@fsonicsmith, dang, you must REALLY like the MC5!
Good post, to which I would only add that there is another dynamic at work, only at the high end. Brooks Berdan was (R.I.P.) a SoCal dealer who had a fair percentage of long-term, repeat customers with deep pockets. He sold a number of lines of tube electronics, including VTL, Jadis, McIntosh, and others at the higher-priced end of the spectrum. He also was a Music Reference dealer.
Brooks was the kind of retailer who only sold products whose sound he found superior, passing on some companies from whom he could have made a lot of money, but whose products he didn't find to provide sound quality to his level of expectation.
He chose to carry Music Reference because of it's sound quality, engineering, but especially it's value---Roger Modjeski's designs sound far better than their price would suggest. Brooks didn't mind selling his higher-priced products to his customers (he made a lot more money selling a VTL amp than a Music Reference), but readily admitted to me that some customers buy with their eyes, not their ears. Eyes as in seeing the sticker price, magazine reviews, websites, etc. He also acknowledged that bragging rights is a major motivator in high end consumerism. No duh.