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

There are tons of speakers at tons of price points (I guess that goes for all the gear).  That is one part of what is the beauty of this hobby, albeit that it can seem very confusing until you get into it a while and realize that there is no commonly held sweet spot and it is all subjective. 

But here's my direct response:  if you don't think that speaker technology has advanced sufficiently to support the price of new speakers by any given manufacturer, buy a vintage used pair!  I've been buying used speakers from A'Gon, Ebay, and Craigslist for quite some time, and I've been very pleased with the results.  I've also met a lot of nice people that way.

This allows me to do long-term trials with a given speaker brand in my own house on my own gear, something I never could afford if I went straight for the newest flagship model.  Some day I will probably decide I like a given house sound the best and splurge for their flagship, but until then, I am enjoying the variety and affordability of used stuff.  People love their audio gear and much if it is well cared for!

Plus with each type of speaker, my taste in music temporarily shifts:  B&W good for hard rock, Magnepan good for progressive and jazz, etc.  Fun stuff to try out!

Jji666,

I do the same. I'm very happy buying older models for much less.

Just bought some JSE .6 stand mounts for my bedroom. They sound great to me. At some point I'll probably rotate another speaker in and sell of give these to a buddy.

I hope to hear some Harbeths at some point, and think I will like them.

Fun hobby!

I have kinda stayed away from this thread,  but as I think it through,  hopefully my input will hold some merit....
"Why are so many companies like harbeth making old speakers designs and charging thousends?"  Thousands....
Really,  in the big picture,  Every speaker design can be called Old. 
What changes speaker design is that a company or designer will like the look, spec, sound of a new driver and develop a new speaker around that driver or drivers...
In the end,  most designer prefer a sound of a certain type of crossover slope and will normally gravitate to using those slopes when possible.
A 6/12 slope has a certain sound,  all 6db slopes another,  12/18 or all 24 db slopes, etc, etc, etc.  Each type of crossover has a flavor that each person prefers.
Harbeth in particular has their own midrange driver,  Unless they contract a new part or parts,  I have to believe that they will continue to use the parts that they feel is their best foot forward.  Maybe each company needs to try different parts, as in a ribbon or a horn load, or exotic material drivers, but once you get a potion for success and you make good money doing it,  it gets hard to rock the boat.
I know there is a huge following out there for all 6db per octave speakers,  I personally like Odd order slopes, properly aligned and phase compensated. 
So in the end,  true NEW parts being introduced doesn't happen everyday and right off the top of my head, I can think of maybe 6 or 8 or so different crossover topologies.  The 2 that I use most are most likely butterworth or Linkwitz Riley.  New crossover technology hasn't happened in decades.

I've avoided this one, too, but...

Active digital crossovers (and room correction) are a more recent innovation, so there's been some recent technology developments out there, but Tim's point is mostly taken.

IMO, there are few innovations that justify the price increases we've seen over the past 25 years.  Active speakers (particularly if multiple channels of amplification are included) might be a partial exception, but overall - I've got to believe that it's largely margin.  I find it next to impossible to attribute the cost of most contemporary  loudspeakers bearing a five (or six) digit price tag to parts, or manufacturing overhead, or R & D, or inflation.  Gross margins on those products have to be very high on average.  

That doesn't mean the manufacturer is getting rich on them, either. If he sells three pairs a year, the fact that each pair bears a healthy mark-up isn't going to buy that mansion on Maui.  Small volume companies need higher margins to survive, but it doesn't change the fact that margins are high.  The specific question from the OP is legit:  They may not be the priciest speakers out there, but  I'm pretty confident that Harbeth makes fat margins on each sale.

BTW, that doesn't mean people shouldn't purchase a pair if they like the sound and/or look of them. That's also true of a six figure loudspeaker.  Porsche has very high margins for an auto manufacturer and not too many folks belabor that point.  Designer furniture (and that's a big part of what a six figure loudspeaker is) also routinely commands prices that you don't want to justify on a cost of manufacture basis.

People enjoy all kinds of high margin purchases.  I just think they shouldn't try to justify the purchase by wishing away the mark-up.