I have to disagree there, my QUAD 303 poweramps were designed in 1967 and still out perform most modern 'kit', not only that but if they do develop a fault they can be repaired quite easily as they use standard resisters/capacitors and not 'dedicated' components that become obsolete after a couple of years.
Likewise several of my bikes still have the original Raleigh headsets in them after 40 years and as long as they are cleaned/re-greased every couple of years or so are as good now as when they were new, and again just use 'bog standard' ball bearings if they ever wear out.
Solid old-fashioned quality of the kind that Quad produced is worth the cost. I used to build valve amplifiers for a living (and have personally hand-built over 350 of them), so I'm unlikely to disagree with you there! Ease of servicing is a major plus, as you point out, but that level of build-quality does cost money. As a fan of minimalism I always fancied a Linn Sondek LP12 turntable, but could never afford one. (You-tube and a pair of £12 Panasonic headphones does basically the same job for me these days - far better in some respects, in fact).
I was thinking more of the loony claims made by some esoteric high-end Hi-Fi manufacturers, which are backed-up by 'journalists' who are willing to feign an almost religious fervour. In my opinion, this whole system is geared towards parting the gullible from as much of their hard-earned money as possible. There's a direct parallel with some of the nonsensical descriptions of high-end bicycle wheel performance, and a further parallel with the likes of
Benny Hin et al.
In defence of manufacturers of £1000 bicycle wheels though, at least you do get
something for your money. Benny Hin, on the other hand has found a way to make a fortune from peddling the
marketing bullshit itself.
Edit:
Here's an example of what I'm talking about, a 4'-long power cable, yours for just $1448!
The 'Tice Clock' is another notorious one (a $25 digital clock re-badged and sold as a $500 Hi-Fi component!)
