Stratospheric audio gear prices

There is some truth to what the OP opines, but there are two sides to that coin. There are pieces of equipment that over the years I have wanted to own, but there were other financial priorities in life. Today most of this gear are considered to be classics and are still sought out. There has been other expensive gear that were en vogue for a time, then faded away like so much smoke. Their mirror partners were probably lonely for awhile, but they eventually got over being jilted. The market shifts and changes. New technologies arise and old ones come back like the Phoenix, resurrected for another go at life.

All of which is why I love AudiogoN. I don't ride the audio carousel like some; my systems usually stay intact for a decade or more. But AudiogoN has allowed me to put together several systems that were beyond what I could have afforded at the time. This site has let me live an audio Life of Reilly on what has effectively been a shoestring budget.
Interestingly, my financial situation has greatly improved over the past few years. Now that I can afford to upgrade, my current system is not in need of any major changes. It's the system I had wanted for so many years. I bought most of it used. Added a few new pieces the last couple of years. Now I'm investing in music.

But stay tuned. The reports of my audio demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Hi ericrt.  To be fair, it does cost something to develop a product. The lab lights must be lit, the soldering irons heated, etc. Then you have to market the thing, and polish it, and QC it, and pack it, and ship it. Insure it maybe? That money has to be gotten from somewhere. The big things is: How many will you sell? How many people will pay a quarter million dollars for an amp? How many half million dollar speakers can you sell? Not 10,000, I'll bet. the super pricy products do impress people who will never hear them. They make the line look impressive. They give the manufacturer a chance to experiment with ideas he can use in products lower in the line. It provides a WOW item at audio shows. If company X can sell 100 half million dollar products worldwide, he'll do alright. But he never expected us peon with a 1750 square foot house and three kids to buy one. He doesn't think you are stupid; but he does think you can be impressed. That's why some products have more money in the case than in the guts of the product.

There are fifty cent cent capacitors, and five dollar capacitors and fifty dollar capacitors with the same electrical values. Do they sound different? You bet. How much better does the $500 capacitor sound? I'll never know! But there is a difference between the $5 and the $50 ones. I tried it. Once. Maybe an 8% improvement in "transparency." How many capacitors are in that premium preamp? Are they the super-duper ones from Denmark? Are there four? That's $2k in parts cost and we haven't got a knob! And the manufacturer wants to make a profit on those caps. The people who insist on the "BEST" don't care what it costs. they are the fat cats with the $$$. Those products were never aimed at guys like us who say, "How can an amp possibly cost $100,000 @#&*!" Look for fancy stuff used. If it wasn't abused, it's probably as good as it ever was (unless the tubes are OLD). Don't be upset by the pricy stuff. Their advertising pays for the magazines we read and write letters to complaining about the pricy stuff they review.

Relax and enjoy the music. Keep Smiling!

    

bpolettiI
Said
I've heard that from the perspective of many high-end manufacturers and dealers, the best way to make a small fortune in audio is to start with a large fortune."
Well said! And this from:
hilde45
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5638129/
"People who are unable to maintain the same standard of living as others around them experience a sense of relative deprivation that has been shown to reduce feelings of well-being. Relative deprivation reflects conditions of worsening relative poverty despite striking reductions in absolute poverty. The effects of relative deprivation explain why average happiness has been stagnant over time despite sharp rises in income. Consumption taxes on status-seeking spending, along with official and traditional sanctions on excess consumption and redistributive policies may lessen the negative impact of relative deprivation on well-being.

I think this is great also. Basically if you compare your stuff to what others have, it will make you dissatisfied with your perfectly good stuff. Being content is of great value, for sure. I think that audiophiles are just fascinated with what the next level sounds like. I am just disappointed with how the entry level sounds compared to things I grew up with that were not 'audiophile' grade. It seems like you have to lay out what is truly a small fortune to even start to get to the good stuff. But I have, and I enjoy the good stuff. I am not trying to start another conversation 🙂. It seems like if you spend even $2000 on a system, the sound quality and appearance should blow away a non audiophile. Instead, (I feel like), you get borderline junk for that cost. 

It depends on the source. You can get something used for $2K like an integrated amp/streamer and a decent set of speakers with some $ left over for a non entry level interconnect and speaker cables. When you start talking about turntables, moving coil cartridges, phono stages, vibration control, it adds up and in IMHO you reach a nice plateau around $10-12K out of pocket for about $20K list. You can go way up from there, but the cost for increase in SQ becomes higher and higher, and in some cases it is not better, only different.

It's called CAPITALISM.

Indeed. Under communism we’d be listening to 1960 technology transistor radios - if we’re lucky. This hobby would not exist if not for capitalism.