What's going on with the audio market?

Fixate on audio. Politics has nothing to do with it. Anyway. This hobby takes your time and money. I think the prices are so high it becomes Benz or audio.  House or audio.  College tuition or audio.  It is insane. I say it now but I was in the spin cycle.   I'm done 

55, 30, ?

I can get by on a lot less these days and that pertains to audio as well.  At most, audio is only an 8-9 month hobby out of the year.  In summer, I don't want to sit on my rear and listen to music, only when I'm couped up during the winter and colder months.  

Also, it's more about nostalgic gear than anything else.  I don't care about new gear, or even gear that is less than 10 years old.  If I see something cool from my youth, then I think it would be cool to obtain it.  I'm definitely still stuck in the 80's when it comes to audio purchases.  My Oppo dvd player (used for CDs) is my newest gear, everything else is vintage more or less.  

The hobby is just not that important these days.  That feeling has come and gone thru the years, next year, I might be more into audio than I am right now, and that is just fine.  Thanks for reading.

I’m 62 years old. I bought my first new "good" equipment in 1974 at a PX in SE Asia. In the 80's I bought black box stuff, then found vintage vacuum tube. Had fun with that but the sound is lacking.
Last fall I spent under $15,000.00 on new Harbeth (deeply discounted) speakers a used like new VAC integrated amp some used cables and Entreq Audio tweaks. My Garrard 301 is going out for a total rebuild Friday. I have a wonderful set up that I enjoy very much. I am happy! And done.
I have no idea why the used market is so bad now. The economy the ongoing hateful elections and home theater.

The same thing is occurring in other luxury sectors. For example, sales of mechanical watches are also hurting. The slowdown in Asia is a major factor.  Another is the problem of oversupply.  This stuff has a long lifespan, unlike a cellphone. Without newbies entering the foodchain, our gear piles up, and eventually we can no longer justify another upgrade that will have only a minor effect on the listening experience. I wish I could take advantage of some of the nice gear currently on offer, but not unless I can sell some of what I already have.

i think the same problem that is going on in the watch market.  big money in asia was buying it all up, so companies started getting greedy and jacking up prices.  Now that the bottom fell out who's left to buy a 25k G series amp