, the ideological term very quickly became marketing, defining product positioning. High end was never tied to a technical standard, but appeared as a synthesis of technology and art. In fairness, it should be noted that for some manufacturers, the starting ideological paradigm still matters. Meanwhile, the realities of the market and greed have done their dirty deed, the equipment, which was positioned as a high-end, began to cost at times, and sometimes even orders of magnitude more expensive than any other.
If you do not take into account reputational risks, today, any audio equipment can be “called” high end and set the appropriate price tag. A very rough hypothetical example: I, armed with a soldering iron, glue, a manual from a DIY forum, rivet dynamic headphones from a coil, magnet, paper, wires, a pair of aluminum frames and wooden bowls. I will announce the high-end product on the same basis as the vast majority of manufacturers (there is no standard - there is a concept). And my product, from the point of view of the concept of a unique “subjective audio”, will be a very hard high end. Paying $ 1000 for the exhibition area, I will present the “project” in some “Crocus Expo” or the Exhibition of Economic Achievements and maybe even sell 10 times more expensive than the exhibition area and 1000 times more expensive than the cost. The buyer, on the basis of objective criteria, will never be able to prove that he was deceived and sold
On the other hand, a number of manufacturers deliberately take the highest possible quality bar, using high technology, efficient engineering approaches, high-quality expensive components (it’s not about gold wires and Jurassic capacitors) to create unique, in a good sense of the word, products. It is quite natural that such manufacturers will be guided by market conditions and the price will be outside the scope of mass equipment. As an example, manufacturers of electrostatic loudspeakers and headphones, for which even minimal distortion is critical, can be cited. However, most people can not assess the quality of such systems due to the exorbitant price.
If you do not take into account metaphysics and marketing myths, then the modern ideology of high-end audio can be described as a desire to "disappear" the influence of equipment on sound, which is essentially utopian, but sometimes leads to good results. The latest trend is far from being true for all manufacturers, many simply prefer to row money for mediocre devices with an elaborate design, resistors costing $ 200, a couple of lamps and gold contacts (I will not write about cables and TLZ, for the ugly themes beaten).
In a sense, you can call the high-end industry a hostage of marketing, the costs of which also affect the price. The profanation of the values embodied in the original ideology (art and technology in one bottle) is also largely due to inadequately aggressive marketing. The ritualization of listening to music, the transformation of High End supporters into a kind of sect, pseudoscientific justifications for the astronomical cost of devices and accessories, and other obscurantism are largely due to the PR departments of some companies. The contribution of these unprincipled people to the “skewed” pricing is one of the most impressive.
Jedem das seine: what child could not play ...
From the side, even with aggressive “religious” marketing, high end does not look too viable in the conditions of the modern market. At the same time, sales of a number of companies, especially for owners of old and well-known brands, remain stable. It is reasonable to ask who buys it and why?
According to my observations, I can distinguish 5 categories of fans of such technology.
1. Very rich people who are obsessed with status perfectionism. These are the clients on which marketers have created a prestigious pricing strategy. Often, they don’t care how it sounds, sometimes they don’t even attend a showroom, but choose a technique looking solely at the price, believing that the most expensive, probably the best. In the technique, designed for such a buyer can be used expensive wood, a fair amount of parts made of precious metals, etc., which automatically increases the already indecent cost of the device.
2. Audiophiles who are in an uncompromising search for the perfect sound. Constant device change and device search with the most clear, rich, “airy”, “warm”, “cold”, “bright”, “dull”, “honest”, “highly spiritual” or any other sound (the number of subjective criteria may be infinite). Without exaggeration, the search for them lasts the entire adult life or until the resource is exhausted. In a number of difficult cases, a hobby from a hobby develops into a mental pathology with subsequent accusations against manufacturers, sellers, as well as people who criticize their biased attitude to quality. They are firmly convinced that there can be no high-quality products below a certain price threshold, which makes them related to the first category and often feeds small but ambitious manufacturers.
3. Audiophiles with a religious-metaphysical approach to sound. A typical example is Mr ... (however, about the departed, or good or not). They believe in the entities inhabiting the equipment, pray telefunken lamps (or others, depending on the denomination), develop the concept of historical authenticity of the equipment. Extremely hostile to scientific approaches in determining the quality of sound, believing that a person is able to hear what the equipment will never be able to record. Often they criticize all modern technology and are ready to give their souls to the devil for some rare model of the DENON turntable.
4. People who admire vintage or opposite futuristic design are not rare women who buy equipment as expensive toys and attract attention of interior items. As a rule, these are wives or children of representatives of the first category. They are characterized by love for hand-made devices, various kinds of expensive materials in the design of cases and original structures (stone columns, glass amplifiers, etc.).
5. Wealthy people who are critical to the reliability of music playback and can afford to spend an impressive amount to compare the technique and change it like cars. They cannot be called “real” adherents of the high end, since: they do not have “holy” faith in the brand, they do not “warm up” the speakers and wires, in the selection process they are extremely pretentious to the quality, but not to the price of the device. They have the term "high end" does not cause the effect of burning eyes, they are trying to achieve maximum objectivity in the approach. There are few such people, but they are pleased that they are.
One of the prominent representatives of the High End movement of the first wave, the iconic audio journalist Ken Kesler, in an interview with stereopravda.ru partially confirmed my findings regarding the current target audience of High End brands. In response to a journalist's question about modern High End lovers, he stated:
"... So that only two categories remain: these are audiophiles, fanatics of the old school, and simply wealthy people who can acquire expensive high-end by inertia or for reasons of prestige ...".
As a conclusion
The conclusion about the adequacy of pricing in the high-end, everyone does on their own, and I will not teach anyone life. I recommend only to compare the factors influencing the cost of this equipment and to pay attention to brief information about the reasons for its purchase and the target audience.
Subjective:
- prestigious pricing strategy;
- active marketing costs;
- brand reputation and history;
- the use of precious metals and expensive materials in design and circuitry;
Objective:
- high quality items (not always)
- costly technologies, no compromise concept (not always)
- unique effective engineering solutions (not always)
- creative design (a matter of taste)
- manual assembly (not always a matter of taste)
Why buy : to search for "perfect" sound, for high-quality music playback, for status show off, for expensive interior, to perform rites and rituals.
Target audience : “looking for” audiophiles with different income levels, music lovers with big money, perfectionists with big money and family members, mentally ill.
And yet, in our catalog there is a lot of equipment that manufacturers position as high end. We have created a catalog in accordance with the needs of customers, their feedback and preferences. In no case do I condemn anyone’s choice or rejection of it, I just describe the facts and share the conclusions I made.
I sincerely hope for a lively discussion in a positive way.
The position of PULT, in respect of high-end equipment, may differ from the opinion of the author of the material.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/369891/
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