Politics of Setting prices for Sound systems

aka selecting the right speakers for yourself without paying a heavy price guide


I recently thought of buying a good set of speakers for my home. Initially, I had thought of buying something within the budget of Rs 3,000. After being recommended by Techtree, I thought of buying the Altec Lansing VS 2621 (http://www.techtree.com/India/Guides/Multimedia_Speaker_Comparison/551-112662-558-10.html). Then after reading other articles on Techtree, I thought of increasing my budget and compared between the similar priced  A L MX 5021 and Logitech Z2300. I decided to buy the 5021, only to realize that the product has been stopped and replaced by MX 6021, not as good as the original 5021. I also read about Audioengine being mentioned and the name somehow stuck. But the Audioengines were about Rs 10,000. So the second time, I increased my budget to about Rs 10k. Many more options became available to me, and I thought of researching and going out to listen. Here, I would like to particularly talk about my experience with products of a famous company so well known in India, that when anybody thinks about good quality sound, their name invariably comes up. Yes, I am talking about Bose.

Bose is premium brand in speakers, something which people aspire for - particularly because they are expensive and have a mystery about them. Nothing to say about the excellent marketing that Bose does.

So I set out to the familiar Bose store in Forum mall (Bangalore) and asked for a pair of desktop speakers. The first set I listened to were the Companion 2 Series II Multimedia Speaker System (India price - Rs 8100). Sounded decent, but techtree called them expensive for the quality of sound. The salesman made me hear another pair (Companion 3 Series II Multimedia Speaker System, Rs 17,888) and I was absolutely stunned - not because of the sound, but because I noted no notable difference between the 2 pairs, and these ones cost more than double!! The salesman made his sales pitch to me saying that I should buy the Companion 3 for they would be the ultimate investment for me, but I mumbled something about them being out of my budget and hastily exited from there.

I searched for reviews on the Audioengine A2s and was fascinated by the hoopla that surrounded them. If you want proof just google it. I decided on buying them. But unlucky for me, Audioengine products were not available in India and had to wait for a good 2 months. Meanwhile, I also thought of buying the M-Audio Studiophile AV-40 (Rs 10,000), the direct competitor to the A2s. The AV40s are much bigger and heavier for the same quality of sound, though have heavier bass. I finally got lucky and came across an ad for a person who wanted to get rid of his A2s and thus got them really cheap for Rs 6,000. Boy, was I glad. Since then, I have really loved my A2s, they come in a small package, and yet they deliver high volumes with subtle and beautiful bass. For a price of about Rs 9,000, they are a steal.

All this researching and looking for information regarding desktop speakers was an eye-opening experience for me. I realized that Bose products were highly expensive for the quality they promise. In fact, their insistence of not giving any specs and the 'Bose sound' speaking for itself looks like a complete farce, for when I listened to their products, I found nothing special about their sound (Maybe its just me).

Or just listen to what the experts say:

1. Techtree calls Bose expensive for the quality they give 
2. productwiki.com says that Bose is all about marketing and that cheaper and better sounding products are available
3. If you read expert reviews, you will find Audioengine A2s ($200) better than Bose products within $400-500.

I also want to show a price chart to indicate some things through statistics:

• Companion 2 Series II Multimedia Speaker System (India price - Rs 8100, US price - $100 = Rs 4500)
• Companion 3 Series II Multimedia Speaker System (India price - Rs 17,888, US price - $250 = Rs 11,250)
• A2 price (India price - Rs 9,000, US price - $200 = Rs 9000)
• M-Audio Studiophile AV40 20W + 20W (India price - Rs 10,000, US price - $150 = Rs 6750)

It seems like the Bose sells its already expensive products at much higher prices in India, than in US. Maybe its the import duties, but then how did Audioengine do it?

One reason I can think of this price discrimination is that US is a much mature market where people are more aware of the sound quality and real value that Bose has to offer. Stiffer competition also means that Bose products are cheaper there. In India, Bose is basically pulling wool over everyone's eyes.

So the most important lesson here is - when unsure, just ask the experts.
Do research on the net to find out the best deals. And don't get carried away by marketing gimmicks.

Here are a bunch of websites I absolutely recommed for you to do your research, and they are not just for speakers, but for any kind of electronic goods:

http://alatest.co.uk - wonderful site which gives you an alaScore, something that can be used to compare 2 similar products. They also collect expert reviews and user reviews from various sources and is a must for all your researching needs.

http://www.productwiki.com/ - The wikipedia of products and their reviews, this site also gives something called the proscore, which can compare 2 similar products. Very nice site, with clear listing of Pros and cons and a must for all your researching needs on any kind of electronic goods.