..I must resurrect my fully loaded M4 analogy. Remarkable?...yes that would describe this
production automobiles are not relatable to small scale luxury items in terms of perceived market value. economies of scale render it meaningless.
a great example is another car made in very small qualities. the original Honda Insight retailed at $20k. hand made, all aluminum, 1800 pounds, with lots of cutting edge technology. they cost Honda $75k each to build, since they only made 5000 or so over a few model years. it was a halo car built to highlight technology.
what if Honda tried to sell them for $75k, or $200k? how would the marketplace have reacted?
Honda could afford this extravagance. but most small scale audio companies cannot.
if you are building a product with a very small expected marketplace, yet you build it the very best you can, and the reasonable multiples say $35k, or $85k.....do we as audiophiles still want it to be built?
I think so.
what does it cost us to celebrate it? to be interested?
nothing.
and understand that audio dealers will need lots of margin to take trades and put deals together. no one pays retail for this type stuff.
but being clever and cynical is so tempting we just cannot help ourselves. isn't the world wide web a wonderful place?