Why are Harbeth speakers expensive while its drivers are not.

Matt,
I can understand what you are saying, but if you have heard the Harbeth 40.1, I think you would feel differently because it 's performance is far superior to an older JBL, as nice as they may be.

As others above have pointed out, why spotlight Harbeth? Last week I heard a pair of SHL 5 Plus's and I thought they were excellent. i have also heard the others in their line...and all are IMO excellent speakers. There are so many other "offenders" out there that are charging multiples of what Harbeth asks...and IMO not getting any better sound ( many not even as good). Why not use them as an example??
I hate to say this, BUT compared to so many of the competitors, I feel that Harbeth's are actually a deal! 
Oh, who really cares how much the drivers cost and the other parts that make up the speaker, if the manufacturer can make them sound great; isn't that what it is really all about?
What would you rather have, a speaker that sounds like crap and uses ultra pricey components for a high price??

daveyf- All great points. Especially about other speaker manufacturers. Like the ones charging 45K for a 10" woofer, mid, and tweeter..... And then 65K for the next model, with an extra woofer. I'm not necessarily complaining about these guys, but it does seem crazy to single out Harbeth!

Manufacturers are raising prices because many audiophiles are buying on price and name brand not value per $ spent. So if your offerings are not costly enough your not considered  to be audiophile quality. A audiophile will buy the line that sure we use cheaper everything than our competition but we have the magic and the others do not. Trust me transducers greatly effect the end result of a loudspeaker design. Sure a good designer can  take cheap and make a passable end result but give them better quality and end result is better quality.

Selling high-end speakers is a difficult business. It's normal for the consumer to pay a lot more than the raw cost of the parts used. As other people have commented above, there are many good reasons for that... You pay for the end product, which is a combination of multiple components "working" together. Typically cheaper drivers with properly designed crossovers/cabinets sound a lot better than expensive drivers with bad crossovers. If you don't want to pay the premium speaker manufacturers charge, take a look at some DIY designs. DIY speakers would be the best bang for the money as you would not have to pay for R&D, marketing, and all other expensive that make a speaker with $100 driver cost $10K+. The problem is you would not be able to audition a DIY speaker before you make it...