Concentration of wealth

[Solypsa]

It could be that the concept of 'high end audio' needs rebranding to be the tier below 'luxury audio'. Seriously good gear is not all six figures per component. It just may not be the 'best'. High quality doesn't have to be synonomous with 'point of diminishing returns' best in class.

 

[howiebrou]

$$$ https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201910/25/WS5db22841a310cf3e355737dd.html

1. New York
2. Hong Kong
3. San Francisco

• https://www.businessinsider.com/where-do-billionaires-live-top-cities-worldwide-ranked-2019-5

What many people do not realise is that Billionaires in Hong Kong and China fly under the radar. Their real worth is rarely known as many companies are still privately held.

 

[howiebrou]

Apparently they have, or had a hankering for luxury Swiss watches.

The old joke was that a customer would walk into a luxury watch shop and point to a tray of watches in the display cabinet. He would ask to see the tray and then point to one watch.

"This one sir?", the salesman would ask.

"Yes" the customer would say,

"this is the one i will not take".....pack up the rest.

 

[kach22i]

A few weeks ago on a Saturday morning in the cigar lounge the two luxury watch enthusiasts were discussing displays of wealth in Asia and mentioned Hong Kong. In the context of that discussion, maybe a stereo system has a serious disadvantage compared to mobile things like watches, cars and yachts.

Regarding Porsche, yep they sell a lot more SUV's and 4-door luxury cruisers than sports cars.

To compare, there is a lot more music being played on cell phones than CD players and turntables.

Not going to help the Hi-End at all.

A trendy restaurant selling all natural organic grass fed ground beef burgers at $30 a crack isn't going trickle down quality to a $3 hamburger sold at McDonald's, and McDonald's is going to sell a heck of a lot more of them.

 

[howiebrou]

A trendy restaurant selling all natural organic grass fed ground beef burgers at $30 a crack isn't going trickle down quality to a $3 hamburger sold at McDonald's, and McDonald's is going to sell a heck of a lot more of them.

Don't get me started about 'natural', 'organic', 'grass fed' beef.

 

[jeff1225]

A few weeks ago on a Saturday morning in the cigar lounge the two luxury watch enthusiasts were discussing displays of wealth in Asia and mentioned Hong Kong. In the context of that discussion, maybe a stereo system has a serious disadvantage compared to mobile things like watches, cars and yachts.

Regarding Porsche, yep they sell a lot more SUV's and 4-door luxury cruisers than sports cars.

To compare, there is a lot more music being played on cell phones than CD players and turntables.

Not going to help the Hi-End at all.

A trendy restaurant selling all natural organic grass fed ground beef burgers at $30 a crack isn't going trickle down quality to a $3 hamburger sold at McDonald's, and McDonald's is going to sell a heck of a lot more of them.

McDonald's has always been a budget brand, they can't upscale. Five Guys is a better example, they sell and have always sold a premium product, but they offer more affordable options. Affordable luxury is a trend that is on the rise, its a trend that high end should capitalize on.

There were 16.8 million records sold in the USA in 2018, with the average number of 6 records purchased by each consumer. That's 2.8 million people not using cell phones to listen to their music.

 

[jeff1225]

Don't get me started about 'natural', 'organic', 'grass fed' beef.

It's a trend in the USA due to our overly processed foods as our beef is produced by massive corporate farms. When Americans visit Europe or Asia they are usually surprised how much better the meat tastes.

 

[howiebrou]

It's a trend in the USA due to our overly processed foods as our beef is produced by massive corporate farms. When Americans visit Europe or Asia they are usually surprised how much better the meat tastes.

It's also an opportunity for companies including the big guys to market these feel good food products with most of them neither being safer or better for animal welfare nor tasting better!

 

[DaveC]

Affordable luxury is a trend that is on the rise, its a trend that high end should capitalize on.

Exactly!

This is my business model. I may not package in flight cases, have glossy brochures or full-page ads in Stereophile, but I have a top end product without being weighed down by traditional luxury trappings, sold at wholesale prices for everyone.

It's a trend in the USA due to our overly processed foods as our beef is produced by massive corporate farms. When Americans visit Europe or Asia they are usually surprised how much better the meat tastes.

Yeah, Europe doesn't have the same low-end foods we have here. In the US you have to be more careful what you buy, and the good stuff is marked-up "specialty" food where in Europe it's just food.

 

[Gregadd]

You buy a gold plated cheese burger of you want it. You are paying for the chef and ambiemce.

 

[Sablon Audio]

I’m not sure that the ‘wealthy’ are really that into hifi. A scan of properties listing over say £5-10m will seldom show photos of systems.

 

[NorthStar]

What many people do not realise is that Billionaires in Hong Kong and China fly under the radar. Their real worth is rarely known as many companies are still privately held.

I agree; we don't know the exact net worth of Vladimir "Poutine", just an ephemeral number.
For all we know he could be the richest man of the galaxy.

And, just as one example; we are aware of the Panama papers leak.
Plus plus plus ...

So, money is very relative, numbers can be very easily fudged, falsified, misconstrued, misinterpreted, ... like anything else in life without real value.

Invest in solid concrete foundations; friendships, trust, respect, honesty and true love.
Then all the concentrated money in the world doesn't give any wealth without health first; mental and physical health, balance of good in the hi-end audio world.

Aim high, go linear tangential axis.

 

[NorthStar]

I’m not sure that the ‘wealthy’ are really that into hifi. A scan of properties listing over say £5-10m will seldom show photos of systems.

I think that the most wealthy people, the guys who never set foot on WBF, with super yachts travelling the four corners of the globe, and with various mansions on every coast of each continent, don't have the time to set their tonearms and cartridges right and to become true audiophiles.
Yes they can afford the very best and most luxurious hi-fi stereo rigs, but they don't shop and listen for it; one of the butlers do the audio shopping, another set things up to make sure the sound comes up from the speakers, in phase.

Then they invite their friends and play dancing music for entertainment with lots of champagne from France, cigars from Panama or Cuba, and caviar from Russia, lobster from the Atlantic Ocean.

Us? Not me, but everyone else, small peanuts in a lost ocean of broken dreams.
Me I simply don't count, not even a small blue spec in the vast firmament.

 

[Folsom]

I’m not sure that the ‘wealthy’ are really that into hifi. A scan of properties listing over say £5-10m will seldom show photos of systems.

That’s because it’s all staged. When you’re wealthy and want to move you can afford to do it before you sell your other place.

 

[Folsom]

BTW as a side note... one of my favorite things when I mention that I got something at a health food store is how they say, “oh I don’t need/eat any of that fancy stuff.” Hmm ya, my items with ingredients I can count on one hand, or vegetables without thin lining on them are the “fancy” ones; not the meat glue, 20 unlisted ingredients on top of two dozen ingredients, made in laboratories stuff...

 

[the sound of Tao]

I’m not sure that the ‘wealthy’ are really that into hifi. A scan of properties listing over say £5-10m will seldom show photos of systems.

Some audiophiles may start out wealthy but I’m not sure many of us end that way.

Also proper audiophiles would always store our systems away when putting the house on the market... moving home is traumatic enough without the gear being left exposed in an open house as well .

 

[JackD201]

From where I sit I see it not as an issue of wealth but rather one of degrees of interest. As Shaq once famously said, "I'm rich, the guy who signs my paycheck is wealthy". I'm pretty sure Shaq and Dr. Buss, if he were with us today, could assemble systems comprised of the most expensiive offerings today and not blink. I think it is safe to say that the majority of members here are not as rich as Shaq and certaiinly not bonafide Billionaires.

The music industry is not in distress it has simply continued to morph. Home audio was once a luxury lest we forget. Hand cranked phonographs were a luxury, having a radio was a luxury, going from mono to stereo was a luxury. At this stage there were few players and they set the standards while engaged in mortal combat with each other. Fast forward to a century later there remains a luxury segment while a huge part of the population has access to digital audio.

In my opinion, halo products are there to attract attention, provide spectacle. Yes it happens that we see huge price tags and nothing to justify it but we know what happens to these. Nothing. Other times as Peter says, we benefit from the trickle down. The funny thing about the really wealthy is that they don't want to be members of a tribe. They want something unique. While a client willing to pay the development costs can give a company a boost, I don't see them saving the industry. I don't see the company owners getting rich/wealthy either.

Larry is right. the money isn't in the flagship products. It's in marketshare for the segment with the best returns. Yet even there, pecking orders exist. The luxury and high end markets are dictated by the variation of tastes and needs of a market base who are largely very particular. That alone fragments the market precluding large sales volumes.

 

[kach22i]

This has been a good thread and reading everyone's opinions has been educational.

There has been progress in audio reproduction over the years and certainly the high end, the middle end and low end have all been affected.

The typical trickle-down of technology that I've read about over and over again is in loudspeakers, usually some tweeter developed for the flagship becomes economical at scale to produce rather than maintaining two or three design specifications with independent supply lines.

 

[rando]

20 unlisted ingredients on top of two dozen ingredients, made in laboratories stuff...

Sounds like high end audio

I got very worried when so many soy based goods started hitting the market. Especially the one's using green production facilities and reduction of carbon footprint as selling points.

 

[Folsom]

I don’t.