Why are so many companies like harbeth making old speakers designs and charging thousends?


Hi everyone I am a little confused about the speaker market. I had been two dealers that sell totally different products. The one I had been to which I bought my forests from sells Totem And Monitor Audio and B&W. though I went to the other that sells Harbeth And audio note speakers which they recommended me buying. And the problem I have trouble understanding Is when I spend thousands on a speaker. Especially my next big purchase. That has no real new technology and is the size of my dads old conerwalls and never use to cost Thousands to build. With no technological advancements. to a product such as the totem that is small compact and modern for the wife approval , and to be more exact. The new Element line and technologically advanced like the torrent driver. Which I can get the same speaker as the same cost or less of the audio note and Harbeth and dose not need to take up the whole room or look like the 70's. Whats your opinion? Would you buy a product that is a 30 year old design that costs 5 times as more with the only diffinceses as upgraded silver wire and upgraded crossover components. To a thousand dollar woofer that is machined not stamped and has so much magnetic flux that it ca lift a car and no crossover?
128x128jakecanada
Marketing efforts would have us believe much if not most of what's really evolutionary tweaks equals reinventing the wheel. My own speakers are based on designs some of which originate in the late 20's (the mid driver; based on RCA's 1428 field coil unit) , and I find them substantially more rewarding than most newer designs. Go figure. 

More audio note is where I was going with it, I just used harbeth as an example compared to the old bbc monitor.
Jakecanada,
There are so many brands of speakers available and at all price points. It is a buyer's marketplace and you'll be able to find precisely what you want if you're patient. The only criteria I consider important is "how does it sound ?" Technology in and of itself is irrelevant in my opinion,  bottom line is sound quality /performance,  Some design concepts are so fundamentally right as to be timeless. Technology claims can be legitimate or marketing hyperbole. At the end of the day you still must decide by listening. 
Charles, 
Every bit of audio gear is built to a pricepoint . For example, POS chi-fi caps can cost a piddly few cents each and then they range all the way to the high-end build Mutdorfs ... Google them for a summary of the differences .

Harbeths are top-end quality build kit (UK) instead of shoddy crap build and shoddy labour made Chi-Fi, and has been emphasized above, that is why they sound so good...

in in this hobby you get what you pay for ... Full stop.