Boulder monoblock 2150

orpheus10 

Now we seem to have an abundance of 20K tonearms, and 10K cartridges, plus speakers and amps costing over 100K. Personally, I don't believe their systems sound any better than a long time audiophile's rig who has spent a lifetime obtaining the knowledge required to have a good sounding rig, while those who purchase 10K cartridges, and 100K amps are only involved in the most expensive, not necessarily the best.

If you repeat it enough, it will be TRUE!

The rich has the talent to generate wealth but can't assemble a high fidelity system.   Are you serious?    Is it brain surgery?

I've been helping a local audiophile with deep pockets assembling his 1st high end system and it sounds excellent.   He buys everything new from one local BM.  He's already planning to upgrade his 6 months brand new VAC SigMKIIa SE to a VAC Master.  

The richest have the talent to be born that way.

When I was in real estate I came in contact with quite a few wealthy people, but none as wealthy as the 1%, and none who were audiophiles, and even if they were, I guarantee none of them would pay 100K for an amp; think about it.

What sensible audiophile would pay 100K for an amp, even if he could afford it? Or maybe that's the wrong question. I don't have any idea who would pay 100K for an amp, do you?

Does that deep pocket audiophile plan to buy a 100K amp when he upgrades?

A dear friend has at least US$1MM invested in his wine cellar, never mind what he spent constructing the cellar itself.  A $100K amp for the equivalently wealthy audiophile...so what?  There are definitely many with the means, so if there is interest, these things *will* sell.

The distinction between high income and high net worth is informative.  High income people often blow it on expensive toys. High net worth millionaires tend to be frugal and would buy much more modestly.  

Also, let's not forget that not all the folks with the means to drop this kind of cash live in the U.S. I would not be surprised if a large percentage of these super high end (and U.S. made) components are shipped overseas. The largest market for very high end automobiles, e.g., Bentley, Ferrari, etc., are China and Middle East. I have seen some audio components on display during my travels to parts of Middle East that simply blew my mind. At those levels, most of the manufacturers send factory techs, from Europe or U.S., to set up the equipment in the customer homes. Crazy stuff.