I don't know why either, it's really weird
And I don't think that speaker technology has really enhanced that much either, I have 10 year old computer speakers and a stereo from the 90's that both are better (or similar) quality to modern speakers

yeah, it's almost entirely because of those dumb "beats" things. before, the only pricey headphones people could get in a target or store like that were from bose, and they don't flood things with advertising etcetera. whoever it was that came up with those dumb things, though, also marketed them well enough to sucker lots of people into buying them, and then, once people were "used" to paying more for headphones, all the other companies started raising prices as well. my advice is what it's always been: get something higher-end (but none of the "audiophile" stuff. something in the 100-200 USD price range) from audiotechnica, sennheiser, or some other equivalent company that's been around as long. headphones like those sound fantastic and last for years, and those companies have warranties and let you send them in to be repaired for a fee even after the warranties expire.

EDIT: the smaller, light-weight stuff usually isn't a good idea, but even they are pretty durable. i've had a pair of these for about a year and a half now and used them every other day when i'm at work for hours at a time, and they're still working fine (despite my having lost their carrying pouch and just tossing them in with other things instead X_X).

I mean, most technologies should decrease in value over the years unless they become collector items, right?

Have you tried to purchase the latest Macbook model? It's way more expensive than its predecessors, i can assure you!
As to the headphones, i really can't complain that much as i've lately bought myself a very cheap chinese pair for only  5€uros,Yeah! (My daughters have screwed-up all my good old headphones!).  :'(

... headphones like those sound fantastic and last for years, ...

Well, it depends. You don't have children yet do you?

I tried a lot of headphones for 2 entire years, I can tell you that most of them are not worth their price. There are even weird things, like the AKG K420 being better and cheaper than the AKG K430, which is meant to be an evolution of the K420.

Anyway, I tried no-audiophile headphones like Wesc ones, they are a huge joke. What you pay is the look you get when wearing them.
I tried audiophile ones like the Sennheiser HD 250, it was not so bad but the AKG K420 still was a lot better (and cheaper). What you pay there is the reputation of the brand.

Of course, not all headphones are overpriced crap, the Bose QC15 really fits my needs (and you can guess how demanding I am if I spent 2 years looking for headphones). Its "hardware" is overpriced for sure, but this time you don't pay for look or for reputation, you pay for quality and research (you have to pay the guys who created this after all).

(And I don't talk about the Beats because even in 2 years I never managed to try any. Shops always had a problem, either they were broken or they were missing batteries).

___

So yeah, if you want a good compromise between price and quality, I advise you to get the AKG K420. The only downside of it is that its isolation is really poor so you won't hear a lot of music if you are in a train next to a crying baby. But if you are at home, you'll have the best sound I've ever tried.

Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on September 25, 2013, 03:49:32 pm

I mean, most technologies should decrease in value over the years unless they become collector items, right?

Have you tried to purchase the latest Macbook model? It's way more expensive than its predecessors, i can assure you!
As to the headphones, i really can't complain that much as i've lately bought myself a very cheap chinese pair for only  5€uros,Yeah! (My daughters have screwed-up all my good old headphones!).  :'(

Quote from: shmibs on September 25, 2013, 04:14:17 pm

... headphones like those sound fantastic and last for years, ...

Well, it depends. You don't have children yet do you?

not yet )=
dj doesn't either, though

If you're looking in store, BestBuy tends to have a pretty good selection.

If you're looking in store, BestBuy tends to have a pretty good selection.

No thanks. Over here, they mainly have the expensive gaming ones. Also although they have decent prices on some things, others are really overpriced. I mean, for example, they tried to charge me $299.99 for an HDMI switch box, when Amazon has them for like $30.