Here's an interesting fact: Many ultra high priced components won't sell for 50% of retail while still new in box. I have a close relationship with my local dealer who told me his ARC product line which he pays 60% of MSRP for will only sell online direct for 40% of MSRP while in unopened boxes! Imagine that- the dealer buys things that are worth less than the wholesale that they pay for them! When prodded he added that most customers are buying the dealer experience and support and that's how he gets his markup. Interesting.
Krell, MBL, Levinson, et al... What if 50% off?
Lot of talk about the death of high end audio, which is warranted. But is it just about price?
What if a Krell K-300i was $4000 with DAC and not $8000 - would you buy it? The i800 monblocks were $40,000 not $73,000? Would they sell 4x as many?
What if an MBL 100 MkII speakers were $45,000 and not $95,000 and could be paired with their digital streamer for $6,000 not $11,000 and N15 mono amps for $7500 ea instead of $21,000... that gives you a state of the art digital system for $66,000 instead of $150,000.
Is that the answer, or is it something deeper (system is still big, requires a big room, space from the walls, looks odd, etc)?