Advantages of owning equipment from major audio brands vs. boutique shops?

This is where dealers can play a big role too. My local dealers had a great relationship with the speaker manufacturer (vivid) and designer (dickie) and when a small repair was needed, they had them on the phone walking a local technician through the repair. I can’t tell you if they would have responded to me personally with the same generosity, but it was fun for them to help out in the context of their relationship with my dealer. Made me really happy and probably helped the dealer sell more units with that story to tell about their customer service.

Manufacturing has economies of scale.  Many major brands hire competent engineers, including professional audio companies.  Boutique audio companies will tell you it's as much about art as engineering and amplifiers and DAC's have to be "voiced" like a violin. The truth is the fidelity is mostly about engineering and looks and marketing is where most of the art is.  Someone that sells a few dozen amps in a year has to charge an arm and a leg for them to stay in business.  A company that sell thousands can charge much less.  This is why cost and fidelity don't always correlate.  

Tlong, it's more like LotsaBangs 22,317, the 22,317th ugly unoriginal formulaic Hollywood actioner, which seems all that they know how to make these days.

Rwortman, I think it is absolutely wrong to say that, "fidelity is mostly about engineering." Talented designers do a whole lot more than engineering, a lineage from today's Koetsu going back to Peter Walker, and before him, Lee deForest, and of course, one N. Tesla.

Of course there are economies of scale - sometimes almost making up for corporate and professional inertia.

I worked for a boutique loudspeaker manufacturer in Australia. Often asked to trade in well known brands, when selling his speakers to customers. He would take some of the very best reviewed speakers to help him sell his own.
He'd have a weekend set aside for local audiophiles to come and listen to his latest design, or something to review and invariably the well known speaker would be put up against his (actually less expensive) speaker and when all was said and done, his sales would roll in.
Mike Lenehan was asked to be an expert witness in a court case regarding a pair of Raidho speakers, I met the owner when he came into the factory to listen to these speakers that were touted as "better", he traded in a pair of speakers as well (no, not the Raidho's) that retailed more than what Mike sells his for.
I've heard a lot of well regarded and well known speakers come in and out of the factory. When medium volume white noise playing a sweep through the audible spectrum showed up the glaring and inexcusable cabinet resonance from some famous brands, I heard where the difference was.
I also know a designer and his son who makes DAC's that wipe the floor with well known brands 10 times the retail price, his don't come in a fancy enclosure, the fancy is inside, the components and implementation.
However, you'll need to be reading forums to find these gems.

millercarbon is correct, if you're really in it for the sound, a lifestyle involving the beautiful recreation of music, it's about building something.