You are here

Why are home theater pre/pros so expensive?

Slim line / entry level AVRs are quite popular these days. A pre/pro is basically an integrated AVR without the power amp. So why does it cost more?

I decided to look at the details. There's a lot of assumptions here but I think I'm reasonable and I have one example at least that supports my point.

The entry level AVR sells for about $700. Remove the power amp (and add preouts) and it could sell for about $500. There isn't much point in an entry level AVR so let's upgrade the DACs, offer better room correction, add XLR connectors and more inputs. I'd expect that to cost about $500 including markup. Total of $1000. So why does this vendor charge $2200? That's an additional $1200 in markup!

The platforms for these products are the same. Same software, much of the circuitry is the same. Often the DSP and CPU are the same. Many of the fixed costs like support are identical (although distribution channels may be different). There is volume sharing on many (but not all) of the components further reducing the cost of the pre/pros.

I don't think the selling price of pre/pros is justified. They have some upgrades, but these products share identical (or similar) hardware and don't include a power amp.

Case in point. Anthem have offered more honestly priced hardware:

Anthem MRX-1120 (integrated AVR): $3499
Anthem AVR 60 (pre/pro): $2999

The pre/pro is cheaper by $500.

Add new comment

Filtered HTML

  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <table> <tr> <td> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <pre> <dd> <img> <sub> <sup>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
1 + 10 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.