What makes a good piece of audio gear ?

Luck. I say this after building a few things like speakers and passive preamps and having no talent.

Rok2id what do you mean by saying " high quality components is not"?
I wound think that this is a very important issue to designers and manufacturers;high failure either caused by bad design or a lower quality of parts selected creates bad press and results in product not being sold;if they fail in the warranty period there is extra cost now involved and will lower the margins.

First and foremost, speakers that sound great in your room. Make, model etc. does not make a difference. Let your ears tell you, the expression 'you will know it when you hear', true today as ever.

No matter the design (did I just say that? LOL), one always reads in a review how they end up testing with 'their' ears. So, as long as ears don't change with the one who heads development, a 'house sound' will exist from one model to the next with clarity and detail improving as one model supercedes the next.

And, as long as ears are different from one individual to the next, their will be no concensus from one brand to another, resulting in a high variation of what is considered accurate and/or pleasing, making your question moot at best.

It will all boil down to what you like, others ears be damned.

All the best,
Nonoise

Rleff:
"Rok2id what do you mean by saying " high quality components is not"

I was speaking as to what to look for in a piece of high end gear, once you get past the spec sheet The build quality will be rather obvious and a person can make an informed decision as to it's value. HIGH QUALITY PARTS USED, has become a buzz word to justify obscene pricing. And it is very hard to verify what that means, and even harder to assign or determine their value as pertains to the listening experience. I would just ask: who is making all these LOW QUALITY parts, and who do they sell them to?
Cheers