Opinions on the Avalon Symbols

@square_wave:
Thanks! The MRP is around INR 400,000 but I got a really good deal on it

@Savyasaachi:
Thanks, I was initially put off by the photos but they pull off the champagne gold(!) surprisingly well. I am thrilled about the DAC feature and look forward to setting up a media server. Yes, the sound is something else.

@abhi.pani
Thank you, sir!

@ particleman,

I keep seeing this $3999.00 all over the net. Was that a typo ?

square_wave schrieb:

@ particleman, I keep seeing this $3999.00 all over the net. Was that a typo ? :)

Not a typo, you can buy it as low as $3600 abroad also. INR 4L is the MRP quoted by the dealer in India. But as I said, I paid a lot less and traded in my Arcam CD37 as well so I got a good deal.

4L INR for 4000usd worth of goods ?

Wow ! That's ridiculous ! Boy !

Manek

When I discuss this topic with the couple of my dealer friends what I figure out is most of these higher end exotic equipments are ultimately bought by extremely moneyed clients who are not an iota of an audiophile, they just buy a "best" system based on what the dealer suggests. Such people dont google . It is these people who enable these dealers to stay in business, not us . So it is important for the dealer to price the products on upper most limits so that they can make the most out of these bigger deals. To quote an example, the Chennai dealer of ATC has recently sold an ATC "Home Theater" for 2 crores, consists of 5 SCM100 .

As for us, they anyway know we will come with all the data in the world, even the prices in Antarctica and even if we get a deal we still may not buy. Hence things are as you see.

square_wave schrieb:

@ particleman, I keep seeing this $3999.00 all over the net. Was that a typo ? :)

Particleman is correct, square_wave: Accuphase products are VERY expensive & they hold up their re-sale value very well (esp. their vintage gear). So, it comes to me as no surprise that their very lowest/entry level model is priced at $8K brand new & is going for 50% of used. Imagine what their top-of-the-line DC01/DP01 costs???? You will need to hold onto your pants once you hear the price.....
As you all probably know, Accuphase was/is the up-market version of Kenwood. It was started by the same people & as Kenwood brand died, the Accuphase brand held on with flying colours.

bombaywalla schrieb:

square_wave schrieb: @ particleman, I keep seeing this $3999.00 all over the net. Was that a typo ? :) Particleman is correct, square_wave: Accuphase products are VERY expensive & they hold up their re-sale value very well (esp. their vintage gear). So, it comes to me as no surprise that their very lowest/entry level model is priced at $8K brand new & is going for 50% of used. Imagine what their top-of-the-line DC01/DP01 costs???? You will need to hold onto your pants once you hear the price..... As you all probably know, Accuphase was/is the up-market version of Kenwood. It was started by the same people & as Kenwood brand died, the Accuphase brand held on with flying colours.

Hey Bombaywalla,

I completely agree about the "quality" of Accuphase. It would be on top of my list if I were a very 'wealthy" audiophile. But I seriousely do not understand the logic of pricing an 3999$ US retail product for 8000$ in India !

I know this has been discussed umpteen times on the net but I am sure the landing price for a product costing 3999$ retail would be 60 to 65 percent.
Lets say 2400$. Add customs, profit, overheads etc...on this. How you do arrive at 8000 $ ?

I am sure sweet deals can be had if you are a serious buyer. But the blatant audacity of the sticker price beats me.

It is ridiculous !

I did some research on this. This article was rather enlightening:
Too Good To Be True?

Turns out the prices from sites that square_wave and I have seen are -- believe it or not -- grey-market prices.

The U.S. distributor states:

On our Accuphase website, we have a warranty disclaimer which states that any Accuphase product sold outside of its intended country will not be serviced and its factory warranty voided. There is no 1-year Japanese Accuphase warranty for any product sold by Audio Cubes as they claim. Furthermore, our Accuphase pricing is in line with all other Accuphase distributors worldwide.

to which the reseller in question responds:

There is no problem selling grey market products... the Accuphase US distributor Axiss has sent us threatening mail due to the fact that they have overly high fixed prices ... The products we sell do not have a US warranty and we in no way infer that they do. If our customer purchased these products from us, the product will have a 1-year warranty through us, with repairs done by the manufacturers in Japan.

Consider the price of the Accuphase DP-400 in the UK:
http://www.audioconsultants.co.uk/products/digital.html#accuphase
Audio Consultants sets it at £5725. That's INR 417,887.33 by today's exchange rate.

This makes the Indian pricing seem fair after all. I also have full faith in the dealer from whom I buy all my equipment and can trust him completely on pricing and support.

Well, I will leave it at that as I do not wish to dwell on this topic for too long.