Axell Grell explained a possible reason for this in a recent Noise Floor podcast. The short version is they wanted to make a dynamic driver headphone that sounded like an e-stat. (Sorry I don’t have a timestamp.)
I spoke with the Warwick guys at CAF last year – they are selling limited editions made from premium materials. The firm is plainly targeting the luxury / elitist show-off market. Think Rolex and above in watches. When I described my equipment, their body language gave away luxury-vs-performance discomfort too.
I listened to high end stuff from Warwick, Stax, and Audeze back to back at that show. My main take aways were that (1) the 800S competes quite well, (2) I don’t want to bother with an estat energizer for such a similar experience, and (3) the Audeze CRBN has harsh treble and is my least favorite by far. I’d not buy the CRBN at any price, let alone use it.
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I certainly wouldn’t go as far as a $45k headphone, regardless of make, and to be honest, I think even if I were comfortable able to afford it. I did think about the ‘entry level’ Warwick set … if entry-level is appropriate at that price point.
My logic was if if you’re considering flagship units from Audeze, Focal, Hifiman etc, there’s not that much difference. II mean, from what I remember of prices at the time, my attitude would be that if you can’t push to £6.5k, or whatever it was, you probably shouldn’t be spending anywhere near £4.5k-£6k on any of these either. They are, after all, pretty much the definition of discretionary purchases, perhaps more like Patek Philippe than even Rolex.
Any flagship unit is, IMHO, entirely a discretionary spend and the difference between those is small enough that if the others are even on the list of possibles, the ‘entry’ Warwick Acoustics shouldn’t be too much of a stretch.
Then again, we all have to draw a line in the sand somewhere.
My thinking was that, yeah, I could pay that. I’m retired and while nowhere near wealthy, not hard up either. And for both age and health reasons, I was considering an end-game, one-and-done unit.
What killed the idea for me was, yes, partly the “marginal value” principle, but another economics concept too … that of opportunity cost.
Given, with my hearing, the difference in my perceptions of the sound from those flagships over other units in more like the £500-£1000 range, while generally better, they were nowhere near enough better to be willing to pay the opportunity cost. So I could, for instance, buy the WA unit, or for the same sort of money, several more purpose-focussed sub-£1000 models and a pretty much state-of-the-art gaming PC. The real cost to me wasn’t so much the money, but what else it could pay for. And that was what decided me.
It’s also how I ended up watching reviews from the team here, and quite a few other reviewers, before coming to the conclusion I thought I would before watching the first one. That is, with or without graphs, I can’t decide if a unit is right for me by watching Youtube reviews, period. There is simply no substitute for going and listening.
That’s not to say the reviews didn’t help - they did. It focussed my thinking, and certainly helped a lot in narrowing down the list by excluding those that were, for whatever reason, non-starters. An example was LCD-X, simply due to weight. And I’m grateful. I also find most of the reviews entertaining, as well as utilitarian. I still watch them, as well as most live streams, despite not really being in the mindset to buy much of anything more. Certainly not yet. But when it comes to it, there’s no substitute for just listening.
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It seems to me that that’s what a forum is for, isn’t it? One person says something, and it sparks a thought, a reaction, in someone else, who then says that. That reaction might be agreement, or disagreement, or a refining into a more narrow point. But either way, it’s a discussion.
Bravo. You have just qualified as a finalist in the 2025 preaching to the choir award. I am a financial advisor and I have explained this to many many people.
that said, in my office I have an entry level speaker system from Eggleston Works. It retails for $6000 US. There are top of the line speakers retail in excess of a quarter million
The quote was simply to point out what prompted what I was saying, not as any form of criticism of your preferences. Your preferences are yours, and you’re absolutely entitled to see things as yu do. As am I entitled to see things how I do.
But seeing as how it seems to bother you, I’ve deleted the post.
Resolve gives his take.
