A few weeks ago I tried a $1800 headphone and my 10 year old Sennheiser costing $400 sounded much better.

I hope you are not talking about Grado,because they are worth every penny!

No I tried Audeze LCD3 with a McIntosh MHA100 DAC/Amp. I ended up buying the McIntosh, and I think just saved $1800 as my HD600 sounds incredible.

BeoGreg wrote:

I remember the brand on my Beocord VX 7000 worth 10.000 francs - 1.500 € (a fortune for a VCR) in the mid-90's : Hitachi.

 

Same for the V6000 or DVD1 : Philips.

 

I was happy to use it with the beo4, but that's the only improvement I got from a standard Hitachi (and a great flat look available in pearlescent blue) for a huge amount of money.

In all fairness it has to be mentioned that:

The VX 7000 was assembled by Hitachi - yes. But it was not just a standard Hitachi wrapped in a nice B&O cabinet. It was developed by B&O  -all (or most of) the circuits was designed by B&O. The tape mechanism was "off the shelves" - but most of the rest was developed by (or at least custom made for) B&O.
Think about it: No Hitachi VHS machines were ever that wide... they were narrower and deeper - like all others.
The basic shape of all VHS recorders was approx. 40-45 cm wide x 35-40cm deep. The VX was 54 cm wide and only 30 cm deep. A 'standard' VHS of that time could never be put into that cabinet. (and it is not like there's empty Space inside the VX)
Another thing is: I remember when the VX 5000 was presented, the topmodels of other brands were not that much cheaper. That came later in the 90's when prices on electronics were dropping rapidly (just not B&O) - and the gap to B&O prices grew bigger and bigger.  

However - as you say - the Beocord V 6000 and V 8000 (and the earlier VHS 82 etc.) were simply Philips machines with a few modifications.
And I must say, that the price of the V8000 and the DVD 1 was rediculous. Almost 3 or 4 times the price of the Philips models. (and they were not assembled in Struer...)
And the V3000 was pure Hitachi - hard to tell the difference from the original. (but not much more expensive than the Hitachi)

But, then Again... Look what happened to Philips and most other European brands, trying to follow the downward pricing spiral...
Even Japanese brands are in trouble  - Sony not making profit on Tv's for years - others struggling too to make money. It is tough when most people are focusing on price.

Mark wrote:

I was always told never bad mouth the competition, your product should stand up on its own merits ..... 

Agree!  If you compete in the same market - it only makes you look bad. 

Aussie Michael wrote:

Mark wrote:

I was always told never bad mouth the competition, your product should stand up on its own merits ..... 

Agree!  If you compete in the same market - it only makes you look bad. 

AVI concentrate on the relatively niche area of active loudspeakers selling direct to the public.

TerryM wrote:

AVI concentrate on the relatively niche area of active loudspeakers selling direct to the public.

So that where Gerald Ratner is working now ?

if the customers are happy with placebo systems , good luck to them!