High End Audio-Gaining Higher Ground?

Harman Int'l trades on the NYSE and has doubled over the past year.

I'm intended to use and purchase only solid OAK furniture for my dwelling for various reasons.
A marketting price for high-end furniture is important. It also substantially more pricey vs. composit furniture, but money spent for value and built quality.
If audio or any high-end isn't about value and built quality, than it's going to dissapear with last adict living as mentioned by previous posters.

That is why I say intention. I've had a lot of time to think about this as if first came up for me almost 25 years ago. High End audio is all about the intention of the product to be high end. Its not about price- quality has to do with quality, not price. Its not about performance (as much as we like to say that it is), as many products that have no high end aspirations can outperform a number of high end products, yet when we look at them, we can tell the difference because the intention is obvious.

High End audio will go the way of the dodo when high end cars are gone. The same type of buyer operates in both markets.

Ralph (Atmasphere), what are you doing, who is going to take over once you retire?

If a buyer does not appear the company goes to its employees who are well-versed in the product. But even after retirement I expect to be busy. Watching the grass grow sounds like it could be boring...

High End gear is audio gear that is built to sound better than mass market audio gear. Mass market gear is the stuff you can buy at Walmart, RadioShack, Best Buy (except for their Magnolia stuff), etc.

There is no hard line between mass market and high end gear. There is a grey area where people will disagree about which category a given component belongs in.

Ask virtually any young person to name a high end audio manufacturer and most will answer "Bose" nuff said. I do agree with with Elizabeth for the most part but high end audio won't completely vanish but just become increasingly more and more of a niche hobby as the middle class muppets continue to be fleeced

I've had reasonably decent audio/video equipment since I was about 30 years old, which is when the first of my four children was born. Three of them are now grown and on their own. I don't know why, but none of them has ever shown any interest in audio equipment at all. Also, they don't have much discretionary income, so it is just as well.