The death of ultra hiend audio

In any business segment, companies come and go all the time. Having been involved in the hi fi business since the 1980s, I think hi fi companies* have done pretty well on longevity.

*By this, I mean reasonably well established companies, as opposed to the one man in a shed companies that appear at hi fi shows.

Nonsense, are you trolling? The high end audio market is bigger than ever ( especially with the overlap with high end home A/V stuff. It's also a boutique manufacturer industry. So lots of small companies will come and go. 

That's why AI will soon take over management of most businesses. Let's hope it's not too cold and impersonal, but it probably will be.

Price, I remember that people could not believe how great Crown International home stereo and Bob Carver sounded for the dollar back in the late 70s and 80s. Great audio, low cost!  It can be done. Side by side either of these were competing with audio 3X the cost or more.

$10-$15k is not a lot of money and no way is it for bragging rights. Who are you going to brag too? Your wife? Maybe a few people in an audio club, and some of these guys in audio clubs spend more money. I didn’t buy my Porsche to brag about it. 
We are in a niche market, even in the mid fi sector, low fi probably sell many more pieces. There are some major benefits in the more expensive gear than the lower fi products