The RS151 is priced at $4995 USD which is less than the RS130. I am a bit confused on the strategy as the streamer functions alone seem to be better than the RS130 which is priced more. Couldn’t one just purchase the RS151 for less than the RS130 and have the bonus of an onboard DAC to use or not as one see fits? Thoughts?
You could do that with a 250 and get the same result (less the larger screen).
These are Veblen goods, pricing does not reflect any kind of intrinsic worth here.
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Veblen goods.
First time i saw this word. It is like standard psychology for luxury goods. Interesting that there is a word for it.
Veblen goods such as luxury cars are considered desirable consumer products for conspicuous consumption because of, rather than despite, their high prices… A Veblen good is a type of luxury good, named after American economist Thorstein Veblen, for which the demand increases as the price increases, in apparent contradiction of the law of demand, resulting in an upward-sloping demand curve.
Well, it does make for an interesting economic phenomenon, so why not have a word for it?
Really, these make for even better example of Veblen goods than classics like a Birkin bag or something. The latter, although far less practical or long-lasting as, say, a Tumi, at least is made, allegedly, by artisans, from hand-selected hides, in an arduous multi-step process. These streamers are stamped in a factory from off-the-shelf parts (which is, of course, a good things for electronics), so there aren’t even any amazing production costs.
These have to be priced high enough, otherwise they’d be competing with Wiims and Eversolos (which have better software at least).
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I grew up in a situation were generally, if i paid more i also got better quality/services. I liked to shop in higher pricing categories simply because i enjoyed the craft, material, design…
Today this is not the case anymore.
It makes buying i.e. spending difficult and extremely unpleasant. Like for example i buy a bigger pack to get a lower price but sometimes the price is higher than for smaller quantity.
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Right. It still applies to some products (although in pretty much every category there are products that are ridiculously overpriced for what they offer). But once you get to jewelry of various kinds (handbags, designer tees, watches, fountain pens, and, yes, “high-end” audio equipment) it’s all Veblen. It’s bought to show that you can buy them, not for any practical benefit. Just looks at people here who have a 130. You don’t get it because it is better than a $200 PC (it’s not; with Rose’s software, its really quite a bit worse…), you buy it to go “I paid a few grand for an absolutely useless piece of gear.”
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Are you suggesting that engineering and creative effort put into designing and manufacturing a product is of no value?
That assumes that there is some major engineering effort in removing the DAC part from a streamer, then selling it for more money than an equally good streamer with a DAC. Marketing effort, sure, there is some (“oh, look audiophiles are willing to pay more money for less product, let’s give it to them!”) butb is it wirth extra money?
Besides, engineering should solve some real problem. Adding an SFP cage increases the BOM by a few dollars (this is all off the shelf stuff with all the engineering having been done years ago) for no particular benefits. It’s like a Pathek watch – definitely pleasant to look at, and Pathek actually has some impressive engineering to make it as accurate as mechanicakl watches get. But it does not solve any real world problems – a $20 quartz watch is still far superior as a watch. You don’t buy a Pathek for being a watch. You buy it for, well, being a Pathek and costing a lot of money.
Moreover, it should be noted that owners of the RS130 apparently acquire a slight mental disorder along with the device. All these cables, connections, and setups with the 160… No one can say for sure what it is or what it’s for.
There’s a suspicion that even in a dimly lit listening room, the patients wouldn’t be able to distinguish whether they’re hearing the RS130+160 combo or the 150B. Perhaps the RS150 with the AKM chip will “boom” just the same…
Don’t tell them this directly—they might try to kill you.
For coming to this forum and going “I have a 130 and you don’t, naah, naah!” of course!
I can understand buying a better-looking device (whatever that means) as well as getting a single-company stack for a better look. Of course, if one gets a 130+160 plus let’s add 180 for completeness, it does look like they got their system at a sale at Goodwill. There’s no common design language between the three, and a stack would look quite ugly…
Of course, if one wants a streaming system with AKM sound (again, whatever it is, not like it is distinguishable), a Fiio S15 for 1/10th of the price of a 130+160 combo does it all, with better software and support for more services.