Art Dudley Calls B.S. but without naming names - PLEASE DO!

A couple of observations. 
1-Value is in the eye of the purchaser. It differs based on our engagement in the category and product considered.
2- We live in a consumer culture but each persons perception of appropriate spending is different and reflects more variables than I can discuss here. Wealthy people tend to think differently. 
I worked for a self made millionaire business owner years ago running two of his company's four divisions. I turned the businesses around making him more millions for which  he paid me Ok. I say ok because my initial contract gave me a share of the profits. He paid me on that one year, hen proceeded to "compel" a renegotiation to more of a salary based deal. He admitted this was not fair but said he needed the money to invest in the company....which I foolishly believed. While he did invest in the business, he also bought 2 new Mercedes and a Rolls Royce, for himself, his wife and his girlfriend......to him that represented a better use of money than paying a proven executive who got results or funding the strategic plans he had agreed to previously. 

hifiman5, yes it's my man cave. And thanks for the compliment.

Back to the OP, no one is naming names. From a larger perspective, the free market system will take care of the offenders, but it also may destroy the entire audiophile industry.

markalarsen"From a larger perspective, the free market system will take care of the offenders, but it also may destroy the entire audiophile industry."

That is so funny there is no way one or two or three or even 10 little "fraudsters" are going to eliminate the entire audio industry that is a ridiculous assertion totally lacking in logic reason or evidence.

As long as there are folks who appreciate the nuances of fine music reproduction, there will be an audio industry to service those listeners.

Think about it...if the hifi industry can and is surviving the mp3 download culture, it will continue to thrive into the future.  Indeed, many of those mp3 listeners, realizing the flaws in their culture's format, have, in large measure, given rise to the resurgence in vinyl!