What's happened to the used high end market recently?? Sales are tough....:0(

There are a few factors at play I believe:

1.  Many younger people are still saddled with student loan debt and while unemployment is nearing record low numbers, wages haven’t risen as they should have so money is tight.  Boomers who got caught out of sorts during the financial crisis are holding on to their jobs longer instead of retiring, making advancement harder.  

2. Partly due to the above, but also due to other trends such as younger people choosing more urban dwellings than suburbs, many younger people don’t have the space or the privacy (either roommates or living in apartments where you can’t play a stereo much without disturbing your neighbors, or living at home with parents where luxury purchase would be frowned upon plus the noise issues) to set up nice stereo systems.  

3.  Because of both of the above high end headphone sales have been booming. You can get an extraordinary headphone rig for a tiny fraction of the price of equivalent speakers, it takes up virtually no space, won’t disturb the neighbors or roommates, etc.  Headphones can easily be HEA, and while they can’t do everything that real speakers can do, they can provide an incredibly enjoyable musical experience without the expense and inconvenience of 100lbs floorstanders and the associated gear.  

4.  For those who are interest in traditional speakers, the quality of budget gear has increased exponentially over what it once was.  Easier access to computer modeling and computer aided design, a better understanding of science-driven speaker design, and manufacturer-direct selling via the internet have all helped bring the price of entry to very satisfying sound way down.  Elac, Q Acoustics, Hsu, Emotiva, RBH, Philharmonic Audio, RGL, etc, have proven you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to get a great experience.  

5.  This one may be controversial, but the prevalence of snake oil in HEA turns a lot of people just starting into the hobby away.  Cables costing hundreds of dollars or more, vibration control for solid state electronics, ‘audiophile’ fuses, mystery boxes that claim to have magic properties, etc, it all comes off as both silly and slightly deceptive.  At least the magic crystals of the past could be laughed off, today there’s a veneer of misleading pseudoscience being applied by purveyors of what usually amounts to nothing more than audio jewelry.  

@daveyf 

Part of the massive depreciation of luxury vehicles is the 'image' issue, driving the latest and greatest is a status symbol, and part of it that many of those brands lean heavily towards leases vs purchases (not sure about Bentley or Rolls, but it's very true for MB, BMW, Jaguar, etc).  

Plus, there's additional downward pressure on used vehicle sales because once they start leaving the warranty maintenance costs are dramatically higher than they are for more mainstream vehicles.  Buying that $100,000 Mercedes for $30,000 a few years old can be seen as a bargain, but the maintenance costs are still in line with a $100,000 Mercedes and not a $30,000 Toyota.  

@daveyf 

Other than the pricing of some of the gear I don't see a lot of parallels between HEA and luxury vehicles.  

Many people buy expensive vehicles to present a certain level of success to the world, to outdo their neighbors or coworkers, etc.  That dynamic isn't really in play with audio systems as far fewer people are going to see your audio system than your car, and even those people you invite inside likely aren't going to know Bose from Magico.  

Also the maintenance issue doesn't really apply to HEA.  Outside of tubes in tube amps and styluses in cartridges there's not a lot of routine maintenance needed in audio systems.  Amps and speakers can go decades without having to have caps replaced, and even if they do need it the parts themselves are generally inexpensive.  

That's good to hear ClarinetMonster.  A big Revel/JBL Synthesis dealer over on AVS Forums mentioned that Revel has already sold through the entirety of the first production run of the new Performa Be speakers.  

The $10,000/pair price point seems to be very hot right now.

@daveyf 

I suppose that depends on the unit.  I'll agree that the used market is probably more price driven than the new market, a good value is a good value.  I wouldn't consider a pair of speakers that retail for $12,000 to be a good value at $10,000 used, but a pair of speakers that retail for $20,000 for $10,000 used could be (if the age and condition are appropriate).    

I'd wager that at minimum any used item should have at least a 25% discount from new retail price, and that's if it's in perfect condition with all original accessories such a buyer's remorse trade-in or dealer demo.  Make it a few years old and it shouldn't be any more than 50% of new retail.  Go to ten years old and it should drop even more. 

Of course, really hard to find specialty products could buck that, and while I window-shop in the for sale section here, the asking price is higher than I think is fair for a lot of it.  That's fine, people can ask whatever they want for something, and I'm not going to insult anyone with a lowball offer, I'll just keep my eyes open until the right deal surfaces for something that I want at a price I think is fair.  

There's a pair of Revel Salon2s on sale here for $8,000, which is an amazing price, but the ad is rife with misspellings and typos, the photos aren't as illustrative as they could be, and there's something off about the tweeters - they're at minimum missing the twin wire guards they should have, not sure if they're even the original OEM tweeters because of that.  If I lived in the area where I could go see them in person I'd certainly go do that, but that's too much risk for that much money for me from a distance.