Martyk1, thanks for the enlightening response.
I think this trend to create flagship products has had the benefit of improving speaker performance from the top to the bottom of the line. The rapid improvements in quality of speakers in the $500 to $2000 range corresponds with the recent history of cost-no-object speaker development.
To improve the breed, someone has to make an all-out assault on the state-of-the-art. For a long time, David Wilson had that quest (and market) to himself. But as you pointed out, we now have many such products from Mbl, Focal, Hansen, Magico, YG; and 5-figure flagship speakers from others you named. B&W's Nautilus belongs in there somewhere as well. Each has contributed something that has been of general use to the industry--dispersion patterns, driver materials, magnet assemblies, cabinet construction, modularity, and even in-room setup.
I liken the 6-figure all-out assaults to auto racing: ultimate performance and a very high ratio of R&D to final product cost because there are so few units made and sold to offset development. However, this process creates a trickle-down benefit. Most of these speaker makers have several lines of speakers, and even the lowest priced ones make use of some of the design features developed for the flagship.
About the only companies named that *don't* trickle down much are YG and Wilson. They build to only one standard, whereas Focal, Revel, Snell, B&W, and others have very affordable lines of speakers. Even there, Wilson's development has benefited the state of speaker making as a whole. Although he may not have invented many of these design constructs, he certainly popularized them--time alignment, the virtues of a well-built mini-monitor (WATT), inert cabinet materials, and even room setup.
