The Lawyers Have Taken Over Audio

"and good thinking costs no more than bad thinking."

Good point. In theory, it should cost less to achieve any particular product goal.

In the 1970's, you could walk into a Tech Hifi in NYC and get a top performing system of the day for a reasonable premium.

Since then, high end audio has become more of a niche/boutique industry. Today, you might well pay a huge premium in a big city audio shop for a rig that may not even sound as good as what you might put together as a smart thrifty shopper on the internet for a small fraction of the cost. It could be a huge discrepancy if one uses component cost alone as their main indicator of performance. Or one might find a good value still if smart and working with a dealer that has a range of customers best interests in mind, not just those of the ultra wealthy Wall Street types. IT can be a slippery slope for the uninitiated though. Retail price is clear as day. Most other things that really matter tend to be more nebulous. The financial stakes can be quite huge!

New York generally knows how to do things well and often to extremes. That's part of what makes it unique. No reason to think high end audio would be any different.

"Anyone who belives any speaker is worth 100k is mentally ill."

SOme might be worth it.

The question in my mind is how many people really need $100K speakers? I don't think it should cost nearly that much to max out most any normal room at home.

Of course, need or worth are often not the determining factor in a purchase.

But if one can really afford it and is happy with the results, more power to them!