Underseer
Contributor
Many years ago, I bought a Logitech X-530 5.1 speaker system, and I love these things. Years later, and they're still going strong. But the reason I love them is that they sound so good for something that cost me around $60 many years ago.
Today if you go to Newegg, you can find several listings for X-530 speakers being offered for $299.99, $342.99, and $299.99.
Meanwhile, over at Amazon, they're available for $249.99 (Earning it an Amazon's Choice).
Amazon's Choice? Seriously? I like these things, but they're not worth $249.99. For that kind of money, I could buy a used stereo receiver and 5.1 satellite/subwoofer speaker system (which could be connected through HDMI), and that would sound far better.
In fact 5.1 speakers for computers seem ludicrously expensive in general at the usual online retailers. What's surprising is that I can genuinely find similar quality 5.1 speakers for computers at brick & mortar retailers like Best Buy for $50[ent]mdash[/ent]$75. If my speakers blew out tomorrow and I had to replace them, I would be better off going to Best Buy than to Amazon or Newegg. I'm also not seeing very many different models of 5.1 speakers intended for computers.
What the heck happened? The fact that people are willing to spend $300 for $60 speakers should mean that more manufacturers will start making 5.1 speakers, right? Isn't that exactly when manufacturers want to increase production?
At least when GPU prices went through the roof, I understood why. When RAM prices got out of control, I at least understood why. But with the 5.1 speaker thing, I have no clue what's going on with the market.
Today if you go to Newegg, you can find several listings for X-530 speakers being offered for $299.99, $342.99, and $299.99.
Meanwhile, over at Amazon, they're available for $249.99 (Earning it an Amazon's Choice).
Amazon's Choice? Seriously? I like these things, but they're not worth $249.99. For that kind of money, I could buy a used stereo receiver and 5.1 satellite/subwoofer speaker system (which could be connected through HDMI), and that would sound far better.
In fact 5.1 speakers for computers seem ludicrously expensive in general at the usual online retailers. What's surprising is that I can genuinely find similar quality 5.1 speakers for computers at brick & mortar retailers like Best Buy for $50[ent]mdash[/ent]$75. If my speakers blew out tomorrow and I had to replace them, I would be better off going to Best Buy than to Amazon or Newegg. I'm also not seeing very many different models of 5.1 speakers intended for computers.
What the heck happened? The fact that people are willing to spend $300 for $60 speakers should mean that more manufacturers will start making 5.1 speakers, right? Isn't that exactly when manufacturers want to increase production?
At least when GPU prices went through the roof, I understood why. When RAM prices got out of control, I at least understood why. But with the 5.1 speaker thing, I have no clue what's going on with the market.