Quote Originally Posted by Feanor View Post
More expensive is the trend in high-end equipment. I firmly believe it's part of the increasing separation of the rich from the middle class. The latter have less money to spend so they buy nothing or resort to value products from Far East. High end makers see the middle class shrinking as a source of revenue and compelled to target the top end of the market where margins are higher.
You are very correct with your thought about how they are starting to market and sell their products. I believe even though I am a music lover and an audiophile and will be till my last day I also believe that there is a limit to what I will spend on a single component in my system. I know that some of this is relative to income level but also I thing it has to do with the my feelings that I will not be able to get that much more performance from my system compared to the money spent and not spending the extra on other things. Its the old diminishing returns thing and I do believe that after a certain price point the differences start to fade and that is why you see people comparing speakers in the $10,000 range to speakers double the price is because the differences after a certain price point are very miniscule. I grew up in a middle class environment and have a very strong business mind and part of that is knowing that spending $100,000 on a pair of monoblock amplifiers is rediculas and most likely not needed for the enjoyment of music in my home. I also know that a certain percentage of the people that would spend that king of money on these amplifiers don't even have the knowledge and appreciation for music that we share as audiophiles rather they have a bragging rights game being played with other wealthy people around them and even if they hear the differences between a $10,000 amp and a $100,000 amp they also know the differences are small as well. I can't blame the companies that make these products for making them and selling them they are just doing what companies do, make money selling products to customers looking for products like they make and if they have people that are willing to spend that king of money on one component then they will make it. It happens with every luxury product category out there. Who am I to say its wrong for them but for me I have my limits on what I will spend on audio even though I am a die hard fan of it.