Speaker Prices compared (INR & GBP)

[Raghav]

As suggested by Psychotropic, this thread is to find out how do speaker prices in India compare to UK, US for popular brands. Best to keep it out of his thread for speakers under 20k as it is totally off topic. For the purpose of comparison, I have taken 1 GBP = 80 INR which has been the rough average for some time. GBP rates, I have taken from WHFSV. One can take the same from richer sounds etc also. Rates given by other members have been updated.

Speaker List - Bookshelves under 500GBP (FS, CS, SR etc of the same series would have similar mark-ups). Columns are speaker name, GBP/USD street price, INR, Mark-up (or down)

1. Cambridge Audio S30 - 120GBP - Rs10000 - 4%
2. Q Acoustics 1020i - 108GBP - Rs11000 - 27%
3. Mordaunt Short Avant 902i - 120GBP -
4. Tannoy Mercury F1 Custom - 80GBP
5. Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 - 200GBP - Rs13700 - (15%) :yahoo:
6. Monitor Audio Bronze BR2 - 200GBP - Rs22000 - 37.5%
7. Epos ELS8 - 145GBP - Rs20000 - 72%
8. Mordaunt Short Aviano1 - 200GBP
9. Dali Lektor1 - 230GBP - Rs20000 - 8%
10. Dali Lektor2 - 280GBP - Rs26000 - 15%
11. Usher S520 - 400USD - Rs22000 - 12.5%
12. Quad 11L2 - 380GBP - Rs31000 - 2% :clapping:
13. Monitor Audio RS1 - 380GBP
14. B&W 685 - 380GBP - Rs40000 - 31.5%
15. Mordaunt Short Mezzo2 - 350GBP
16. PSB Alpha - 250USD - Rs14500 - 16%
17. Polk TSi 100 - 200USD - Rs10000 - 3%
18. Polk RTi A1 - 300USD - Rs15000 - 3%
19. Mordaunt Short Mezzo1 - 300GBP
10. KEF iQ10 - 450USD - Rs21000 - (4%)


First thoughts
Overpriced - Monitor Audio, B&W
Well Priced - Quad, Wharfedale

I need some help in taking this further. If others update me on Prices GBP/USD or INR street prices, I can keep updating the thread. I hope i can edit the first post itself.

Keep the data flowing.

Raghav

 

[madjack]

Hey Raghav,
Very useful post to start with. People who are in the market looking for new stuff can update this besides the regulars.

Cheers

As suggested by Psychotropic, this thread is to find out how do speaker prices in India compare to UK for popular brands. Best to keep it out of his thread for speakers under 20k as it is totally off topic. For the purpose of comparison, I have taken 1 GBP = 80 INR which has been the rough average for some time. GBP rates, I have taken from WHFSV. One can take the same from richer sounds etc also.

Speaker List - Bookshelves under 500GBP (FS, CS, SR etc of the same series would have similar mark-ups). Columns are speaker name, GBP price, INR MRP, Mark-up (or down)

1. Cambridge Audio S30 - 120GBP
2. Q Acoustics 1020i - 140GBP
3. Mordaunt Short Avant 902i - 150GBP
4. Tannoy Mercury F1 Custom - 160GBP
5. Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 - 200GBP - Rs15000 - (6.25%) :yahoo:
6. Monitor Audio Bronze BR2 - 230GBP - Rs25000 - 35%
7. Epos ELS8 - 250GBP
8. Mordaunt Short Aviano1 - 250GBP
9. Dali Lektor1 - 250GBP
10. Dali Lektor2 - 300GBP
11. Usher S520 - 330GBP
12. Quad 11L2 - 380GBP - Rs31000 - 2% :clapping:
13. Monitor Audio RS1 - 380GBP
14. B&W 685 - 380GBP -
15. Mordaunt Short Mezzo2 - 450GBP

First thoughts
Overpriced - Monitor Audio, B&W
Well Priced - Quad, Wharfedale

Polk (did not get GBP prices since its US based). Also no prices for Canadian Brands like PSB. I need some help in taking this further. If others update me on Prices GBP or INR MRPs, I can keep updating the thread. I hope i can edit the first post itself.

Keep the data flowing.

Raghav

 

[nirrej]

Polk (did not get GBP prices since its US based). Also no prices for Canadian Brands like PSB.Raghav
Raghav

1. Usher S520
American price $375
Taiwanese Price TW$ 4800
Indian Price Rs.22000
Usher is basically a taiwanese company with American collabration.
If anybody can buy it in Taiwan it's an absolute kill at just Rs.7000

2. PSB Alpha (279.99 $CND) Indian price Rs.14500
Eventhough PSB is a Canadian company it retails its flagship product
Alpha B1 at an unbelievable price of GBP 100 in UK,
which is much lower than their Canadian price.
Quite baffling, may be predatory pricing to break into
the crowded UK market.

Even Mission speakers are priced correctly in India as they also
belong to the Wharfedale group.

 

[Shuvc]

1. Cambridge Audio S30 - 120GBP
2. Q Acoustics 1020i - 140GBP
3. Mordaunt Short Avant 902i - 150GBP
4. Tannoy Mercury F1 Custom - 160GBP
5. Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 - 200GBP - Rs15000 - (6.25%) :yahoo:
6. Monitor Audio Bronze BR2 - 230GBP - Rs25000 - 35%
7. Epos ELS8 - 250GBP
8. Mordaunt Short Aviano1 - 250GBP
9. Dali Lektor1 - 250GBP
10. Dali Lektor2 - 300GBP
11. Usher S520 - 330GBP
12. Quad 11L2 - 380GBP - Rs31000 - 2% :clapping:
13. Monitor Audio RS1 - 380GBP
14. B&W 685 - 380GBP -
15. Mordaunt Short Mezzo2 - 450GBP

It might also make sense to mention the source of the prices and also to consider street prices as opposed to MRPs.

For eg, at Richer Sounds

4. Tannoy Mercury F1 Custom - 80GBP per pair, not 160GBP
2. Q Acoustics 1020i - 108GBP per pair, not 140GBP
3. Mordaunt Short Avant 902i - 120 GBP per pair, not 150GBP
8. Mordaunt Short Aviano1 - 200 GBP per pair, not 250GBP
10. Dali Lektor2 - 280 GBP per pair, not 300GBP
15. Mordaunt Short Mezzo2 - 350 GBP per pair, not 450GBP

 

[psychotropic]

yeah, use sources like superfi.co.uk, weymouth hi fi and richer sounds, rather than What Hi Fi, that will give you more real world prices, and even while taking Indian price use real world prices. I am using google calculated current exchange rates, and not a standard 80. The markdown good value deals are in bold, the highly marked up ones are accompanies by an .

1. Cambridge Audio S30 - 150GBP - Rs. 10,000? (15% markdown)
2. Mordaunt Short Avant 902i - 120 GBP - Rs. 11,000 (14% markup)
3. Tannoy Mercury F1 Custom - 80 GBP - Rs. 16,000 (120% MARKUP )
4. Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 - 200GBP - Rs15000 - (6.25% markdown)
5. Monitor Audio Bronze BR2 - 200 GBP - Rs 25000 - (56% markup )
6. Epos ELS8 - 145 GBP - Rs. 20,000 - (72% markup )
7. Dali Lektor1 - 230GBP - Rs. 20,000 - (8% markup)
8. Usher S520 - 320GBP- Rs. 22,000 (16% markdown)
9. B&W 685 - 380GBP - Rs. 40,000 (25% markup)

 

[Raghav]

If we take street prices, we need to take the same for India also. The only issue is that someone could be selling cheaper than richer sound for some item, while a third source will be cheap for another product. The same problem will be there in INR rates. As you yourself have seen BR2 prices may vary from vendor to vendor, also buyer to buyer.

Sticking to MRPs in both areas will avoid ambiguity. Discounts rates are usually the same for current models. Like most speakers in india would be 10-15% off MRP. What do others suggest.

Raghav

It might also make sense to mention the source of the prices and also to consider street prices as opposed to MRPs.

For eg, at Richer Sounds

4. Tannoy Mercury F1 Custom - 80GBP per pair, not 160GBP
2. Q Acoustics 1020i - 108GBP per pair, not 140GBP
3. Mordaunt Short Avant 902i - 120 GBP per pair, not 150GBP
8. Mordaunt Short Aviano1 - 200 GBP per pair, not 250GBP
10. Dali Lektor2 - 280 GBP per pair, not 300GBP
15. Mordaunt Short Mezzo2 - 350 GBP per pair, not 450GBP

 

[thevortex]

There was a time when I was also deep in analyzing the currency difference. The thing is - the prices are the way they are because of duty and sometimes market forces and in some cases seller greed. The situation where it would make sense to find out the foreign pricing is when we can actually buy it from there and bring it back here.

In the case of speakers that is highly unlikely as they are unwieldy as well as heavy. Not much chance of transporting.

I see this thread as a good way to haggle with distributors here in terms of price. Even then I am not sure how much it is going to help us. I am sorry if I mistook the objective and would love to know if it is entirely something else.

 

[rikhav]

The most shocking is the price of Usher S520 in Taiwan which is INR 7000.
Is it for a single or for a pair and then all Usher products would be costing remarkably less in Taiwan

 

[psychotropic]

i've tried to quote actual prices in the Indian context. Stuff like mordaunt short and cambridge audio, richer sounds is the only place you get it, so there's no other price. Superfi is also a reliable place to check prices. Obviously these comparisons will not be dead-on accurate, but will be useful to give a broad idea.

MRP is going to be pointless as you can see from the differences to real world prices. Those differences are far more than the differnece between say the prices stated by a shop, and the bargained price that can be achieved by a customer.

If we take street prices, we need to take the same for India also. The only issue is that someone could be selling cheaper than richer sound for some item, while a third source will be cheap for another product. The same problem will be there in INR rates. As you yourself have seen BR2 prices may vary from vendor to vendor, also buyer to buyer.

Sticking to MRPs in both areas will avoid ambiguity. Discounts rates are usually the same for current models. Like most speakers in india would be 10-15% off MRP. What do others suggest.

Raghav

 

[Raghav]

The object is not to buy the speakers from outside. The object is neither to use this to haggle with the distributors. That I feel in India, we are adept at anyways.

This just gives an idea of which brands are being distributed at reasonable prices and which ones are exorbitantly high. If 2 companies of UK are selling speakers in India they incur exactly the same costs (duty, freight, insurance etc). Thus all should have similar Mark-ups. However, the premium differs from (10%) to 50%. Any brand having more than 20% mark-up is in my opinion fleecing the customer. I would look at other comparable speakers from companies who are fair in pricing.

Obviously, if you have decided on a particular brand and want that only, then this exercise is no use. Will try and update prices given by others tonight.

Raghav

I see this thread as a good way to haggle with distributors here in terms of price. Even then I am not sure how much it is going to help us. I am sorry if I mistook the objective and would love to know if it is entirely something else.

 

[thevortex]

The object is not to buy the speakers from outside. The object is neither to use this to haggle with the distributors. That I feel in India, we are adept at anyways.

This just gives an idea of which brands are being distributed at reasonable prices and which ones are exorbitantly high. If 2 companies of UK are selling speakers in India they incur exactly the same costs (duty, freight, insurance etc). Thus all should have similar Mark-ups. However, the premium differs from (10%) to 50%. Any brand having more than 20% mark-up is in my opinion fleecing the customer. I would look at other comparable speakers from companies who are fair in pricing.

Obviously, if you have decided on a particular brand and want that only, then this exercise is no use. Will try and update prices given by others tonight.

Raghav

I see where you are going. Still there are other factors as well behind pricing in the case of individual brands. But then we would be getting into economics per se.

In any case it is always interesting and useful to know the prices of all these wonderful speakers. Your effort is appreciable as is psychotropic's.

 

[cooltoad]

Grand Cinema quotes 11.7k for wharf 9.1 and 13.7k for 10.1 after discount.

 

[nirrej]

The most shocking is the price of Usher S520 in Taiwan which is INR 7000.
Is it for a single or for a pair and then all Usher products would be costing remarkably less in Taiwan

It is for a pair.
Even in China it retails at around 12k (converted into INR)
Lot of IT guys are visiting China these days for projects.
If u can get one of your China bound friends to get a pair
it would be a great deal.
They weigh around 14 kg for a pair.
Most International flights allow you to carry a minimum
of 30 kgs free of cost. So transporting won't be a problem

 

[heliumflight]

This is a very good place to check out UK prices

Products > HiFi > Speakers - Bartletts HiFi

 

[hemantwaghe]

It is for a pair.
Even in China it retails at around 12k (converted into INR)
Lot of IT guys are visiting China these days for projects.
If u can get one of your China bound friends to get a pair
it would be a great deal.
They weigh around 14 kg for a pair.
Most International flights allow you to carry a minimum
of 30 kgs free of cost. So transporting won't be a problem

30 kg-14kg= 16 kg
now the poor person needs to fit all his other stuff like cloths , shoes,gifts to his gf in 16 kg!!hyeah:hyeah:

 

[nirrej]

30 kg-14kg= 16 kg
now the poor person needs to fit all his other stuff like cloths , shoes,gifts to his gf in 16 kg!!hyeah:hyeah:

generally gifts to girlfriends don't weigh much ( eg.soft toys,diamonds, etc)
unless you're going to get her a Giant Panda from china:lol::lol:

 

[raja_mastana]

Dali Lektor 2 - 300GBP - 26000 INR - (8% up)

 

[Raghav]

updated opening post.

Dali Lektor 2 - 300GBP - 26000 INR - (8% up)

 

[sud98]

Usher X718 -
US price - $2795(mrp)
India Price - Rs. 1 lakh (Street price)

 

[crn12]

Hi All, this is my first post on this fabulous forum.

I have a friend of mine returning from China the day after, & I have asked him to check on the USHER speaker prices, I would appreciate if you could tell me if this is a good one to buy from there (What will happen to the warranty & all that
)..I have asked him to get the quote for S520 & X Series

I am planning to build a nice HT in a step by step fashion & buy buying quality components

Pls throw in more inputs & feedback on this decision