Phono Stages, Prices...!

I CAN NOT BELIVE THAT MANUFACTURERS CAN JUSTIFY THEIR PRICES, HENCE THE NEW QUAD Twenty Four P, £1000.00, YEAH RIGHT. VIEWS PLEASE , NANDO.

 

They have costs in development, tooling, manufacture. They employ people (although mostly in China). Consider their own profit margin and the dealer margin, and top it off with import duty and VAT and you end up with what looks like a fair overall price.

You can always build your own and bypass these costs. Alternatively, why not go into manufacturing and see if you can do better.

 

Nando

if your inane bullshit came sans your url to your 'business' then...........

 

look, and listen cartefully, i worked with tim , launched and helped alchemist, also sonneteer amongst others, E.T.C. i do make my own phono stage, personally for me i will not design it for no other, live and let live. and john please speak spanish because your english is full of bull. nando

 

£1k for a phono stage seems acceptable considering what some others cost.

 

As Tenson says, a grand seems reasonable in the context of the current market. Not everyone is able or willing to make their own, and buying from a dealer after a demo and with a reasonable guaranty is a choice that most audio consumers are willing to pay something extra for.
OTOH, your argument may be that since it is made in China, the people who make the thing should be paid slave wages so we can buy it for a fiver in the West. I really hope that is not what you wanted to say.

 

I can't help feeling that there's an element of mickey-taking in the price of some phono stages.

The history of hifi seems somewhat well-populated with companies who push the pricing envelope. Then are seen as setting a precedent for the next step.

Sometimes prices reflect what people will pay rather than what something costs...

 

Nando

sorry I had you down as a bullshitting, self publicist who knows nothing about phono stages.

i was wrong, it appears you know something about phono stages

 

Nando I have one of the Rotel RQ970BX going spare that I used for just a couple of months if you're looking for value for money. Immaculate and boxed.
Edit: Exactly as described on the ebay auction http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Rotel-RQ-970B...ryZ12050QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItem

 

I get the impression what Nando may be saying is that it is not good money for the sound it gives. Having not heard it I can't comment on that.

 

I believe you are correct. Nando is questioning whether Quad 24 is worth £1K.

 

well do the math 1k at retail, means £600+ vat to retailer, £400+vat to distributor, and likely £180made and shipped from Quad.

does it look like you could make it for under £200 if you had the volume going through, probably..

i don't think it's overpriced, but i can't deny most products go through too many hands before they reach the consumer.

 

HI GUYS, sorry but in my opinion the sound and the pricing "to me" it's not only overpriced but what kind of market are they aiming at ? are we all ignoring the young people who want to join the real enthusiastic world of hi-fi ? or merelly shove them off..beats me ,regards nando.

 

NAndo, with prices like these you'd think there would be a good DIY market. I will be looking for a phono pre sometime mid next year and I guess with prices like Quads Ill be heating up the old soldering iron and going down the DIY route.

 

Nando, for a man with the £4,000 Avid Acutus turntable on the front page of his webpage, I really, really can't see where you're coming from.

 

The Avid would appear to be a bit budget Chris. Isn't that a Unison 845 Absolute next to it with a list price of £20,000?

Perhaps the Quad phono is overpriced or underperforms for £1,000, I have no idea. There is no shortage of phono choice below this though.

 

Knock up one of these:

http://wduk.worldomain.net/acatalog/AmpKits.html

All the phono stage you need at £400 inc the PSU.

 

Got one on order Rob=)
Hopefully it will come soon- been 2 weeks and i'm getting twitchy.

 

phono stage

if you know anything "pardon for my coment" phono stages are not rocket science, they are very simple to design, a pleausere to modifie, ask project, because you have a t/t worth a great amount of money it does not justifie the great amount of money on a phono stage, that is my issue, regards nando.

 

p.s bottleneck, acutus with psu is £8000.00 + regards.