Hifi, why bother?

[Kalee20]

Hi All.

I see the ethics of catering to audiophool desires are being broached, can those of us who know that these people are being manipulated honestly say that, if for instance, we had in our hand, say a yellow print, jubilee, Mullard ECC82, and a Phool waved a £50 note under our nose for it, we would not snatch the cash?

Now come on

Thanks,
Amie.

I absolutely would not do that. Never. No way.

Perhaps that's stupid of me, but I could not and would not rip off anyone, and especially not an audiophile. I'd rather be poor but be able to sleep at night. Which is why I work in professional audio rather than hi-fi.

The hi-fi experience, though, is more than just the sound, it's the visual appeal. And the intangible.

So, I'd be happy to sell good, tested, yellow-print, ECC82's, 83's, etc for at the market rate. Granted it's ephemeral, but something is worth what people are prepared to pay.

Would you, Mark, similarly consider it unethical to sell a good-but-nondescript ECC82 'pull' for £5 on the basis that the buyer could get a new NE5534 for under £1?

And a few years ago, a Series 1Land-River was auctioned at a 6-figure sum. Why? It happened to be Winston Churchill's old one.

How emphemeral is that? But, it's how the market works.

Good thread, by the way!