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

@waytoomuchstuff I like the way you laid out those factors  and how they need to be considered when people "shoot from the hip," here, about whether a product is "worth it."
 
 You write,

"But what about services we obtain that are purely intellectual with no parts costs? Should attorneys, consultants, etc. offer their work for free becuase their "parts costs" are free? It doesn’t take long to see how silly the parts cost vs selling price argument is."
 

For me, this statement raises the question, "How many services are critical for a piece of audio gear?" It's clear how complicated this gear can become -- internally, but also with the elaborate casework, etc.
 
Then I think back to the very simple and massive pleasure I got from listening to, for example, a Quicksilver amp connected with Fritz speakers. Here, the overhead is so minimal compared to many other products, so the bang for buck value here -- sound quality per dollar spent -- seems very very high. Do these sound as good as other products costing 5x the price? Maybe not, but then those products very likely include a bunch of costs that Fritz and QS do not. Whether that's worth it to the buyer is their decision, but they have to realize that they are spending more on people who have nothing to do with the sound quality.

While I think it is interesting and instructive to affirm the many costs that go into every product, I think this has little to do with the cost to acceptance factor that is in my OP.

The question of whether something can be overpriced in this hobby to the point that all buyers say..no mas; is what I am questioning here. The example in my OP is of a speaker that has just received an absolute rave review by RH in the current issue of the Absolute Sound. I picked this example for a couple of reasons...1) it is priced at $133K, which only a few years back was almost unheard of for a piece of audio gear, and yet today, as other members have pointed out, is becoming more and more common and 2) It is a somewhat diminutive design that on the face of it does not seem to offer the glitz that a lot of ultra high end buyers are looking for...because they use their eyes as more of a factor than their ears.

To that, I noticed in the new issue of Stereophile, there is a reply to a letter by a reader from Jim Austin, stating the following: " the run-up in prices at the extreme high end is astonishing and concerning. It’s also logical. .......There’s a danger this could lead to too much focus on products for the wealthy and not enough for those of more moderate means--that is to say, most audiophiles. It could even cause the industry to turn towards fancy audiophile jewelry at the cost of sonics- because how many of those shopping at such prices are serious, critical, obsessed audiophiles?"

He then states:" Fortunately, though, most companies selling to that market seem to be doing it in a serious, uncynical way, exploring what can be done in engineering terms with such large budgets. Here's hoping the trickle down accelerates and that companies drunk on luxury high end cash don't forget about the rest of us."

While this may be generally true, there are certainly many companies that may not be complying with this...see my thread on the cable forum as an example.

I find this a unique a fascinating hobby, almost unlike any other (maybe some extreme technical sports or car racing). True audiophiles would always look for the value and not pay for the luxury premium (I think) ~whatever makes the car faster

So I don't see the danger of this scissors of reasonable and luxury segment causing runaway prices. Most companies the users deal with here can barely turn a profit, they have no capacity to build "Lamborghinis"

I would comment but it would get removed - as before

making fun of the wealthy and their justification of why they *need* and *deserve* to buy x and y.

 

Reading this forum is an amazing social experiment about how delusional rich people are.

Yes indeed. This is unacceptable! Everyone should get the audio system they deserve at the price they can afford to pay. Everyone should be rewarded by their need, not their wealth. Wait ....🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

I don't see what the big deal is, the wealthy can afford more expensive cars, houses , boats, food, and many other things. Obviously most of these super expensive pieces of audio gear are not overpriced, look at Dan D'Agostino audio, their relentless amplifiers went up in price about $100,000 since it's inception, so they must be selling quite a few of them.