ARC Ref 5se inferior to LS28?

There are not a few people that will buy something that costs 50K who would not touch exact same item were it priced at 25K .

Very true. There are a LOT of folks out there with FU money.

VAC’s top of the line products were less than $20K each until they released the Statement line a couple years ago, now each chassis will cost you $50K a pop.
And guess what? Folks are lining up and offering to pay more $$$ to have their VAC Statements made in custom colors. Go figure.

VAC is not alone, look at ARC’s Anniversary and Ref 10.
Just about every single manufacturer has a top of the line item today that is at least 2-3 times the price of their top of the line 8-10 years ago.

The audio industry is simply a reflection of the global economy. The rich keep getting richer, and the poor poorer. The industry is just chasing the money, by giving their clients what they want.

So true, Schubert and JMC. Brooks Berdan had customers who bought Jadis or VTL pre's and amps instead of the Music Reference he also sold, and Wilsons instead of Vandersteens. At one CES in the late 90's, while eating steak and drinking wine (Vandersteen likes his meat and spirits), Richard told us of dealers who encouraged him to raise his prices, so that his speakers would be perceived as a more prestigious brand. Instead, he designed the higher priced but also higher performing models 5 an 7. The man has integrity.

So true, Schubert and JMC. Brooks Berdan had customers who bought Jadis or VTL pre's and amps instead of the Music Reference he also sold ...

Customers have good hearing and taste! 

Face it - most of us are trickle downers!

schubert

There are not a few people that will buy something that costs 50K who would not touch exact same  item were it priced at 25K

Do you have anything that supports this claim?

There are many mistaken notions about wealth and wealthy people. The researcher Thomas J. Stanley did some of the groundbreaking work in this area, and his data certainly conflicts with your claim.