Things you did not know about what is inside your speakers and the Huge markups

If there were "so much money" in making speakers, or being a HiFi retailer (dying breed)  why are there so few manufacturers and even fewer retailers? 

Interesting video and discussion.  I believe it’s important to research equipment you plan on buying including its components.  A transparent manufacturer will share the information.  There are also lots of videos showing the components in equipment.  An educated consumer usually gets what they pay for. 

The driver markup must be, MUST BE at least 10x to make it to the store. However, if you make your own drivers you can get far better ratios, like 20x-30x.  I've seen stratospheric cost speakers ($120k or more) who easily exceeded 40x.  

Whether that makes high end speakers a scam or not is a matter of perspective.  You all should see the markup on lumber a home goes for these days. 

While we are on the subject, Fritz speakers are among the best I’ve heard and a terrific value.  

Good comments above but I want to add one more thought. High end speaker companies are very SMALL. Wilson is estimated to have annual revenues of around $10 million and they are one of the largest super high end companies. To someone who has never had their own company that may sound like a lot but it is tiny in the scheme of things.

Boutique speaker companies may sell less than a hundred pairs of a particular model each year. Until recently Rockport speakers were built by hand, one at a time, in the founder's basement. In contrast, Ford sold over 800,000 F150 pickups last year. That's a sales volume of over $40 billion on one model! If Wilson sold half a million Alexia V's per year the price would be a fraction of what they now charge.

Small companies cannot adhere to the same margin formulas as mass producers. If you think that boutique speaker builders are cutting a fat hog you should start your own company and show them how it's done.

We are seeing some evidence that streamlined Chinese manufacturing can reduce speaker costs dramatically. I recommend that anyone in this hobby seek out and listen to a pair of SVS Ultra Revolution Pinnacles. IMO they are absolutely incredible for $5k. My point in bringing this up is that there is no reason for anyone to complain about megabuck audio equipment in this day and age. If you can afford to spend six figures on a piece of audio equipment that's great. But you can buy incredible audio these days for less than fly fishermen spend on high end wading suits or bicyclists spend on a fancy mountain bikes.

A $3 million Koenigsegg is not just the sum of its parts. A $500 bottle of wine has little correlation to the cost of the grapes. A 2000 sq ft house on the waterfront can easily sell for 20x the price of the same house in a typical neighborhood. High end audio is no different.

Thank you @ozzy62 .