Anyone else think $4K retail for CW III's is excessive?

[colterphoto1]

This is my retirement fund baby!

[wstrickland1]

it's almost scary to read through a thread like this. I mean, who freakin cares?

[Seadog]

This is my retirement fund baby!

And a whole lot more fun than a mutual fund![]

[Amy]

CW III pricing has not been set.

[Frzninvt]

So do I still need to call the Waaaaaaahhhmbulance? The driver will be pretty busy with some of the folks on this forum.

[eq_shadimar]

Man people ***** and moan that Klipsch abandoned the Heritage line and then ***** that it costs to much when they bring it back. Sigh you have to wonder why they bother. I mean the company has to recoup the development costs and manufacturing costs.

Perhaps you would like the skilled AMERICAN factory workers to take a pay cut or even better have it outsourced to China? Compared to what else is out there today speaker wise $4000 retail is very reasonable in my opinion.

Laters,

Jeff

[Tom Adams]

I suspect that setting the MSRP for the CWIII is a real dilemma for Klipsch. I mean, they can't price it too low for fear of percieved "cheapness" with regards to the Heritage line. They can't set a price close to the RF7 for fear of making the two compete against each other. They can't set it too high for fear that it will impact the "saleability" of the product and therefore make the re-introduction possibly flop. Let's face it, when you've got a product that is composed of approximately $100 of plywood, maybe $500 in electronics, and roughly $400 (at most) in labor......what price do you sell it for???

Tom

[Allan Songer]

If a pair of Cornwalls cost $1000 to build they should WHOLESALE for $2000 and RETAIL for $4000.

[Daddy Dee]

So how much is the retail on RF-7?

One forum member told me he was talking to a Heritage dealer out in

Oklahoma who said that Klipsch would now allow him to sell and ship.

[codhead]

"Perhaps you would like the skilled AMERICAN factory workers to take a pay cut or even better have it outsourced to China?"

Jeff,

Judging from your system, you may wish to rethink your position. I can assure you that your contributions to Far East, Inc. greatly eclipse those of my own.

[codhead]

"So do I still need to call the Waaaaaaahhhmbulance? The driver will be pretty busy with some of the folks on this forum."

Fritz,

You have to remember to log out when you're done. Looks like the kids accessed your account again! []

[Parrot]

If a pair of Cornwalls cost $1000 to build they should WHOLESALE for $2000 and RETAIL for $4000.

But, if dealers are not willing to display them on the floor, they do not deserve anything,

let alone $2000 just for telephoning Klipsch and saying send me a pair

of Cornwalls. I think Klipsch should sell Heritage off their webpage

and split the difference between lower retail and paying Klipsch

employees to manage orders.

[Tom Adams]

Actually...............

I think we're looking at this all wrong. CWIII's (assuming the rumored price is true) only cost $2000.

<gulp>

Each. []

Tom

[Parrot]

Klipsch was hoping for more like $3000. But that was before moving the

woofer up 6 inches, which may account for the extra grand[]

[Speedball]

$4000.00 is not excessive just as long as it sounds like a $4000.00 speaker.

[thirdeye]

How MUCH!!!!! Excessive, thats rediculous I don't care legend or

not, 4000.00 a

pair? MAybe 2500.00. They better be in Birds eye maple finish, with

Focal multi-magnet 15" drivers and back to Metal horns not plastic,

with very nice routed corners on the cabinets for that scratch.

Oh and a custom Speaker stand to get those suckers up to the Audiophile

supposed Height of today vs. the early 80's. Hell maybe throw in Decent

Capacitors not the computer crap mass produced, then we will talk.

Okay, Pay a decent 25 per hour to our American worker to assemble a BOX

times 2(which I would be very surprised if in "hope" due to the extreme

cheap cost of living well in comparison to chicago where I am at, they

would pay more than even 15 per hour which is all a warehouse speaker

assembler would get here),

possibly the absolute most physically easy box that Klipsch

will produce is the CORNWALL III, a pair of RB-75's would take double

the time and they are 1/4 the size or less.

So it cost you about 50 bucks to pay labor on the box, and about 20

dollars of material, and nobody can say otherwise because these things

cost nothing to produce I buy and build MDF all the time, now put in

some R&D time and Cheap crossovers, and 6 drivers that cost maybe

30 dollars a piece for klipsch to produce and you have about a 500 or

less with packaging into these pairs. Triple that cost to the dealer,

so cost would be about 1500.00 and Retail about 2400-2500.00 but would

go for about 2100.00 a pair.

I worked back when the KLF series was hot, and yes the cabinets were

garbage it was a decent speaker with dual 10's and a single horn with

cheap crossovers, I believe our cost on like the klf-10 was about

410.00 a

pair, retail was around 1100.00 or something. sold for about 900.00....

Bottom line being the Hersey and and cornwall are gonna absolutly be

the easiest klipsch speakers to build, they could also make them the

most money, and being any of us can go to parts express and buy a 15"

pretty good driver for about 50.00 I don't see where I am to far off on

this.

Klipsch's problem will be This is a BIG flat Box, not slim fancy, and

the market will have a hard time with that, ASIA LOVES these, they are

much more into the Hi-end Super efficient Speakers, Such as Avantgarde,

Zu (which I want) and several other Eye-sores... We in the Overweight

Overpriced america Like our Speakers and Home theater systems Slimmer

than us....

And not to mention, I have heard several of the klipsch cabinets, I

think even my 35's are sourced from china anyway, and possibly the horn

assembly's for all we know, so go ahead and cut your cost further if

you want.

[3dzapper]

Here is a picture of the H3 crossover Trey posted in his new picture gallery down in general. Assuming the Cornwall III network is similiar it seems to me it would add considerably to the cost.

Rick

[ricktate]

Think about this back in 1980 when i made like 7.00 hour my Scalas cost me new 700 so 100 times my pay.The old price list i got from 1978 lists the Cornwall 150.00 lower than the Scala so would that put new Cornwall about 3800.00 if new Scalas are 4000.00 a pair.But back then they had Andy knocking Heresys out like crazy and putting Cornwalls together to ,i dont think todays worker will work that hard.This just a thought to think about... price is what the market will bear anyway i work in a bicycle shop where 300.00 and 4000.00 bikes get sold everyday even though they both got 2 wheels lol.Rick

[thirdeye]

Okay 3800.00 then, but too bad because klipsch will not sell

many. again street price for those will have to be around 1800.00

after the first year of the CWIII's I would not see anybody

really messing with them otherwise, I mean klipsch has plenty of

options in that range that will be picked over them, but again the

Asian market may catch fire and that is where they would be succesfull.

[Audible Nectar]

Brand new Cornwalls worth 4K? In today's high end market?

Y. E. S.

Consider this:

The RF7 sells for $2200. While a very good sounding speaker, it's not up to the build quality that the Heritage series is - but it's one helluva speaker for that price.

Add the build quality of Heritage (including more cabinet, better grille vs RF), and consider that Klipsch won't be selling the quantities of the Cornwall that they did the RF-7 (think HT apps), then I can easily see why the 4K price point is being discussed.

Now, are they WORTH IT?

I think so. Consider that those speakers will be around for 50 years - and that the performance will be tweaked vs. the older models. I fully expect a quality product that justifies the 4K price on a performance level. Remember that these are NEW. Us Heritage junkies who have been scarfing up good used Corns for 1K per pair have been STEALING them. Ask anyone here who has a pair - they know DAMN WELL that the 1K price is a joke on a performance level. That's why many of us have multiple pairs. I bought 2 pairs for less than $700 - near mint.

Look at the marketplace, and see what other high end speakers sound like and sell for. I think you'll find that 4K for the new Cornwall pair is still crushing the competition......just as the other new Heritage does. I mean, really - is there any speaker that sells for $7500 that does in a pair of new Klipschorns? I think that even today, the new Heritage bests speakers that cost much more.

And at 4K, this still would give dealers some "room to move" on price while still making money. At 4K, I could honestly recommend them to anyone who can afford them. They will have speakers for LIFE.