Back In the Day

The main driver is economics. Personal income has exploded in the last 30 years, so have various means of trying to siphon that money from flush individuals. Houses, autos, boats, sporting events, etc, have also enjoyed these flourishing times.
The internet and glossy rags have helped spur the market, but the main driver behind it all was Reaganomics.

Yes, if you stop listening to others telling you how wonderful the next great toy is, you won't be in such a rush to purchase it.

Yes, Reaganomics, the radical redistribution of income to the upper end of the financial spectrum which transformed America from the greatest creditor nation in the world to the greatest debtor nation. While the middle class has barely held even if not declined in the last 30 years that of the upper few percent has exploded. No wonder that there are roughly 100 speakers on the market priced at $100K or more. Instead of aiming at a broad middle class most companies now aim at the upper end of the market as that is where the money is.

hi end audio equipmment is characterized by inelasticity of demand.

it is more profitable to sell a few very expensive products than sell many inexpensive ones.

as an entrepreneur, profit is usually the most cogent motivation.

i suspect that such a strategy would be successful under most conditions.

Good engineering is making a great product where cost is no object. Great engineering is make a great product at a reasonable price. Considering that many of us on this forum have become conditioned to expect more when we pay more, the bulk of these hifi companies are happy to oblige and stop working on the development project once they have a great product. What I'm saying is, that as an engineer, it is relatively easy to meet the design goals of performance, and a little more work to meet durability and reliability targets. But taking out cost in a product is the hardest part of product development. I think our hifi culture or maybe even our more widely common culture of excess has not just encouraged these companies to stop working on the design once they have a great product but we also give them added prestige, or perhaps we will not even consider them unless their portfolio contains a sky is the limit product offering.

I can tell you, for sure, that it is *much* easier now to buy/audition used gear. Back in the day - and I'm talking late 60s, early 70s - you usually hung out at the nearby audio salons looking for bah-gains. Being near Washington, DC, I frequented Audio Associates, Audio Buys, Dixie Hi-Fi (later to become Circuit City!!) and many others, always looking for good deals on used or newly marked down new equipment.

But the advent of the internet has radically changed that. I can now peer into the basements, attics, equipment racks of guys who are thousands of miles away from me and scoop up great deals on (gently) used gear. But you must do your homework up-front and know exactly what you want and what you are willing to pay for it.

I built virtually my entire 5.1 AV system this way. And I saved a lot of coin doing so. Audiogon has been VERY good to me...

-RW-