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Has anyone noticed the "budget" market changing?
#325941 10/18/10 03:59 PM
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I couldnt help but notice this past month, that in the worst of times financially for me (and obviously the country) that the bargains in HT seem to be changing or dissapearing. I was shocked to find out the M60s crossed the 1k barrier today, and the Paradigm Monitor 7's which were around 700 when my friend purchased them not too long ago have jumped to 950. On top of that the amazing Oppo BDP-83 is mysteriously discontinued out of the blue along with the bdp-80. The legendary SVS-pb10 has also been discontinued out of the blue. These are a few examples Im citing, but there's more out there. I have this strange, bad feeling about the world of audio, anyone else? What do you think the future holds for making quality systems acessible to the average person?


M60, VP150, QS8, HSU VTF2-MK 3, Marantz SR8002, Oppo BDP-83SE, 50" Panasonic Plasma
Re: Has anyone noticed the "budget" market changing?
DreamTheater #325942 10/18/10 04:19 PM
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A few months ago, I saw the Behringer A500 for between $150-160 USD...a lot of places are looking for $250++ now. I believe overall, the bargains in most products, not only audio, are slowly being reigned back as the economy(albeit, very, very slowly) recovers.

You also have to wonder if the weakness in the USD is affecting some of the prices out there(inc Axiom).

Last edited by Adrian; 10/18/10 04:27 PM.

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Re: Has anyone noticed the "budget" market changing?
DreamTheater #325943 10/18/10 04:28 PM
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Personally I am noticing a bridging of the gap in value between factory direct and b&m especially in the "budget" market.


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Re: Has anyone noticed the "budget" market changing?
DreamTheater #325948 10/18/10 06:14 PM
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Originally Posted By: DreamTheater
On top of that the amazing Oppo BDP-83 is mysteriously discontinued out of the blue along with the bdp-80.


A new model is on the way with more features that will replace the BDP-83 at the same price point.

Re: Has anyone noticed the "budget" market changing?
CV #325950 10/18/10 07:16 PM
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Originally Posted By: CV
Originally Posted By: DreamTheater
On top of that the amazing Oppo BDP-83 is mysteriously discontinued out of the blue along with the bdp-80.


A new model is on the way with more features that will replace the BDP-83 at the same price point.


Will it be as good is the questions however, as the tried and true BDP-83. I hate when I see companies like Marantz push out newer and newer lines with more "features" at the expense of a solid, durable product. More features does not usually mean better to me, and when a product is good at what its supposed to do, I absolutely loathe when companies change it for the sake of "change"


M60, VP150, QS8, HSU VTF2-MK 3, Marantz SR8002, Oppo BDP-83SE, 50" Panasonic Plasma
Re: Has anyone noticed the "budget" market changing?
DreamTheater #325952 10/18/10 07:20 PM
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Originally Posted By: DreamTheater
I couldnt help but notice this past month, that in the worst of times financially for me (and obviously the country) that the bargains in HT seem to be changing or dissapearing. I was shocked to find out the M60s crossed the 1k barrier today, and the Paradigm Monitor 7's which were around 700 when my friend purchased them not too long ago have jumped to 950. On top of that the amazing Oppo BDP-83 is mysteriously discontinued out of the blue along with the bdp-80. The legendary SVS-pb10 has also been discontinued out of the blue. These are a few examples Im citing, but there's more out there. I have this strange, bad feeling about the world of audio, anyone else? What do you think the future holds for making quality systems acessible to the average person?


I would suspect, no doubt, the Paradigms have increased significantly in price to its US customers because of the growing weakness of the US dollar compared to the Canadian along with other currencies AND they sell through dealers who are probably passing on the extra cost of importation to their customers. Because it sells direct, no doubt Axiom, can hold the line better on its US prices because it doesn`t have to deal with distributors and retailers and their additional markups. Keep in mind, with anything imported in to the US because of that steadily weakening dollar, it is going to cost YOU the customer more and more money. The vast majority of anything electronic is made overseas, hence, same story, imports will be more costly. SVS seems to be going through design changes and it has been pointed out elsewhere recently on this forum they changed their sub amps(Made in China?) since, I assume, the Bash amps, coming from Canada, were getting too costly to import.

Although Oppo has discontinued the 83 and 80, we have a couple of resellers in the area that still have the 83 and 83SE in stock. I must admit the introduction of the BDP93 came right out of the blue and you have to give them credit for being able to keep it pretty quiet. If the price is close to the 83 with all those extra updated features, they will probably sell boatloads of them.

Last edited by casey01; 10/18/10 07:27 PM.
Re: Has anyone noticed the "budget" market changing?
Adrian #325953 10/18/10 07:42 PM
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Originally Posted By: Adrian
A few months ago, I saw the Behringer A500 for between $150-160 USD...a lot of places are looking for $250++ now. I believe overall, the bargains in most products, not only audio, are slowly being reigned back as the economy(albeit, very, very slowly) recovers.

You also have to wonder if the weakness in the USD is affecting some of the prices out there(inc Axiom).


Check out the "LA Music" website on the Lakeshore in Mississauga. It goes for $228(Can.) and you probably could get it for less if you went right to the store.

Re: Has anyone noticed the "budget" market changing?
casey01 #325954 10/18/10 08:26 PM
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It sounds to me like Oppo had problems sourcing the ABT video chip in the 83 and/or a few other pieces, so they had to make adjustments. Not sure why they had to drop the 80, but I bet it was due to the same sourcing issues.


Jason
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Re: Has anyone noticed the "budget" market changing?
casey01 #325955 10/18/10 08:29 PM
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Yes, LA Music, Axe Music and Long and McQuade all seem to be around that price but I've noticed that many of the really good deals on that amp(and others) have disappeared south of the border.

Some places are still selling them for $170-180 USD, but places like Parts Express and similar, have hiked the $$ up.

Last edited by Adrian; 10/18/10 08:33 PM.

Half of communication is listening. You can't listen with your mouth.
Re: Has anyone noticed the "budget" market changing?
Adrian #325957 10/18/10 08:52 PM
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Interesting video showing increased distortion of an A500 .


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