Are audiophile products designed to initially impress then fatigue to make you upgrade?

To answer your questions NO.  It's funny how we in the audio industry has change so much from the 60s 80s to now. We went from tone controls to without and now tone controls are coming back. We went from ten inch to 15 inch woofers then to 6 inch to eight inch woofers. The sub woofer even came into play. Different cabinet design shape and sizes.  Book shelf speakers. Hell it's a new speaker coming out and the cabinet has a layer of alligator skin on it. I am not knocking none of this I am just trying to say there is a lot of audio equipment out there you have to know what type of music you mostly listen to and what speaker perform the best to your ears and a long or short period of time. That could be a fun and interesting journey.  There is plenty types of speaker designs to choose from. Horn design  dome tweeter paper cone tweeter amt the list goes on and on. I have personally have five different types of speakers set in my home because they all have there areas where they shine. Just remember what sounds darn good to YOUR ears.. 

We should ask this question from another perspective:

How do I differentiate my product if everyone is making an excellent, neutral sounding device?

This is the product manager’s dilemma in a nutshell in audio. In the HT space there’s a ton of must-have features/brands that get associated with a purchase:

• THX
• Dolby
• DTS
• Atmos

but in audio, sounding different is actually key to a quick sale. Going to the store and finding something you don’t already have at home. Ragged frequency responses which accentuate some bands and not others are an easy win.

@erik_squires

Going to the store and finding something you don’t already have at home.

+1, if you already have a "stereo" don’t keep buying/upgrading MORE stereo.

Supplement (not replace) with an immersive audio layout.

BTW, anyone who decides to simply get better two channels, fine. Don’t max out your credit card, just get a pair of all in one, active speakers and you are done. For example:

Dynaudio Focus 50- Best Product 2022

https://youtu.be/uqeqwTW8y5I

I am a cognitive psychologist and worked most of my professional career conducting research to measure consumers'/users' perceptions of products. Designers and engineers are fascinated with novel product design features because they attract attention and differentiate their products from others. I had to constantly caution them to avoid seeking novelty alone because "different" is not necessarily "better". When the novelty rush wears off (and it always does) what remains might be revealed to be less pleasing.

I had to constantly caution them to avoid seeking novelty alone because "different" is not necessarily "better".

So I should stay married then?😁