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Why can't they start again?

comish4

comish4

comish4
I was looking on the large auction site tonight and I saw a Technics SL1950 Turntable for $675. This is far more than I sold them new back in the day by far as was many other turntables that were listed. If there is such a high demand for these products as evidenced by there price. Then why can't some Japanese company step forward and start manufacturing products in a mid fi price range. With the huge leaps in automation and selection of raw materials the cost of the equipment should be in the range that most people can afford. At least that is how I feel in less the market is not there but with some of the companies that have started to make products again but at a price most of us can't afford,
 
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Some vintage gear is way over-valued due to its collectability. I can't say what the 1950 should bring, but it would be a lot less if you took nostalgia and the current vinyl "fad" out of the equation.
Overall, electronics are cheaper now more than ever.
 
I strongly suspect the market has been evaluated, that is what they can make, what people want (will pay?), and what profit can be made ( correctly or not).
That's what is being built now.
Competition is much scarcer now ( for both the ultimate product and the lowest price)
Also the lack of mass volume drives the price up.
 
comish4 said:
I was looking on the large auction site tonight and I saw a Technics SL1950 Turntable for $675. This is far more than I sold them new back in the day by far as was many other turntables that were listed. If there is such a high demand for these products as evidenced by there price. Then why can't some Japanese company step forward and start manufacturing products in a mid fi price range. With the huge leaps in automation and selection of raw materials the cost of the equipment should be in the range that most people can afford. At least that is how I feel in less the market is not there but with some of the companies that have started to make products again but at a price most of us can't afford,
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One would think. Grillebilly is right about the collect-ability.
 
comish4 said:
Why can't some Japanese company step forward and start manufacturing products in a mid fi price range.
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You mean like Audio-Technica, Yamaha, Denon, Marantz, Pioneer, Sony, Technics and others currently do? I'm not sure what your point is. Many of the old Japanese brands from the "good old days" are still producing perfectly fine mid-fi turntables, cartridges and accessories.

Granted, the majority of these products are manufactured in factories outside Japan, but these are all mass-produced products coming off an assembly line, so where they're produced is fairly irrelevant. The fact is there are dozens of turntables from Japanese brands still in production that'll give you a perfectly good mid to hi-fi component for your stereo.
 
Vinyl used to be the medium for reproducing recorded music. For many years, nothing else came close. Although there's been a resurgence of interest in vinyl it still isn't the the main medium for carrying music and the majority of the world's population use other media for their music consumption. That means that turntable production is still catering for a niche market, even if it's a much bigger niche than it used to be.
 
nj pheonix said:
I strongly suspect the market has been evaluated, that is what they can make, what people want (will pay?), and what profit can be made ( correctly or not).
That's what is being built now.
Competition is much scarcer now ( for both the ultimate product and the lowest price)
Also the lack of mass volume drives the price up.
Click to expand...


As nj pointed out, you can bet there's a team that did a feasibility study and make suggestions to upper management who report to the money people one way or another. Often they may farm it out to a third world effort and apply their brand name "designed by", as done by some of the European companies.

It all boils down to the almighty dollar.

Q
 
Because the demand doesn't exist to make any money, can you imagine how much R&D, tooling and production would cost to make SL1950 today? In Japan? No chance, maybe in China, but then the people who want an SL1950 will scoff that it's not a real one and they certainly won't be paying 600 bucks.

Don't let the collectors paying for nostalgia fool you in to thinking there is a widespread demand for vintage audio, it's a tiny niche, the average person doesn't care, bluetooth speakers are the modern day hifi system for most people.
 
comish4 said:
I was looking on the large auction site tonight and I saw a Technics SL1950 Turntable for $675. This is far more than I sold them new back in the day by far as was many other turntables that were listed. If there is such a high demand for these products as evidenced by there price. Then why can't some Japanese company step forward and start manufacturing products in a mid fi price range. With the huge leaps in automation and selection of raw materials the cost of the equipment should be in the range that most people can afford. At least that is how I feel in less the market is not there but with some of the companies that have started to make products again but at a price most of us can't afford,
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Big issues today. Japanese economy went into recession in the 1980 time frame, which also forced cost cutting. And also, there's inflation. Vinyl while popular doesn't have the sheer numbers of users it had at it's peak in the pre CD era. Also, bear in mind many once great Japanese electronics firms are no longer with us, or no longer manufacturing audio gear (as they merged or sold off the audio business). Technics current turntables had to be redesigned and retooled from scratch, (they're not outsourced either). Which makes them expensive in today's era, the Technics SL-1200 Mk 7 is in the over $800 price range today.
 
benricci said:
You mean like Audio-Technica, Yamaha, Denon, Marantz, Pioneer, Sony, Technics and others currently do? I'm not sure what your point is. Many of the old Japanese brands from the "good old days" are still producing perfectly fine mid-fi turntables, cartridges and accessories.

Granted, the majority of these products are manufactured in factories outside Japan, but these are all mass-produced products coming off an assembly line, so where they're produced is fairly irrelevant. The fact is there are dozens of turntables from Japanese brands still in production that'll give you a perfectly good mid to hi-fi component for your stereo.
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All those new turntables save for Technics are not made by those companies, they were bought from other companies as OEM products. They're also not made to the same standards or same quality as those brands offered at their peak, if they were, they'd cost as much or more as current new Technics does. Inflation, the Japanese recession of 1980, and the economy since, and fewer vinyl users, makes turntables of the quality we once had, far, far more expensive than they used to be.
 
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Sorry for the derailment, but I think current day auto manufacturers should bring back "classic" cars from the past. Put an old body on a modern chassis with modern engine, electronics (but in a retro facade) and such. I'm sure there would be a market for such an endeavour.
 
CraigVMN said:
Sorry for the derailment, but I think current day auto manufacturers should bring back "classic" cars from the past. Put an old body on a modern chassis with modern engine, electronics (but in a retro facade) and such. I'm sure there would be a market for such an endeavour.
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Big issue. Regulations for safety, emissions, CAFE average fuel economy rule, and also cost. Cars like you want exist and can be built, they're called street rods. The one time that a big 3 automaker tried this, the Plymouth Prowler, it sold very poorly, and was horribly expensive and also had a 4 cylinder engine when people wanted a V8.
 
A friend of mine recently got back into vinyl and bought himself an Audio Technica turntable. Works well and sounds good. Didn't pay an arm and a leg...

No idea where it is made.
 
Quadman2 said:
As nj pointed out, you can bet there's a team that did a feasibility study and make suggestions to upper management who report to the money people one way or another. Often they may farm it out to a third world effort and apply their brand name "designed by", as done by some of the European companies.

It all boils down to the almighty dollar.

Q
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You make it sound as if this is somehow wrong or bad.
 
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