One only need look at reviews posted 3-4 years ago to see that prices for many components have gone up 10%-20% over the past few years, due to the factors cited by many in this thread - supply and demand, economic conditions, supply chain pressures, etc. . But if you look back at a source like Stereophile Recommended component listings from the 1990s, prices then and now don't seem out of line. If anything, today's value components seem like a greater bargain compared to what I see listed from the 90s.
The ultra-high-end has always been focused on a limited number of buyers who either have the resources or the appetite to tie up a significant portion of their net worth in an audio system. They can have at it, but for my purposes I'm pretty psyched about the ability to put together a truly musical system at just about any price point.
