I was saying that the default though of "unless you have hearing problems you're a tool".
I don't really like the guitar analogy. An expensive guitar is $2,000, compared to a cheap guitar that is what? (i have no idea, $300?) Here you're talking about something that is $150 vs $250. The price difference is not really THAT absurd for everyone to think by default that electronic stethoscope + no handicap = tool.
I think the guitar analogy isnt really about the price per se. The more expensive guitars (or violins, or flutes) may look exactly like the cheaper ones. The details which make it a better instrument, and more expensive, may be unknown to the consumer. Still, those details make it a better instrument. I also liked the analogy because a stethoscope is a musical instrument of sorts.
Not everyone is Willie Nelson and can play an inexpensive and broken guitar, and still make it sound good. Clapton still needs his Strat, Slash still needs his Les Paul. Les Paul needed his Les Paul (RIP). Now, if you are learning to play a lick by Slash, you will never be able to get it perfect unless you are playing a Les Paul because unless you can actually play your Yamaha
faster than Slash plays a Les Paul... you need the low action on the Les Paul to even come close.
Back to scopes... What makes a Welch Allyn DLX the "best" scope out there? Its the factors we all know about... double-lumen, firm diaphragm, no rims to dull the sound, etc, and factors we might not know about - brass. They dont make musical instruments out of surgical stainless steel, they can be made out of brass though. The DLX is made out of chrome plated brass. Maybe the R&D guys were on to something in the lab when testing the resonant frequency of different metals.
So, leaving aside the $10 differential in the standard Cardiology scopes... compare the $140 DLX to a $70 Litt. Classic IIse. The the details which make it more expensive specifically make it a better instrument.
