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How will recession affect audiophiles and hifi trade?

Mozart

Mozart

pfm Member
Do you remember the 1980s when interest rates hit double digits? (I was in short trousers and wasn’t fiscally minded at that age).

How did it hit audiophiles, manufacturers and dealers?

Are we heading back to stack systems with graphic equalisers?
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People won't have a home to put a hifi system in, so I guess hifi shop's will soon be hit, if not already seeing a slow down
 
I think sensible, ie servicing and Rega say, will be okay. ‘High-End’ is a law unto itself but as for the rest.

As for me, I’ve just spent the last money on hi-fi for a very long time. Thankfully I enjoy what I have immensely.

PS Phil March, one of the best in the business, is doing the former in Salisbury.
 
Oh, crap. I have an equalizer and my kit is in a stack in a rack with a Manley Stingray at the top of the pack.

Joe
 
Not a response on recession per se, but the fact that a lot of high end kit is imported will affect demand. You can’t have a 15 per cent shift in the exchange rate and have no impact, especially if there are substitutes (eg UK products).

One thing’s for sure: Ken Kessler will still be referring to all Absolute Sounds kit as a ‘bargain’

Salman
 
They’ll stop making the cheap stuff, some people will still be creaming it and spending but they won’t be those that have to look down the back of the armchair to find the cash.

There’s an article in yesterday’s Echoes (an online French rag) says Focal had sold far more of their top speakers, Grande Utopia something or other, during covid than in normal years, like 32 against 2. Though maybe there was some inheritances involved in some of those.
 
I have a feeling dealers will have a pretty hard time as so much kit is imported from stronger currencies, so will rise in price substantially. The price of new kit will certainly go up, as will everything else e.g. food, clothes, cars or whatever.

The opposite side of that is those who, like many here, live in the vintage/classic market will see the kit we own increase in value as the £ drops against the Yen etc where the best of this kit is so popular. I’ve noticed a massive upward shift in the Discogs value of my record collection (up by around £8k/£11k median/max over the past week). I’d not be surprised if the prices of vintage idlers, valve amps, Tannoys, LS3/5As etc shifted similarly.

PS If you need stuff, e.g. a new cart, stylus, foreign-made amp or CD player or whatever I’d buy it now rather than wait for prices to adjust! Local kit will also go up in time too as materials and energy costs have obviously increased.
 
Sloop John B said:
Certainly the Great Depression had a big impact on Gramophone makers stifling investment and delaying the compact disc by at least 40 years.

goodness knows what could happen this time.

.sjb
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Looking at the third pic in the thread starters message, it's clear that the size of mobile phones hasn't changed since the 1980's. Think if someone would invent a much smaller one, selling for, maybe £20! But, it will never happen, will it?
 
I’ve noticed used kit has been very slow to sell on the usual sites for a while now. Pretty sure it’s because few feel comfortable pulling the trigger during uncertain times. Premium pricing is abundant as sellers speculate their kit will be worth more, by default, as prices for their new equivalents soar.
 
I sell a fair bit on Ebay, amps, speakers etc... & Over the last month i have sold to China, Switzerland & France & only a single sale in the UK, which was of a pair of cheapish speaker stands.

Auction prices are also dropping on hifi in some cases. I picked up a Musical fidelity amp yesterday for £100 less than the usual selling price on Ebay.
 
sprogbasket said:
Looking at ebay prices for second hand kit - totally confusing prices going up rather than down ! .. weird
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New prices are going up so s/h just follows. I do think though sellers trying to cash in on this may have a slightly longer wait.
 
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