Do audiophiles creat the high prices we complain about.

No, audiophiles are not responsible for the cost no object products that have appeared within the last decade.

A few years back I had a conversation with an audio dealer who stated that audiophiles were his worst customers.  Basically, they spend much time listening/comparing and very little time buying.  His bread and butter customers were people with disposable income who wanted a really good sounding system.  They were no more interested in the equipment than a typical Lexus buyer is interested in cam shaft profiles.

A segment of high end audio has morphed into a luxury good market.  High prices are part of the appeal.

Fortunately, there are plenty of bargains in high end audio. Buy what you can afford comfortably. There is always going to be gear built for ‘cost no object’ standards and bragging rights!

I enjoy bourbon from time to time. I decided to research bourbons and also watch a few tube channels on it. I pretty much know what I like but thought of branching out a bit so I bought a good num of highly rated bourbons some costly. I found after testing I still preferred what I liked and the crazy costly ones didn't bring anything worthwhile to the consumption of bourbon most actually tasted far worse than Jim Beam. I know this is all subjective but it seemed to me those enjoying the costly bourbons may be doing so because they are told its cost and humans tend to think more expensive is better. And audio manufacturers and distilleries sure know this and price accordingly if the price is too low it's dismissed as mid-fi or poor quality even if it's not.