Price increases in high-end audio

High-end audio equipment is expensive (well, high-end anything is expensive) and a lot of it is imported. The following article from Stereophile shows a number of distributors are absorbing the cost increases.

The Impact of Tariffs on the Hi-Fi Industry
https://www.stereophile.com/content/re-tales-56-impact-tariffs-hi-fi-industry
Harman Luxury Audio Group is scheduled to raise prices in July on its Levinson, Revel, and JBL brands as well as newly acquired brands Marantz, B&W, and Denon. Binghamton, New York–based McIntosh announced price increases of 10%–18% just a few months after the McIntosh Group was acquired by Bose [in November]…

On April 7, Cliff Duffey, head of AXISS Audio, sent dealers a letter informing them that AXISS would absorb tariff costs…Jay Rein of US importer-distributor Bluebird Music…has informed its dealers that it will not raise prices.

DB2

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JBL and Denon “high end”? If I am willing to pay their price, they are not very “high end”. I used to have Denon cassette deck, turntable, and CD player…the CD was last to go, last year. I use JBL speakers in my surround system.

Seems that everyone claims to be “high end” now, to fatten profit margins. Ford claims to be Porsche, VW claims to be Audi and Audi claims to be Bentley.

Ford CEO Jim Farley Says Company Will Be ‘Porsche Of Off-Road’

https://fordauthority.com/2025/01/ford-ceo-jim-farley-says-company-will-be-porsche-of-off-road/

Steve

Not so much, but still there are a lot of people who wouldn’t pay $5500 for a streaming integrated amplifier (which would imply a $10K+ system).

AXISS Audio, mentioned in the article as not raising prices, imports Accuphase, Solution, AirTight and other brands. For example…
Accuphase E-700 integrated amplifier $17K
Soulution 331 integrated amplifier $33K
AirTight ATM-2211 amplifier $45K (plus a preamp, ATC-5s for $16K)

Et cetera.

DB2

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I gave $169, plus tax, on sale from $250, at a stereo specialty shop, for the Denon CD player, in the early 90s. RS offered a comparable player for $220 list. RS wasn’t “high end” in management’s wildest moment of delusion.

fwiw, I gave about $15 for the Yamaha a/v surround receiver in my living room, at Goodwill. It even had the remote with it.

Steve

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Very true, that.

DB2

I have been enjoying high fidelity systems since i was 4 years old and helping Dad solder the most awkward tiny connections on his custom pre-amp board. One thing i know for sure and that is most expenditure for high end equipment is done by people who are or about to become partially deaf, have no idea about how to actively listen whether to speakers or the sounds of a valley forest, and the game is about bragging rights at a quasi-religious level.

I’d never spend anything close to $5500 for an amplifier for a home system, unless it was to power a rock concert array of cheap loud speakers to blast Wagnerian Operas at an obnoxious rich boy neighbor who plays bad disco music at all hours at high volume.

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Let me know the next time you’re in the upper-Midwest, and I’ll give you a taste of audio heaven.

DB2

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There is a lot of that. I used to be an audiophile. But, as a student (at the time), I mostly couldn’t afford it. In my advancing age, I’ve settled for “really good”, with a Yamaha receiver, and SM65 speakers (mains…the center is also Infinity, and the rear are in-ceiling -a brand I can’t recall off hand-, the best I could find at the time). Not top of the line, but when I bought them they were probably towards the top of the mid-range equipment. It’s good enough for me in my acoustically imperfect space.

The really high-end stuff was Nakamichi, and some others. Gold contacts, etc.

A lot of people can’t really “hear”. I recall once when 1poorlady had the system on while in the kitchen…I walked into the room and immediately noticed a problem. I said “what’s wrong with the system?”. She replied “nothing, it’s fine”. Took a bit of going back and forth between the speakers, but I discovered that the tweeter on one of the mains was dead. She couldn’t hear it, but I noticed it instantly.

I’m glad I’m not in the market for anything new. It’s all made overseas. If the tariffs hold (doubtful, but you never know with the courts these days), they will become even more expensive.

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You do have a choice. For example, made in America:

Macintosh
Boulder Amplifiers
Wilson Audio
Schiit (yes, that’s a real company in California)
Audeze
Klipsch
Avalon Acoustics
BAT (Balanced Audio Technology)
Cardas Audio
Decware
Bricasti
Pass Labs
Acoustic Zen
Atma-Sphere
ARC (Audio Research Corp)
Ayre
Tekton Speakers
Berkeley Audio Design
Doshi Audio
Grado
Krell
Linear Tube Audio
Lamm
Magnepan
MSB
ModWright
Rockport
Viola Audio
Vinnie Rossie

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera

DB2

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My dad always had a nice system, but I never really knew about high end audio until I got into college radio. There is where I learned about NAD, Sennheiser, Carver and other brands. That led me down a long, expensive road that led to my last great system (may it forever rest in peace): Arcam CD-23 and AVP-700, B&K 5x200W amp, Dali Ikon speakers and Nordost cabling. Heaven! That would be around 2005, with a cost just over $10k for everything.

But I ended up learning something with that last system. I would start listening to some of my favorite stuff less frequently simply because it might have been recorded poorly. And listening to other stuff only because of how well recorded, mixed and mastered it was. As Alan Parsons said, audiophiles use your music to listen to their equipment. Now I’m quite happy with most of my listening through PSB headphones.

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I’m reminded of a quote by the Kevin Costner character in Tin Cup: Sex and golf are two things you can enjoy even if you’re not good at them.

DB2