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Why some High End costs what it does

RoA

pfm Member
I am a cynic when it comes to high end prices but this video of Fremer visiting CH Precision and associated manufacturers goes some way of showing what goes into (some) high cost Hifi.

It's a long watch but worth it.

 
It is always fascinating to see how things are made. Also just to think about all of the behind-the-scenes engineering that went into some of it as well. A lot of things to add up in total cost for sure.
 
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Small scale manufacturing with high dependency on manual Labour for assembly in a country which has high salary costs and a product which places so much emphasis on the custom case and user interfaces for that luxury tactile experience is always going to be very high cost.
But if that is what your hi-end customer wants to pay for why not?
Whether this translates into proportionally better audio quality, I have my doubts.
 
Costs in the thread title is incorrect. ‘Priced’ or sold for probably better reflects the reality of supply and demand being the determinant of what you pay rather than costs (of which there are numerous categories of to consider).
 
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If I won shedloads of money. I will still stick with entry and mid level gear. Most HiFi gear is a total rip-off if you ask me.

S.
 
Some negative replies so far, not surprising.

I would include myself but have to say that after watching the video, I kind of admire the company and the way they make Hifi.
 
My experience of CH Precision is that it does define the state of the art. I've been fortunate to hear a few systems using CH Precision components and they go some way beyond what I've thought of as 'pretty much as good as it gets'. And I've heard some comparably priced stuff that, er, doesn't.
 
They are one of the few high end brands where the measured performance matches the design and build quality
Accuphase is another, but perhaps not considered high-end to some. But it is as high as I'd ever go.
 
I have to say that I really admire the engineering precision and level of design that goes into some project. I watched a video recently that talked about the Rega P10, and how one of the tolerances was something like 1 micron. Boggles the mind.

Having said all of that, and whilst I love some of the engineering, I do wonder whether it's worth the effort. Did that improvement in precision by Rega really make that much difference, i.e. enough to justify the cost to developing the manufacturing capability to do it repeatedly?
Sorry, not trying to pick on Rega, just using that as an example. I could happily cover others, e.g. the work that say Wilson Audio put into their speakers, resulting in them sometimes weighing 100s of Kg.
Just recently, I replaced the tweeters in my speakers, as the old ones were definitely on the way out. I couldn't help but notice that the cable connecting to the diaphram was incredibly thin. So why the need to have a cable connected to it that was 10 times the thickness?
 
I have no issue with high priced gear IF you can see that:

(1) that the price reflects the craftsmanship (sorry... craftspersonship), materials and R&D
(2) that the price incorporates technologies that do or potentially do increase sound quality

I (like many) have an issue with high price gear that is marketed based on woo science that steals money from susceptible audiophiles or is plainly a rip off.

I could name many vendors that peddle this stuff but examples include wooden boxes with some dirt in them that supposedly provide grounding that sell for 1000's where the actual cost of manufacture is 10's of dollars or the myriad of computer networking devices which again sell for 1000's which, given an understanding of ethernet and tcp/ip, cannot make any difference.

People have a right to spend any amount of money on whatever they can afford but they shouldnt be ripped off.

Peter
 
I think the market is smaller these days for hifi in general. I would therefore expect prices to be much higher than if just inflation had played a part.
 
Clearly impressively built kit, but as ever I can’t help watch it with my Green/Right To Repair hat, and I’m not really liking what I see. To my mind as a vintage/classic audio buyer an amplifier is a fundamentally simple thing, it’s job is clearly defined, the technology has existed for a century of more in most respects. Here I’m seeing excessive material use (I’ve never bought into ‘more is better’), bespoke displays, bespoke logic chips, firmware etc in everything, even things like power amps. I’d not want to service one in 25, 50 or more years time, and from my perspective if that doesn’t look possible then I take issue with the fundamental design concepts. I want things to be serviceable even if the manufacturer is long gone by the time it breaks.

PS Whilst I’m commenting on an advertorial video about CH Precision my point isn’t intended to single them out. This is a fundamental failure across the modern audio market. I accept certain components need computer industry design and construction techniques, e.g. streamers, DACs etc, but I still feel green sustainable long-life build is possible with legacy tech such as amplifiers, phono stages etc. I can maintain the kit I choose to use myself as it is all simple and so well documented (all my amplifiers came from the factory with service schematics etc).
 
One interesting aspect of the CH Precision modular approach is that old models can usually be brought up to the spec of current designs, and the cost is just the difference in RRP between the units. So they are trying quite hard to avoid the built in obsolescence trap.
 


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