MBL Insolvent

That’s unique and valuable speaker technology.  I’m confident it will survive somehow. 

@ghdprentice I agree. Not  muchbroom for error in a low volume business with significant capital costs and  a competitive environment to boost. It seems to me that these are the businesses the innovate and take risks And we need them to succeed. Sooner or later, it benefits everyone who is interested in this stuff . 

“These are small companies making small profits”

@ghdprentice 

That may be true, but what seems to hurt many of these high-end audio companies in the long run is affordability. As prices continue to climb, they risk alienating a broader base of music lovers who simply can’t justify or access this level of investment, no matter how passionate they are.

Yes, quality costs money, and I respect the craftsmanship and engineering involved. But if the entry point keeps moving further out of reach, the future customer base gets smaller and that’s not a sustainable model for long-term growth. Their entry-level floorstander, the 116f is priced at $40K. Let’s be honest — how many here can realistically afford a $40,000 pair of speakers?

I understand the impact of distribution costs and dealer margins, but the speaker category in particular has gotten out of hand in terms of affordability. It’s starting to feel like high-end audio is drifting further from real-world accessibility, and that’s worth questioning.

All of the brands you’ve mentioned, have one thing common….small businesses driven by passion. I hope MBL survives cause I really like their speakers, they are unquestionably iconic, unconventional and produce gorgeous sound. 

A sad fact is that the 2 channel high end audiophile is aging out and dying off. The successor generation has little use for high end gear. 
 

Another observation is that the people and or companies that make high end gear are not getting rich off their expensive products. Neither are the dealers. 
 

As the saying goes: “ sell to the classes and eat with the masses. Sell to the masses and eat with the classes”.  

there’s a lot of competition in what is a very small slice of the market. I don’t think high end will go away, but I definitely think it will change. Over the next 5 to 10 years. I think we will see a very significant migration to all-in-one solutions like the focal diva. The technology will improve and younger folks are going to be less interested in eight boxes and a rats nest of cables.