Me thinks the law of diminishing returns kicks in strongly around that price point. I got a great deal on a Beyerdynamic Tesla T1 some time back and I love them; but at full price the T1 is about twice the cost of a Sennheiser HD 650.
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I stop trying to put price cutoffs for âdiminishing returnsâ. To me diminishing returns isnât about a price to performance ratio, it is more about the price to enjoyment factor. And that is different for everyone. So even though say HD800 cost me about 4 times as much as HD650, do I think it performs 4 times better? No. Do I enjoy it 4 times as much? I would say so. I just loved HD800 from the second I heard it and I have definitely used it at least 4 times more than I use my HD650. And the thing about this hobby is that we all derive enjoyment from different things. If hearing microdetail in an acoustic guitar is your thing and can bring you to tears, then maybe a 5% increase in microdetail performance is worth $500 extra dollars. Whoâs to say otherwise?
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I think we agree in principle. I think the price cutoff is somewhat of a soft target and itâs not about the price either; only enjoyment counts. That being said Iâve listened to the HD800 and for me the cost was not justified over the HD650, but I do enjoy my Tesla T1. Although I would still say that the price performance / enjoyment ratio on the HD650 vs. the T1 is much higher. Also, enjoyment is not quantifiable.
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Yeah thatâs why the key here is each personâs âpersonal enjoymentâ. Even though HD800 to me give me more enjoyment over HD650 that I think the value is there, I would completely understand if someone else doesnât think the price is justified based on their own enjoyment or lack thereof. The personal satisfaction variable is just so large that there is no way to try and quantify a spot where upgrading headphones is no longer âworth itâ.
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Certainly thereâs no universally agreed upon price point for all, but I believe we each have our own, which we ever so often reevaluate as new products with new technologies become available. So itâs all good.
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I am inclined to agree with you . I think that going second hand you can pick up something very nice.
No doubt about it. It means $600 might buy a $1000-1200 item. It has definitely been my experience that some expensive pieces of equipment have been well worth it to my ears. My experience has taught me well researched, patience and some time a little luck will get me to a great deal with something I have wanted to own⌠Ultimately, I would like that to buy at a price where if I wanted to sell later, it might be close to the amount I purchased it for used.
I donât mind getting second hand gear because you can get some great deals. My only problem is I canât bring myself to get the higher end gear such as the HD800âs and the Andromedaâs that I bought. I just find that to get a full warranty and the piece of mind it brings is worth the extra cost. I hope I can overcome this problem as the costs are becoming increasingly higher the further up the ladder I want to climb.
-Paul-
I will always try and find the best deal possible for audiophile gear, but I also donât mind paying a premium for premium quality and service. Sometimes you can get lucky on deals, Iâve found that Bstock and refurbished gear directly from a company can be outstanding deals.
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Yes I have often looked at the campfire/ALO B stock deals. If I hadnât rushed into buying the green Andromedaâs I would have liked to have picked up one of the limited colours on B stock. I really like the blue colour ones and white ones.
I got my Shure SE846 on a Amazon Warehouse deal. And I have been very, very pleased with these.
-Paul-
Oh man those White Andromedas! I have an affinity to purple myself so the Lyra II are very appealing to my aesthetic likes(TMNT Donatello addiction). If they ever put out Purple Andromedas in the Lyra II color I would be hard put to not pick them up.
Yes, getting iemâs or headphones in a colour that your partial to makes it much harder to say no.
-paul-
Note that according to this site, which has calculators for US, UK, AUS, and EURO inflation shows from 1980 to 2018 and average inflation rate of just about 3%. Data from the past 10 years shows a rate of only about 1.6%, although recent months are higher.
Many products, particularly when considering technology and materials science, show a decreasing cost for the same quality item. Telephone calls, television, and computing come to mind.
When looking at âinflationâ economists look at the âMarket Basketâ which can differ considerably based on what you are buying. See this article by the St. Louis Federal Reserve and this one at Investopedia.
If we look at automobiles, My 1964 Olds F-85 can get me from A to B. It has an AM radio with one speaker, good heater, electric windshield wipers, aftermarket Air Conditioning, and some really nice chrome. It was a mid-price car in its day. My wifeâs 2014 Nissan Rogue does all that (but no chrome), Plus it has good sound, Satellite radio, Traffic info. lane departure warnings, air bags, properly designed crush zones, it corners better, gets better gas mileage, and has luxuries and standard features hardly dreamed of in 1964.
In conclusion, when we look at price (and overprice) for headphones, we must take into account that our dollars are smaller, our heads have remained the same size, while our ears are much larger.
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Iâve accumulated a really nice set of what I call post-hype headphones. Things that were flavor of the month when they came out, on Tyllâs wall, etc. a year later when the bloom is off the rose, the price is half what it used to be or even lower if you play the sales right. But theyâre still really, really good headphones, they just donât have the cachet they did at one time. Iâve gotten superb things like the Focal Elear, HiFiMan HE-560, etc. for 50% or less this way just by being patient.
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The he560 are selling now for 650.00 I think on Amazon Canada.
Your not worried about the quality?
Also you do make a good point of buying towards the end run of a product, the Hifimans X v2 are now at a special price of 1000.00 here, and have been tempted by the price, but donât know to much about them.
Usually you get what you pay for, but with headphones itâs, after carefully auditioning, more important to get what to you sounds best. For maybe a little over $500 you should be able to purchase some decent cans. Things to keep in mind are the amp you have to drive them and the music you prefer. Also comfort and if you plan to drive them using portable gear. For instance planar 'phones are too inefficient to power unless you buy a portable amp with enough current like a FiiO.
That really depends on the headphones. The LCD2C for example is efficient enough to to work from my LG V20.
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I made my last purchases in TechnoVolume(web site). The boys work promptly, no problems have arisen. However, I heard that now they are temporarily not accepting orders. Prices there are really cool, and also give big discounts sometimes.
Ditto for the 400S, works fine straight out of the portable, no amping needed.