In this month's Stereophile (Sep-12), Art Dudley in 'Skin Deep' highlights the hugely spiralling average prices of American hi-fi as seen in the recent Chester Group New York Audio and AV Show. If we ever needed further proof that the industry is selling smaller and smaller volumes and therefore pricing itself out of most people's minds, here it is. Hard to believe these prices, but easy to see why many people just don't consider buying a system any more, not when an iPod "will do".

Here's a link to the article (hope it works, I get it on digital subscription):

http://www.zinio.com/pages/Stereophi...416231030/pg-2

To summarise some of his calculations (remember, these are average prices):
  • Digital source component $12,670
  • Turntable $18,196
  • Tonearm $6,184
  • Cartridge $7,544
  • Preamp $25,393
  • Power amp $37,331
  • Speakers $39,559