Is it possible for a high end manufacturer to overprice their goods?

@cd318 The honesty debacle is hard to tackle, especially in the high-end market. It is kind of implied that you're over-spending on High-End equipment. That stuff is either overpriced, overhyped, over-engineered with exotic hard-to-find parts, or all of the above. Everyone is trying to re-invent the wheel in the high-end market. Because the wheel is too basic, convenient and affordable. You're swimming with the sharks in a high-end market. The sharks are the salesmen. Furthermore, high-end equipment can be experimental and unreliable at times. 

In comparison, the entry-level or midrange feels like a safe ball pit with foam edges. In this environment manufacturers use off-the-shelf parts with tried-and-true methods. There is some trickle-down stuff from the high end. Most of the experimental kinks are addressed. 

My position is: avoid the high end at all costs.

This applies to everything: cars, furniture, homes, clothing, watches etc...

@kokakolia You convinced me.  I'll start shopping at Walmart for the best of everything.

@skinzy You can buy the Polk « R » series (Polk R200) on the Walmart website. But it’s from a third party vendor. That speaker is seriously good. And I know you’re joking but I’m pretty serious. 
 

In hindsight I am going against the Audiogon lifestyle of taking the HiFi hobby to the next level. Whatever that means. But it certainly doesn’t imply buying reasonably priced and unexpectedly good mass-produced entry level speakers. I suppose that you guys value exotic components, craftsmanship and brand heritage more than others. 
 

I suppose that I am providing a baseline for all speaker evaluations. If a high end setup doesn’t outshine a humble Polk R200 powered by a humble Denon amp then it may as well be overpriced junk and you should feel bad about yourself LOL. 
 

This leads to another thought: high end stuff seems to be reviewed in isolation and compared to other high end stuff. It is implied that the high end is far superior than the entry-level. But once in a blue moon you can become annoyed by the unexpected performance of modern entry-level gear if you own high end stuff. It’s all relative of course. And craftsmanship plays a huge part in the price, less so in the performance. 
 

Last point: I envy the people who just spend less than two thousand on a Hi-Fi setup and are completely happy. Just look at the people on the internet who spend tens of thousands on Hi-Fi and are never happy. The simplicity of spending $1.5k on a full system at Walmart is alluring. 

@kokakolia While my thread was asking about the very top end pricing in audio, I am interested in your points about the area below high end...commonly called mid-fi, or even mass produced low end gear. I think today, unlike in years past, there are some quite good low priced components that do give one a ’taste’ of what high end can accomplish, ( which is what i think you are pointing out). However, while this is encouraging for folk who cannot budget for what is now becoming very serious $$ for a lot of this gear, the reality of the situation is...and I hate to say this, that one typically does get what one pays for in this hobby in SQ ( in most instances). IF..again IF, you have a chance to listen to what some of this gear can sound like, particularly when set up properly in a proper dedicated acoustic space, I feel certain that you will hear what it is that the top high end companies provide from a SQ perspective. Now my question of whether the $$ asked can be raised to such a point that even the most well-heeled audiophile says...sorry, too expensive and I pass regardless of the ability, still applies.

@daveyf Yes, I went off tangent. You are right.

I’ll conclude that the very high end is bogus. The prices are astronomical to inflate the perceived value. You can cite extreme examples with 1 million dollar speakers. Maybe you should define high end in terms of performance. I believe that you can achieve that for tens of thousands of dollars if you’re smart. The very best Yamaha system is « only » $50k. You get all of the electronics (amp, preamp, cd player, turntable, full range speakers). Perhaps I am moving goal posts. I trust Yamaha more than a small boutique manufacturer selling $300k speakers and might go out of business soon. 
 

So yeah, a step below the very high end could be the sweet spot. Going entry level was never your intention.