Colleen Cardas of Cardas Audio just sent me a link for Scheu Analog, a German audio company that makes high-quality turntables. This particular turntable, called the Diamond, is being aimed at that rare and elusive market segment known as the Female Audiophile. Here is some of their copy:
"Pink, classic, seductive, simply ladylike--that is Diamond. A turntable designed specially for ladies--an innovative new product from Scheu Analog!"
Other than the color, I'm not sure what distinguishes this turntable from those made for grunting, belly-scratching male audiophiles. If I say that it's easy to operate, would that be sexist? How about if I phrase it like this: women are probably less likely to put up with the inconveniences that male audiophiles take for granted. For instance, macho purist audiophiles are more likely to put up with cartridge loading that can only be done by opening a component case with a flimsy Allen wrench, re-inserting jumpers and setting tiny DIN switches. Or, hairy, smelly male audiophiles thinking nothing about eschewing tone controls, balance controls and even cueing levers for the sake of ultimate sound quality. Or, strong, insensitive hunks are more than willing to sacrifice the integrity of their lower back muscles by shifting their 450 pound full range speakers a quarter of an inch further from the back walls of their listening rooms to achieve that last iota of imaging and soundstaging.
If you check out the comments section of the Scheu website (at http://www.acoustic-dimension.com/Scheu/Diamond/Scheu-analog-diamond-main-page.htm), you'll see at least one man who kind of digs the look of this turntable. And for those of us who aren't quite so secure about their masculinity, a version of the Diamond is available in drab, dreary black.
All kidding aside, Scheu 'tables are highly regarded, and I'm sure the Diamond offers a level of sound quality that will appeal to both men and women. That said, Scheu is not the first audio company to offer one of their products in pink--Rega recently announced a pink version of their venerable P3-24 turntable! So pink is the new black!
WOW - I mean - I know 'pink' is the new 'black'. But doesn't is really show the 'out of touch'ness the male makes of hi-fi audio are? Many other industries have moved way beyond the 'pink is for girls' color scheme.
ReplyDeleteBTW - I'm a guy - and I'd own that in a hot second.
Jeff Dorgay and Colleen Cardas were just debating this on my Facbook page. Of course Colleen, an actual woman and business owner, was all for it, and Jeff, a man, said that a lot of women would be offended at being told pink was for girls.
ReplyDeleteHere's the way I see it: For every woman who doesn't like pink, there are probably five that do. Do you risk turning off one customer to make five sales? Of course you do. In fact, most business people would risk turning off five people to make one sale. And if you're a woman who doesn't like pink, you're probably used to having pink marketed to you so you're not going to get truly upset or offended anymore...you just won't buy.
Most women do like pink. Market research backs this up.