High end audio appears to be dying, and price is teh major reason - the products are high quality, sound fantastic, but like many otehr things in the world (im looking at you eggs) the prices have gotten out of control. What if Krell KMA-i800’s were $35k not $73k, or MBL 101E speakers were $45k not $95k… would you buy them? Or are they still objects of fantasy…
Right now the market for anything in most hobbies is sort of stagnating and that’s also been reflected in the used market where things have just been sitting and not selling like they used to, regardless of what it is. Prices for everything have been inflating and not just audio, but generally with more uncertainty comes reduced spending on hobbies that aren’t critical like high end audio so it makes sense to see a larger lull in the higher end realm. Everything is getting more expensive, while the average trend (trying to set aside larger economy stuff) has been higher end getting higher and pushing the boundaries (in multiple ways lol), I think with what’s going on right now is more an impact of things beyond the hobby in general rather than the high end market collapsing in on itself
With the side of hobby you mention, you also can’t really take listed MSRP as the true value of what people are paying, there’s often different prices paid when you go through dealers through various incentives and haggling, and there’s substantial discounts to be had on the aftermarket/second hand as well which is how a lot of people actually get some of these higher end units at more reasonable prices. All depends on the product though (all dealers/mfg have different ways of dealing with this)
Wouldn’t really say high end audio is dying, just a generally hobby downturn in the US (at least that’s what I’ve seen)
FYI 101E sell regularly for around 30-40k on the used market in basically new/open box condition as an example. A 50% off MSRP isn’t really an unheard of discount in that realm but again all depends on where, how, what, and who you’re buying from
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If I were in the market and there was a ~50% off or greater deal on something big ticket, sure (if I have the money on hand). As @M0N said, it’s not really a hot market atm and the quality of things available at lower prices is ever-increasing so I certainly don’t think I’d leap at anything just because it seems to be a great deal in general. All of that being said, I am also not really in the market for anything either (speaker especially, I am in a “until I can’t repair it any more” state of having everything I need).
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Really when you’re in the realm of buying stuff like this, you likely aren’t as price sensitive to begin with as well lol (but it’s not like there’s no concept of good deals or reasons to hold out for one in the high end as well)
If you do have an interest in the high end, things have been sitting lately, and now might be the time to search for something you’re after, you might find pretty good deals out there because of this. I’ve watched high end stuff sit for months now at actually good prices for what they were, things that would’ve been snapped up immediately 2 years ago for more money. That’s more a sign of just overall hobby downturn than anything else
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