The hi-fi market doesn't seem broken to me at all, and it's been pretty much a niche market all along. I'm not sure why you think it should be otherwise... Why does that trouble you?
I wasn't expecting a serious question to my satirical story. I ran with it simply in hopes someone else would also be amused. The jeans analogy is way too silly to really make a point, but car analogies are quite popular--so I'll try again, same idea, different angle, no attempts at humor.
Many years ago, when shopping for a slightly sporty but mostly cheap & fuel efficient car, no one at the dealership--or even online--suggested I test drive a Ferrari so I could understand what driving was really like. There weren't even Ferraris in the lot to test drive, simply slightly nicer, newer Hondas.
Shopping for stereo at anywhere other than BB, you're presented with those Ferraris in person, and as an ideal to aspire to, if not attain. After all things aren't that bad once you've saved up for the Boxter. Perhaps I'm just too cynical to realize that people are just being friendly, sharing their passion, realizing I'll likely never get to experience the same at home. Regardless, the marketing in hi-fi certainly reinforces the idea that you're not getting truly close to the recording without a serious investment. Perhaps I'm too gullible that way.
In real life Hondas & Toyotas are exceedingly common and well-regarded. But what would be the audio equivalent of a Honda?
Bryston maybe? No one I know in has anything like that--they have the stereo equivalents of old beat up Yugos, SmartCars, scooters & bicycles. Perhaps I need better friends.
I don't begrudge the well off; but outside of this hobby I don't exactly mingle in the same circles. Perhaps I'm just too socially isolated--yet I've never found the need to go to an exclusive restaurant just get a better burger than McDonald's.
Conversely, I do remember a time, when I tip-toed past $1000 bottles of wine to the sad back aisle of an upscale wine shop just to get something better than a Budweiser. Now, thankfully, its not difficult at all to find a good craft beer.
I think that's it: I'm troubled because I feel like there could be more of a market. Yes, the audiophilia merry-go-round of gear changing will always be niche; old-fashioned
room-filling
multi-component monolith based systems will always be niche. But does that really mean an investment in a good stereo has to also be niche?
If properly priced (complete system under $10k) & marketed (think Beats/Tidal) couldn't something along the lines of the wireless Goldmund speakers or the Avant-Garde Zeros be successful? They're both a bit more, of course, but with a few tweaks & enough sales, the profit would be there. Or perhaps something like a Spatial M3S with built-in dac/amp, optimized for corner placement like an AudioNote for under $5k (maybe not exactly possible as open baffle, but hopefully you get the idea--I'm just trying to stick with products I've recently heard).
But almost no one is designing products at that level of quality & refinement with the accessibility required for a new audience (though Devialet comes to mind). That's what keeps it niche.* And the lack of mainstream adoption of anything related to good stereo sound is what keeps the pricing--if not broken--too often far too inflated. At least for me.
Kirk
*Not the only thing of course.
