When most people with sub-seven figure incomes hear "Harman," they think "Kardon." High-enders with more... advantageous... economic situations might think of names like Mark Levinson, Revel and Lexicon. For them, the Harman Specialty Group is rolling out some appropriately over-the-top gear to go along with the
Lexicon BD-30 Blu-ray deck. The Mark Levinson No. 500H-series amplifiers continue with the
familiar tower design, but tout new circuit topology -- we're assuming Class H -- into the various multichannel models, with the top-dog 535H punching out 1,000-Watts. On the speaker side of the house,
Revel is bringing the Ultima Rhythm2 and Performa B150 powered subwoofers to the party. Revel considerately throws in amplifiers (2,400-Watts for the Ultima and 1,200 for the Performa) rather than forcing you to pick up another Mark Levinson amp. Pricing undetermined, but you can look to other offerings from these brands for suitably stratospheric guidance.
posted Aug 3rd 2009 1:37PM
1,0000-Watts is alot 'o' watts!
Well, apparently even just 1,000-Watts was more than my brain could handle! Thanks for catching the extra zero, I've updated the post.
Yes, how many watts again? It should be 1kW. Not 10,000 watts.
And why are these units plugged into the wall? Where's the $100,000 power conditioner?
That stand looks like a massive piece of carp from IKEA - are there really two ultra-heavy and ultra-hi-end amps on it? I thought the whole point of building amps like that was so they could sit on the floor, next to the speaker?
Word on the street: This gear will get you chicks.
Buy it.
In case you have not heard the talk in the forums, that lexicon bluray play is a re bagged Oppo bluray.
The problem with high QUALITY audio is that it genuinely costs more (purely just parts, engineering and assembly) than the low quality audio that comes from a HTiB.
So let's say there are two companies that start to make equally high QUALITY audio:
The first company sells their products for a reasonable mark up, but the second company sells their products for an enormous mark up.
The mass market doesn't buy either because it's out of their price range. The knowledgable enthusiasts listen to both, realize they are equal in quality, and naturally opt for the one selling at a reasonable mark up. But the rich people just look at the price tag, say, "I want the best!" and pony up for the enormously marked up products - convinced that the higher price MUST mean better quality.
The thing is - the low quality cheap stuff generates profit just from sheer volume. The enormously marked up high quality stuff also generates profit because even though far fewer units are sold, each unit has that enormous mark up built in. The high quality stuff that is sold at a reasonable mark up is what suffers. Lower volume sales and only a reasonable mark up means less profit.
Perfect example is the Lexicon Blu-ray player. Buy it from Oppo and you're getting stellar Universal disc player that is genuinely more expensive than the mass market units, but sold at a reasonable mark up. Buy the exact same player (with a fancier case) from Lexicon and you're still getting a stellar player, you're just paying a hell of a lot more for it! Why would anyone do this? Because people just can't understand that price does not indicate quality. There's always that curiosity: is the Lexicon really better than the Oppo? I mean, it's so much more expensive - it MUST be better, right?
So sad. But this is how Lexicon manages to profit more than Oppo. And it's the same situation with almost all of the super-expensive audio stuff.
The Hyundai Genesis is a great car, but would you spend $40K on it,or on a BMW/Lexus? Most americans would go for the BMW/Lexus. Heck most consumers will even spend $10K more just to own a more prestigous Marque. Why would you expect Audio to be any different? Companies making a name for themselves selling downmarket products will have a hard time selling upmarket products. Upmarket brands easily sells product that are marketed downmarket. The problem doesn't lie with manufacturers but consumers.
Heres another great example: Emotiva amplifiers vs Rotel amplifiers. Emotiva sells a 125watt X 5 amp for $700 while the Rotel dealer sells a similar amp for $900. Guess what, a year from now, the Rotel amp is worth more than $200 more than the Emotiva in the used market. Even if they both provide the same performance, which is the better value, the Emotiva or the Rotel?
Regarding the Oppo, although I am not familar with the lexicon version, it is not uncommon for a high end company to modify an existing disc player and sell it under its own brand. Adding a larger fully regulated power supply, quieter analog gain stage, and heavier, less resonant chassis cost extra, and add performance. Also Oppo isn't giving parts to Harman, but wants to make money. It is up to the consumer to discern what manufacturing changes have been provided and if the performance benefits are worth the upcharge. Lets not even get into the fact that some consumers won't buy a particular brands pre/ pro and amp because they don't have a BD player.
The Hyundai Genesis may be a great car when you first drive it off the lot. But I can guarantee you 200,000 miles later, you'll wish you would have bought the BMW/Lexus. It's not the initial quality that counts, it's the lasting quality and the higher end car companies win in that category because of the quality parts they use. A Mercedes will take a beating for years and keep on ticking like it's nearly new. Challenge the Hyundai a bit by driving it hard and it's gonna squeak and rattle and start falling apart on you very quickly. Hey but at least it looked and ran nice when you bought it right? There's a reason the cheap car companies advertise their high rankings in INITIAL quality and it's not because of their durability.
Sorry, to change the subject but I just had to speak up. I feel bad for people who honestly think they're getting a car equal to a BMW or Mercedes when they buy Hyundai or Chevy. They're fine cars to be sure, but for how long?
The difference between the car example and the Lexicon/Oppo example is that Mercedes genuinely uses completely different higher quality parts than Hyundai, hence the higher price for that quality. However, there is virtually no difference between the two pieces of audio equipment other than price, same parts, same engineering.
I love all of you guys who see that the Lexicon is using the Oppo chassis and electronics layout and automatically assume that it's a rip off with a shiny front at loads more money.... and yet wait..... have any of you been able to do a direct comparison between the two, do you know what's been changed inside, have you even actually seen a Lexicon working?!
If the Lexicon offers just a small picture upgrade on the Oppo, plus better audio replay (the Oppos CD replay is abysmal - and no I don't mean for people who think that Denon make great CD players!) then owners of Lexicon gear will be more than happy to buy and the likelihood will be that they'll be more than pleased with it.
Don't assume that just because something seems dear to you and doesn't offer much of an upgrade over a similar product, that the 20% increase you get for the extra money isn't appealing to someone who can afford it.
Also, don't moan about what bad value something is until you've actually seen it working against the thing it's based on.
If you want the car analogy, look a Mercedes and then look at a Maybach. Same car, way way more expensive. Still it's a better car and people buy it.