Doc, T
melex and R
zer,
Marketing has to always be creating news on a yearly basis to keep the product "top-of-mind" and the consumer engaged. A lot of these news-worthy improvements are not, for lackof a word, news-worthy - they are just to keep the fires stoked.
Magazines (and media in general) pick these things up because they add excitement and hopefully keep the subscription numbers up.
One area that is plainly obvious is the revolving Wilson upgrades that are always reported on: MAXX, MAXX2, MAXX3, etc., Puppy 7,8,9 (and I bet a 10 eventually).
This is nothing more than a rich-man's shill game. If the design was so good begin with, why all the changes needed every year? Only one reason, to create "news" on a regular basis. The changes are incremental and place doubt in the mind of current Wilson owners that they don't have the current best. My guess that for Wilson's more expensive offerings, it is probably the same circle of guys (a relatively small number with big $$) that are constantly getting "improved" versions, but remain with the same speaker model. No one would say, "I think I will buy an Alexandria only after the third improved version is available."
For Vandersteen, my estimate is that he caters from newbies to audio-nervousa types, working from entery level to the more expensive models over a longer period of time. For a long time, he only had the 3A as his flagship speaker, but his followers wanted higher-end options, which he obliged.
Wilson employs great material and engineering skill, but any new or original ideas have been sorely lacking for a very long time (for example, remember that recent ad was focused on a machined aluminum tube for the woofer port? - ouch). Incremental improvements do not equate with innovation. They put the "No" in InNOvation.
F
rch - I'll go do a few Hail Mary's now for repentance.
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